How To Set Modeling Clay

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Modeling dirt comes in many forms, including polymer and self-hardening, which are ofttimes used for making fun projects similar dishes, jewelry, and other crafts. You can hands terminate your modeling clay craft past hardening polymer clay in the oven, or by letting self-hardening clay air dry.

1. i

   Use a needle to recreate a vent hole if your model has an air pocket. For models that have a airtight-off pocket of air, include a vent pigsty to preclude slap-up due to temperature changes in the oven. Pierce the clay with a needle all the way through until yous reach the inner air pocket.^[i]

   • If you lot don't have an air pocket in your model, don't worry most creating vent holes!
   • Exist sure to pierce at least 1 hole for each air pocket to ensure proper venting.
   • For case, many clay models of animals have an air pocket inside to make them lighter. Additionally, jewelry like earrings and pendants tin have air pockets, especially if they're very intricate pieces.

   Keep in heed, some clays aren't meant to exist hardened, such as oil-based modeling clay, and then check the packaging of the clay that you're using to brand sure information technology's possible!

2. 2

   Read the directions on the package to locate the baking temperature. Nigh brands take the amount of temperature labeled on the package, which can range from 212.5 to 300 °F (100.iii to 148.9 °C). Check the packaging to see if the blistering temperature changes based on the thickness of the dirt, and set the temperature on the oven.^[ii]

   • If you lot're using multiple unlike brands of clay in one model, go with the directions for the brand that you lot used the nearly. If y'all're not sure, fix the temperature to 265 °F (129 °C).

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3. 

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   Place the clay on a ceramic baking dish. While the oven heats up, transfer your dirt model onto a piece of oven-safe ceramic. You lot tin can use a baking dish, like a ceramic pie dish, or even a ceramic tile.^[3]

   • Ceramic holds heat well and prevents the temperature from changing also quickly when the oven door is opened.
   • Avoid using metal or drinking glass, which tend to fluctuate in temperature.
   • Bake the dirt over a surface that you're non going to reuse for nutrient, as polymer dirt has a lot of colorants.^[four]

4. 4

   Broil the clay immediately subsequently painting or glazing. Ane of the great things nearly painting polymer clay is that you don't demand to permit the paint dry before blistering the clay. Every bit soon as you're finished covering the model in ane-ii coats of paint, fire up the oven to fix for blistering.

   • Adding a glaze or paint might add to the baking fourth dimension of your model. In general, for each glaze or paint or coat, add iii-v minutes onto the baking time.

5. 5

   Bake the clay for the amount of time specified on the package. Most brands of clay have a broil time somewhere betwixt 10-30 minutes, depending on the thickness and color of the dirt. Every bit a general rule, broil for the corporeality of time specified on the package for each ¹⁄₄  in (0.64 cm) of thickness.^[5]

   • For case, if the package says to bake for 15 minutes, and your dirt is ^ane⁄₂  in (1.3 cm) thick, so you lot would bake the clay for thirty minutes.
   • If you lot've lost the packaging, it'south mostly safer to bake at a lower temperature for a longer period of time, like 30-40 minutes.

6. 6

   Fill a large bowl with water ice and water while the dirt is baking. Become a large cooking pot or bucket that will fit your clay model. So, fill it with ice water, with nigh 2 inches (5.one cm) of space at for the h2o displacement.

   • You want the dirt to be completely submerged in the h2o, so try to employ as large of a pot as possible.

7. seven

   Remove the clay from the oven and dunk it into the water immediately. One time the clay has reached its baking fourth dimension, apply a spatula to separate it from the ceramic. Carefully transfer the model to the pot, and submerge it in the ice bath for at least 30 seconds to prevent the clay from over-baking. Then, carefully remove the model with your hands or a pair of tongs.

   • When yous remove the clay from the oven, it might be somewhat soft on the outside, and some tools, like tongs, can leave marks and indentations on the hot clay. Only utilize the tongs to remove the clay from the ice bathroom, non put it in.
   • If you're not sure how to transfer the model, endeavor submerging it while it's nevertheless on the ceramic.

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1. 1

   Let the clay sit for 24-48 hours to dry. Keep the clay in a dry, well-ventilated area, and leave information technology undisturbed. Every four-6 hours, cheque on the dirt to expect for cracks or chips, and make certain the clay is hardening. The drying time volition vary based on the thickness of the clay and the moisture in the air, but most types of air dry out clays will be completely dry inside 72 hours.^[6]

   • If your clay isn't hardening after 12 hours or so, try increasing the temperature by blowing the clay with a pilus dryer, or placing it in the oven on the lowest temperature for i-ii hours. Check on the clay oft.

