June 23, 2008
How to Bake Sculpey, Premo and Fimo Polymer Clay in a Toaster Oven
The only time to use a full size kitchen oven for baking polymer clay, would be if you make enormous dinosaur beads :-)
There are so many reasons why a toaster oven is the preferred polymer clay tool for baking Sculpey, Fimo and Premo beads over your regular size, home baking oven. These are the main ones:
- Small - less cost to operate than a large oven.
- Less power consumption is better for the environment.
- Cheap - I got mine free from a friend who was throwing it out. But you can also buy them second hand and even new at clearance places for next to nothing.
- Portable - Can bring it to your craft room or studio.
- Separate from cooking oven - Some people are concerned that the fumes from baking polymer clay could contaminate food.
- Quick to heat up and cool down.
But there are also a few problems you should be aware of when using a toaster oven to bake Sculpey and the other polymer clay brands (Premo, Fimo, etc):
- Because the oven is small, it tends to cool off quickly and therefore has to reheat to get back up to temperature. This can cause 'spikes' in temperatures where the oven gets hotter than it should for short periods of time causing scorching. To avoid this it is important to tent your beads to protect them from the heat hitting them directly.
- When tenting your beads with folded parchment or office paper, it is important to check and make sure the paper does not touch the element. Although the baking temperature is very low and the paper will not burn if tented properly, it still can catch fire if you let it touch the element. Be sensible! Be careful!
- The polymers in the clay need to be baked at their given temperatures for 30 minutes per 1/4 inch of thickness in order to fuse together and cure. Because of that, the fluctuating temperature can be a problem. To compensate, you will need to bake your beads for a longer period of time to ensure proper curing. I am also finding this to be true for the bigger ovens, so this isn't really a downside for using a toaster oven. The ovens that hold their temperature most consistently are the convection ovens. But they are expensive and many polymer clay artists can't justify the added cost.
- Partly because the oven dials are so small and that they are never that accurate, the temperature you think you are setting your oven at may not be the actual temp. inside. As with any oven it is important to use an oven thermometer to make sure you are getting the temperature just right. Always check the baking instructions on the polymer clay packaging. Sculpey III, Premo and Fimo all bake at different degrees. Sometimes even different colors within the same brand can even bake differently, so make sure to read the package instructions.
- There can be 'hot spots' in the oven. Test your oven to see if there are any spots that are hotter than others by moving your thermometer around and checking the readings.
- Work in a room that is well ventilated. Just because a toaster oven is small and you can put it anywhere, don't set it directly in front of you while you are baking beads. Although the clay is non-toxic to work with, the fumes from burnt clay can be harmful so you won't want to be breathing them in.
- The cheaper the better. The expensive toaster ovens with all the bells and whistles aren't worth the added cost. In fact many have self-cleaning features that tend to 'spike' the temperature even more than the cheaper models.
So when you are learning how to bake Sculpey polymer clay in your toaster oven (click the link for even more bead baking tips), make sure to work in a well ventilated room, watch the oven temperature carefully using an oven thermometer, and carefully tent the beads to protect them from scorching. Your beads will turn out beautiful and strong every time.
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Filed under 02: Tools, 10: Finishing by Cindy Lietz
Comments on How to Bake Sculpey, Premo and Fimo Polymer Clay in a Toaster Oven »
It is important to always properly cure your polymer clay beads. If a bead is still raw on the inside, the plasticizers can leach into the cured clay and eventually break it down causing it to crumble at a later date.
After putting all the time and energy into making beautiful beads, it would be a shame to have them fall apart, due to improper baking techniques!
Cindy Lietz's last blog post..Summer Sunflower Fun - Polymer Clay Color Mixing Recipes
AHA!! THIS is the article I have been searching for–something to tell me whether the toaster oven is really worth all the fuss. I have posted comments to some of your other blog entries with questions that you have answered here! Although I still worry about my new craft toaster oven going up in flames like my first one did! (See other comments! Index cards were involved.) Take care and thanks!
Yeah I read them all Kimberlee! Thank you so much for posting these questions. It is very important that people take their ovens seriously so accidents don't happen like what happened to you!
The big thing is (and I said it in the other comments) that the temp in your oven must be carefully monitered with an oven thermometer. I keep mine at a steady 265F degrees which seems to work well with the Premo and Fimo I am working with. Make sure to check the package because the temp for each brand is different. Temps can even be different for each color of clay so make sure to double check.
