Finally, you can try using a hairdryer on low heat to help speed up the drying process. Just be sure not to hold the hairdryer too close to the clay, as it can cause it to warp or crack. Ultimately, the key is to take your time and not rush the process.
If you need to speed up the curing process, you can place your air-dry clay piece in the oven. Put your completed project in a 200° F oven for 20 minutes for a small item or longer for a larger piece until it's fully dry.
You'd also want to be sure the hair dryer didn't overheat and turn off, or burn out, etc. For curing polymer clay, if the temperature is at 275, the minimum time needed would be 15-20 minutes per 1/4" of thickness (measured at the thickest area).
No – baking air dry clay in the oven or kiln can cause your sculpture to melt or burn. Plus, if you heat your sculpture up it will dry faster which can cause more cracks to form. Once your sculpture is complete, simply leave it out to dry and it'll be all set in around 24 hours.
One popular method is to use a blast of air from a can of compressed air. Another is to let the clay dry out slowly and naturally over time. You can also use a hairdryer on the lowest setting. A 4th option is to freeze the clay for about 30 minutes.
Air Dry Clay is primarily a water based product. The longer it is out of the packaging and in the open air, the more moisture will evaporate from it. Most often times too much moisture evaporating from the clay is the reason for cracks.
Bake It in the Oven
If you want to make your air dry clay project even faster, then try baking it in the oven. This will help it to completely dry in just a few minutes!
Air-dry modeling clay will harden at room temperature without baking. Polymer oven-bake clay, on the other hand, requires the proper application of heat to make it hard. Polymer clay also won't shrink as it hardens and sets, which can occur with air-dry clay.
There is a lot of water in clay (around 20%). Therefore the evaporation of the water from the clay can be inconsistent. When one part of the piece dries more quickly than another it puts the entire structure under strain and thus causes cracks.
You can use alternatives for drying your clay in order to speed up the process, but they come with risks, as faster drying can cause cracks. Even if you speed the process up, it should still be done in a slow and steady way to ensure a comprehensive drying of the piece.
The general time it takes for air-dry clay to dry is around 24 hours to 72 hours. However, if you have larger clay projects, you might have to wait a little longer for the piece to dry properly. It is best to leave the clay dry naturally, rather than to speed things up.
Potters often say it takes about 7 days for pottery clay to be dry enough to fire. However, other factors affect the length of the drying process. These factors include how thick or large the piece is, how complex the design is and what the drying environment is like.
Can Air-Dry Clay Be Frozen? The answer is yes; This is because air-dry clay has a similar makeup to other types of clay. While it is true that freezing leftover air dry clay may cause it to become brittle, it will not significantly affect the overall structure or quality of the clay.
Air dry clay is slow drying. Depending on environmental conditions, it can take 24-48 hours to dry. If part of your project is against your work surface the entire time, moisture is trapped underneath and it will take even longer to dry.
When firing without a kiln, it may help to pre-dry you clay pieces in a kitchen oven set to 190 degrees F. With a kitchen oven, the pots are dried by "baking" below the boiling temperature of water for several hours. I set the oven to 190 F.
Can You Paint Air-Dry Clay Before it Dries? No, you need to wait for the clay to fully dry before you begin painting. By painting the clay while it is still wet, you run the risk of altering the clay item and causing cracks. However, you can color or dye the clay with paint before it dries by kneading in the paint.
Once you've made your air dry clay objects you're very likely to want to help protect them and keep them lasting longer. Adding some sort of sealant to the air dry clay is a particularly good idea if paint or any other colour has been added to the surface.
Non-Drying Clay Won't Harden or Dry
Because non-drying clay won't harden from air exposure, you can leave your creation out in your work area. You can adjust your non-dry clay creation as much as you want for days, weeks or longer.