Use on baked clay, allow your oven bake clay creation to cool before adding the glaze.
Yes, once baked, you can seal your project with our glazes to make them waterproof. We do not recommend making dishes or utensils that you plan to drink from, eat off of or serve food even if they are sealed with the glazes.
You can use a Wax, Acrylic Sealer, Varnish or Liquid Epoxy. If you want a smooth finish, then use sandpaper and wax to seal your Polymer Clay and if you painted your clay, then you should seal it with an Acrylic Sealer or Varnish.
The short answer is no. It's not necessary to seal polymer clay pieces because polymer clay is both durable and water resistant. Depending on the look you want to create, you may only want to sand and buff your polymer clay pieces.
Sculpey polymer clay should not get wet while you're working with it to ensure your final jewelry, ornament or other creations are more durable. Once you've made your craft and baked it in a home oven, the final piece can withstand water.
You can sand and buff your polymer clay earrings to produce a beautiful shine without glazes, resins or sealers. My favorite sandpaper is the wet/dry sandpaper that works with water or without. You can pick it up at your local hardware store, or on amazon.
Another important difference is that polymer clay is known to be more durable than air dry clay after baking. Once polymer clay is baked, it is waterproof and long-lasting. Meanwhile, air dry clay has the tendency to dissolve in heat or water.
One of the many benefits of oven-bake clay is that it never dries out, so it's easy to put away. Keep your stash of Sculpey® products in a simple basket or a container with a lid.
Air Bubbles – Hot air expands, so air trapped within a piece will cause a bulge that often cracks or breaks. Thick Pieces – If you're making something that is thicker than ½ inch (13 mm) or so, you'll likely see cracks on the surface. Instead, bake in layers or with a compressed foil core.
You can bake clay on a variety of surfaces, including foil and paper.
Cover the clay with a tented piece of aluminum foil or cover it with an upside-down baking pan. Bake using a conventional home oven or a toaster oven and adhere to the time and temperature listed. In most cases, you can bake polymer clay at 275 degrees F for 15 to 30 minutes per ¼ inch of clay thickness.
When polymer clay is properly cured, which you do by baking it in an oven, it is flexible and durable. Polymer clay is not fragile. Since it is made from vinyl, polymer clay is flexible and you can bend or flex your project if it's thin enough.
While home ovens cannot reach the temperatures for a silica glaze to melt, you can use alternative methods to decorate the surface of your pottery. There are paint-on enamels that fire at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Glazed pottery will not be waterproof or food-safe unless it is fired at a high temperature in a kiln.
Your clay doesn't need to be baked right away, but if you do wait to bake your clay, put it in a dark, cool place to keep it from drying out. It is best to avoid letting your clay get dry before you go to bake it.
If you take your clay out of the oven and find it's still soft, it could be one of two reasons: the temperature was too low, or it wasn't baked long enough.
Like natural clays, polymer clay is an oven baked clay in the sense that it must be heated in order to harden. However, natural clays require a kiln that reaches very high temperatures in order to fire them; polymer clay can be baked at home in a conventional oven.
By now the clay would have hardened with a smooth finish as you need in your creations. Another popular method to bake clay is to run a hair dryer over it. You can place the piece of clay on the table and run the hair dryer on it for several minutes. For best results put the clay into a closed box with a small opening.
Yes. It is perfectly safe to bake your clay in the oven in which you prepare your food. When used as directed, polymer clays do not give off toxic chemicals in the curing process. There is a slight odor, which is not harmful.
Yes! Oven-bake clay can be painted after curing. We recommend using water based acrylic paints. Before painting the piece – Test a hidden section of the project first.
Your Pottery Is Vitrified (Glass-like Seal)
You may have heard that you need to glaze your pottery in order to make it food safe and or waterproof. However, this is not always the case. If you fire your pottery at high enough temperatures, it will vitrify and become both food safe and waterproof.
Biscuit (also known as bisque) refers to any pottery that has been fired in a kiln without a ceramic glaze.