Comments on: Learning the Fundamentals in Polymer Clay – What You Should Know

By: Jocelyn

Jocelyn — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 17:30:08 +0000

LOL! Never throw out clay. You have to put on your scientist jacket and figure out how to reconstitute it so that you can use it.

Use the small coffee grinder to break up old clay and mix in additives to soften (drop of mineral oil is my fave). Gather it up and pop it into a recycled plastic baggie, massage it a minute, then let it sit overnite. The next day….beautiful clay.

By: Phaedrakat

Phaedrakat — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 07:30:27 +0000

@Cheryl V.: That’s so awesome!

By: Cheryl V.

Cheryl V. — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:20:00 +0000

@Phaedrakat: I bought two 2oz. blocks of the clay a little over a week ago. I offered to send the crumbly clay back to Polyform but I got another really nice email from Pat and she said that was not necessary. Again, I never expected them to replace it and I certainly didn’t expect to be told to keep the frustrating clay. Just another statement about Polyform’s integrity! I have just ordered a clay extruder so that I can try making the Jupiter beads so I think I can use this hard clay in those. And I’ve been working on my opals all day (finally). OH HAPPY DAY!

By: Phaedrakat

Phaedrakat — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:00:10 +0000

@Cheryl V.: That’s wonderful! I didn’t expect that! Is the clay you wrote them about fairly new, or have you had it for a while? I’m curious about Polyform’s criteria for offering to replace clay. I know my own clay is quite old, so I would never ask for a replacement. But if I ever get some that I can’t condition, it’s good to know that they will replace it! And as for you, now you have some “free” clay to mess with. If you can’t get it into a workable state, you can use it for pebbles or whatever — your fresh stuff is on the way! :D

By: carolyn

carolyn — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:13:00 +0000

@Cheryl V.: I knew Polyform was a great company and I had hoped that they would replace it, but I didn’t want to say that before. I didn’t want you thinking that the only reason to contact them was to get a replacement. It sure does feel good when a company truly stands behind their product.

By: Cheryl V.

Cheryl V. — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:05:05 +0000

@Cindy Lietz from Purple Leopard Cane: WOW, Cindy, what a great idea. I have followed the link and I can’t wait to try this awesome project. I love this wonderful community! I feel like I’m finally home :-) My biggest problem is that I spend so much time reading everything, I’m not getting any clay projects done. I plan to get busy since my vacation is almost over. Thank you for all of your amazing ideas and teaching. You make everything look so easy and fun.

By: Cheryl V.

Cheryl V. — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:48:56 +0000

@Phaedrakat: Hi Phaedrakat, Thank You so much for all of the great ideas and tips for dealing with this frustrating clay. I just returned from a day trip to the coast and now I am ready to tackle the clay again. By the way, Polyform replied really fast to my email and they want to replace the clay. Isn’t it wonderful to see that there are companies that stand behind their products and we are lucky enough to want and need them as much as they need us. I am very impressed! Everyone on here is very impressive also!! I am learning so much from all of you and I thank you all for sharing yourselves with us.

By: Cheryl V.

Cheryl V. — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:40:02 +0000

@carolyn: I want to thank you again Carolyn. I got a very nice and quick reply from Polyform. They are going to replace the clay for me. I sure wasn’t expecting that. Thank you also for the softener tip.

By: Cindy Lietz@Purple Leopard Cane

Cindy Lietz@Purple Leopard Cane — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:21:12 +0000

Great advice Phaedrakat and Carolyn! What would I do without great people like you coming to the rescue! It is support like this that create such a strong community spirit here.

Cheryl, if you still have lumpy or crumbling clay after trying the tips above, it could mean it is partially cured and will never be normal again. (Maybe that’s why I’m not normal, I’m partially cured! LOL).

Don’t despair though. If it is cured, you can still use this clay for making faux pebble beads or faux stones. You’ll just need to add it to some normal, non-crumbly clay, to get it to hold all the chunky bits together!

By: Phaedrakat

Phaedrakat — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:03:38 +0000

@Cheryl V.: Hi Cheryl, as long as the clay isn't cured, there are other things you can try, as well. Your clay just sounds old -- I've got lots of it that had been stored away, and it can be fixed. You just have to be patient with it. Especially since this is for the center of the opals -- the outside of them is Bake & Bond, right? Fimo Mix-Quick, Sculpey Dilutent, mineral oil, liquid clay (any of them!) or even Sculpey Mold-Maker are all good things to soften your clay. Don't overdo the softeners, especially something like baby or mineral oil. If you have a food processor, it makes the job faster. Or if you have some soft clay (like some translucent?) you could mix that with your white to see if that helps get it to a better consistency. Here's a comment I left for someone else about conditioning crumbly clay, that has links to some of Cindy's great articles and comments/answers. Let us know how it turns out! Good luck :~D