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   Repair any cracks that appear during the drying process. As the dirt begins to dry, you might notice some cracks or dents forming in the clay that weren't at that place before. To polish them over, dip your fingers into a glass of make clean water, and rub the h2o over the imperfection a few times to smooth information technology out.^[seven]

   • If you lot notice larger cracks forming throughout the drying process, you may need to rework the project past reviving the clay. This involves adding a minor amount of water to the dirt, and placing information technology in a plastic bag to sit for virtually x minutes. Then, knead the clay and proceed adding small amounts of h2o until information technology is usable.

3. 

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   Plough the clay afterward 12-24 hours take passed. If your clay model is multidimensional, like a pot or a piece of jewelry, flip the piece over to allow the bottom dry. You lot should exercise this about halfway through the drying fourth dimension, which volition vary depending on the type of clay y'all're using.^[eight]

   • When handling the clay, exist very careful. Try to avoid touching it for longer than you lot admittedly demand to.

4. four

   Wait to pigment the clay until later it has dried. Adding color or a blueprint to your clay is piece of cake. Simply expect until the clay has dried, and utilize a paintbrush to apply acrylic or tempera paint. And so, permit the pigment dry for 24 hours, and protect the paint by using a spray-on or brush-on paint sealant all over the dirt.^[ix]

   • If you're making an intricate design on a clay pot, for example, make sure you apply a thin, fine paintbrush, and seal the unabridged pot later on the paint has dried.

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Add New Question

• Question

  Why doesn't modeling clay harden?

  

  Because modeling clay is oil-based. If you lot put the clay in the oven it volition cook and could offset a fire.

• Question

  Will painting modeling clay brand it harder?

  

  The pigment on the modeling clay will harden, merely the structure will still exist fragile to the touch.

• Question

  Afterward hardening, how can I loosen the clay to make some other model?

  

  Yous can't loosen whatsoever hardened clay. Either it'southward modeling dirt, and it won't ever harden; or it's one of the other three types mentioned, and it isn't designed to be remoldable.

• Question

  What happens to the polymer dirt if you over bake information technology? Sometimes I take pieces that are thicker in one spot than others and may require more baking time.

  

  You tin't over-bake polymer. It doesn't actually "bake," information technology cures. Once whatever portion of it gets to a cured country, it volition stay that way as long as you can keep the temperature steady and beneath its called-for indicate. To ensure the temperature is steady in the air effectually the clay, identify aluminum foil over it or put it in an oven-proof container. You tin even use a cardboard box if information technology volition be sitting at to the lowest degree several inches from the heating element since the temperature should be beneath 300F (bank check manufacturer's instructions) and newspaper/cardboard burns at 451F.

• Question

  How do I dry modeling dirt if I have finished a complex effigy not knowing the texture of the clay?

  

  You can't. But if you want, you can paint it and the paint volition harden.

• Question

  How can I tell what kind of dirt it is?

  

  By the feeling of the clay. If it's super soft and smells toxic, it is salt based and is also known every bit play dough. If the clay feels plaster-ish (hard and pasty), this is likely to be polymerclay, and the concluding type is modeling clay, which feels soft and does not air dry out.

• Question

  Can modeling clay exist put in the freezer to get in harden?

  

  Yes, simply after a while after taking it out, it once again becomes soft. Information technology just temporarily becomes hard.

• Question

  Can the clay be frozen?

  

  Yeah, but if you put it in the freeze for a long fourth dimension so take it out, it will become soft again.

• Question

  How long practise I demand to put the modeling clay in the oven?

  

  It says that yous can't do that or information technology'll cook.

• Question

  I demand to repair a model I made some time ago. Is it okay to adhere new pieces and re-broil the whole thing?

  

  Aye, as long as it'southward below its burning bespeak. You tin also broil the details you would like to add separately, and so glue them on to the finished piece.

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• When baking clay, try to avoid opening the oven door. This can crusade oestrus to escape or pb to cracks in the clay due to precipitous temperature changes.

• Be patient! For some brands, it can take upwards to 72 hours for the clay to harden completely. If y'all bear upon it or movement it earlier that time, you risk ruining your project.

1. • Brand certain to work in a ventilated surroundings when baking clay.^[x]

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Article Summary X

To harden modeling clay that's polymer-based, start by placing the clay on a ceramic baking dish. Then, bake the clay in the oven for 10-30 minutes at 215-300 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on what the packaging your clay came in says. When the clay is finished baking, immediately dunk information technology in a bath of ice h2o for xxx seconds so information technology stops baking. To learn how to harden self-drying modeling clay, whorl down!

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