Also, never, ever let the paper or the clay touch the sides of your oven or the elements. Check while sliding in the rack because a lot of ovens have their elements hanging down. Mine does.
Always use caution and ventilation and you will have many successful baked polymer clay beads!
Cindy Lietz's last blog post..Techniques for Slicing Polymer Clay Canes
I took a couple of classes at a local art studio, got really excited about polymer clay and then had to put my newly learned skills on hold for a while. I was recently given a new convection toaster oven and was disappointed that some of the beads scorched. I can't wait to try using a tent to protect them! I'll also use an oven thermometer to check the actual oven temperature. Thanks so much!
It should help remarkably! Also if you let your oven pre-heat it shouldn't spike quite as much. Let me know if that fixes your problem!
Cindy Lietz's last post..Bead Making Conspiracy - Polymer Clay Tutor's Evil Plan Exposed
I just found some info on using a microwave to bake beads
Put beads in micowaveable plastic container,cover with water,cook on high 10 min. Beads were cut in half to reveal a soild bake. REFERENCE: garieinternational.com
Hi Andrea, I am familiar with Garie. His site is out of Singapore and he has lots of interesting info. I know he does some baking in the microwave… I would caution on doing that however.
If the water were to boil dry and the beads were to get exposed bad things could happen like fire and exploding beads. All the manufacturers say not to microwave polymer clay at all…. so I would listen to them.
Cindy Lietz's last blog post..Bead Mosaic Jewelry Brooch Design by Polymer Clay Artist Naama Zamir
I started watching the polymer clay basics course and find it extremely interesting. In Section #6, you mention that burning clay can cause toxic fumes and that is not good. Can you please tell me how damaging that can be?
Thanks.
That is an excellent question Diane! I was reading something just today about this topic. Julie Leir-VanSickle, one of the editors at Craft Gossip, recently posted the following quote from Doc Sarah of the Philadelphia Area Polymer Clay Guild:
“The fumes of burning clay are an airway irritant. (The burning generates a low level of hydrochloric acid in gaseous form.) Basically that’s a fancy way to say the fumes stink and cause irritation. It is short lived. Of course children have smaller airways and may be more sensitive so it’s a good idea to keep up the ventilation to dilute the air. (if there is a risk of burning.) But don’t worry, there is no hidden toxic effect or delayed issue. If you don’t have any problems now, you won’t have any. Furthermore, if there is any irritation, when it’s gone it’s gone. You can’t take a product certified non-toxic and do anything to it to make it toxic. Burning will make it an irritant, but NOT a toxin per se (using medical definitions.)”
POLYMER CLAY SAFETY INFORMATION UPDATE: I wanted to point out a couple of things based on an email conversation that Diane and I just had about polymer clay safety issues.
1) In my Beginners Course Video on Polymer Clay Safety, I mentioned that burnt polymer clay can give off "toxic" fumes. But based on Doc Sarah's quote posted in the comment immediately above this one, these fumes are actually not toxic. What I should have said in the course video is that the fumes can be irritable for some people or perhaps cause nausea… which obviously is safer than my "toxic" reference. Just wanted to set the record straight.
2) If you do end up with a reaction to the fumes from polymer clay that has been burned in your oven, then go see your doctor about it. When it comes to medical stuff, the Internet is a great starting point to look for information and advice… but it is so important to always consult with a trusted physician before drawing any conclusions.
If you're baking pieces that are thinner than 1/4 inch, do you bake for a shorter period? I would say my color chips are about 1/8 inch thick and I have burned all the samples of translucent and frost I've tried, although the blends I've made with them are ok.
I'm baking between two ceramic tiles for flat things. I have played around with my Amaco oven and found the sweet spot on the dial where the temp stays between 265 and 275, and I'm baking the non-flat things in cornstarch. I'm having a blast, but I tend toward a bit of ARness and I'd really like to have good chips of the translucent and frost to work with…
and I wish my sleep meds would work! LOL! I'm obsessing about this and even dreaming in clay….
edie
I think you aren't the only one Edie that dreams in clay! :-)
You are doing everything right, so I suspect your thermometer could be off. Translucent usually can handle a little higher temp, so I don't understand why this is happening.
The other possibility, I guess, could be a dirty oven. It wouldn't hurt to clean it to see if that works.
Hope that helps. If it doesn't let me know and will try some more problem solving. :-)