Polymer Clay Journey: I Need To Condition My Clay? Explain It.

Something that I learned a year ago when my polymer clay "journey" began, was that polymer clay must be conditioned prior to using it. My young friend Luke who has been working with clay for years now, uses Sculpey 3 and has never concerned himself with conditioning. In fact, I asked him if he knew about this requirement and he said, "no." Several months ago when I decided to try out the other few brands of clay, I did check out the only brand he has ever used and discovered it was super soft and squishy. Which then caused me to wonder if super soft means you do not have to worry about conditioning your clay. Well as always, I researched the hard work already done by fellow clay artists and the answer from the folks who make it, Polyform, is "yes." If you do not condition or mix and knead your clay, it won't be able to reach it's maximum strength potential because the polymers or plasticizers won't be evenly combined through out the clay. That being said, I did discover that sculpted 3 is one of the weakest clays on the market. I do try mixing it with the Premo, Souffle or Fimo to use the great colour selection Sculpey offers, but  I have since concluded that Sculpey 3 is just too weak to use on any projects that require durability and strength. It is great for children and people with weak hands like me or arthritis, because of it's easy condition-ability. And it is great for the great little critters that my young friend makes, take a look here:

Just recently he received Premo clay and today, I am going to help him to learn how to use it. I don't want him to give up when he sees how much stiffer it can be compared to S3. On that note, I wanted to share some great Polymer Clay Tutorial Videos about Clay Conditioning and other basics. Hope it helps!!
Conditioning Polymer Clay 

HeArtfully Creating,
Anita

Polymer Clay Journey: Lesson Learned about Mixing Clay Brands

Still loving working with polymer clay. In the beginning, I was following what the poly clay artists taught in their videos and tutorials. Lots to learn and now put into practice. 

One of the lessons I faithfully followed initially was...

#1 Polyform's PREMO and Souffle (all made by polyform) clay is the strongest and best for artistic purposes, like jewelry making.

Assuming that was true, I didn't try anything else. After all, what did I know as a newbie. Since my hands are weak though, I did notice that some of the colours (turns out some may have been on the shelf too long and firmed up) were pretty tough to condition, squeezing and manipulating the clay until it is pliable and all the polymer and such is well mixed, ready to use. Not wanting to depend on the pasta machine or clay conditioning machine, I want to use my hands as much as possible.

Curious, eventually, I purchased some Sculpey 3 and Fimo Effect and Fimo Soft. After all, Sculptey 3 is used by our  dear young friend Luke, who first introduced me to polymer clay. He is a faithful Sculpey 3 user and has made hundreds of adorable characters that are pretty durable. Check his pieces out below.

Well, I learned that SCULPEY 3 is so soft, it requires no effort, a dream, but, it is too weak for thinner pieces. Not to mention, I love that Sculpey 3 and all of the FIMO lines offer a lot more colours that I love. But strength is important in my pieces. First meet Luke and see the sampling of his hundreds of characters, all made by him. He has been making these guys for about five years or more now!

LUKE'S polymer clay creations. The fellow I first learned about  Poly Clay from.

LUKE'S polymer clay creations. The fellow I first learned about  Poly Clay from.

LUKE'S polymer clay creations. The fellow I first learned about  Poly Clay from.

LUKE'S polymer clay creations. The fellow I first learned about  Poly Clay from.

Combining Clays Works for Me

Wanting to work with a soft clay and more colour options, I began mixing my main clay brands, PREMO with Sculpey 3 and Fimo. Does it work? Well, here I am to share my experiment, so, yes! Of course clay strength depends on what your purpose or use is. In Luke's case, Sculpey 3 is soft, easy to use and because his pieces aren't thin and delicate, they stay strong. Because most of my pieces are to be worn as jewelry, I make sure if I am to combine clay brands, I make sure Premo or Souffle is at least fifty percent of the content.  And then based on advice I obtained from my research, bake the clay at the highest temperature. For example Premo is baked at 275 degrees fahrenheit and FIMO 265 degrees, if I combine the two, I bake or cure it at the 275 temperature. Nothing burns and so far all cures well. It is up to you, but I like to just turn off the oven and let it cool down on it's own.

I must say,  FIMO seems to be pretty solid as well when baked. It is all an ongoing trial and error, learning experience. I like learning by watching tutorials and by testing it out myself.

Lesson Learned

Mixing brands of clays can work. My biggest lesson lately has been, take the advice from the expert poly clay artists, but as you develop your skill, try new things. You aren't limited by anyone. If you are curious what would happen if you mix this or do that, then try it. If you are really young, make sure you always have an adult to supervise the oven use, as well as making sure you do not work with sharp blades. There are alternative ways to cut your clay if you have wee fingers.