Liquid Sculpey vs Studio by Sculpey Bake and Bond – Test Results

Two Liquid Polymer Clay Products that Look and Smell the Same. But Are they Really the Same?

Lately I've been having a ton of fun 'test driving' some Studio by Sculpey products. Now the last thing I would want is to keep all of this information to myself. So today's post is yet another in my ongoing "Studio" educational series. This one is about the Bake & Bond, bakeable adhesive product.

By the way, if you missed any of my previous Studio Reports, here are the links to them:

Studio by Sculpey Polymer Clay – Oven Bake Clay for Bead Making: My "First Impression" Notes with Some Comparisons to Premo Sculpey.

Quick Notes About Some Studio by Sculpey Polymer Clay Tools: It was Like Christmas In June When the UPS Driver Arrived.

Testing Studio by Sculpey Antiquing Medium on Polymer Clay Beads: A Little Goes A Long Ways!

Faux Leather Rose Beads Made From Studio by Sculpey Polymer Clay: Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, And Some Clay Roses are Leathery Too!

Studio by Sculpey Glaze – a Beautiful Finish for Polymer Clay Beads: It Appears To Soak Right In, Rather Than Just Form a Coating.

Comparison of Studio by Sculpey Polymer Clay and Premo Sculpey: Two Artist Quality Clays Made By Polyform.

OK… Now Back to the Bake and Bond Review:

Bake and Bond is an adhesive meant to adhere baked and unbaked pieces of polymer clay together. The applications include: Joining raw clay to raw clay; Baked to baked; and Raw to baked. It can also be use to adhere baked clay to porous items such as  paper, wood and canvas. Baking is always required to get this adhesive to cure.

When I opened the bottle, the smell and consistency of the Bake and Bond liquid reminded me of TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey). TLS is used in many polymer clay techniques, including: Faux ceramics; Faux opals; and Image transfers. I couldn't help but think that maybe these two products were the same, just packaged up differently for separate markets. After all, they are both made by the same company (Polyform).

So I decided to do some testing. For each of the 2 products (Bake&Bond vs TLS), I added thick blobs and thin smears to a piece of parchment paper. This was to see how each compared in translucency when baked. Prior to baking, the wet  Bake&Bond felt a little stickier than the TLS… more like white glue. After baking, both were pretty much identical in transparency. However, the TLS did end up feeling slightly more stretchy and rubbery. These findings make me want to try the Bake&Bond in place of the TLS for all of my faux techniques, since I think it has a nicer feel than the rubbery TLS. I'm hoping it will sand up better. Will let you know when I have more info on that.

Next I wanted to test for adhesion strength. Using the Bake&Bond as well as the TLS separately, I joined raw to baked samples of clay; And baked to baked pieces. Both products worked extremely well. I couldn't pull the samples apart at all. However, my guess is the Bake&Bond is probably a little stronger because it seems to have something additional in it that made it stickier when wet. But that is just speculation at this stage.

I'll be doing further tests with my Studio by Sculpey Bake and Bond, to see if it is viable alternative for using in place of liquid clay. Is there any specific ideas you would like me to test out for you? I'm definitely open to suggestions here.