Cindy is not always as available to answer questions as quickly as she would like… but there is lots of helpful information here at the blog that can help you along. I moved your comment from it’s original location to this more relevant thread.

You will likely find some helpful information above. And you can also also use appropriate keywords in the search box at the top of this page to find other related articles and comments. Keywords such as…

sticky rollers
pasta machine rollers
pasta machine cleaning
sticky clay
etc.

After you have read through information that has already been posted, please update your question/comment here at it’s new location, to let Cindy know if you still need assistance.

I have just purchased the beginner clay tutorials and can’t wait to get started……and hello everyone!!! I have a question already–I purchased my Amaco Craft Pasta machine at Michaels and wanted to get right to work!!! I collected everything I watched in the tutorials, I have conditioned my Premo Cadmium Yellow and part way through, it started disappearing in the rollers…..maybe it’s too conditioned I thought…..so used some rubbing alcohol to clean up, then started in with a piece of Alizarin Crimson Hue–and it started disappearing into a section underneath also!!! I am in a mess already and can’t get the clay out of the rollers or from underneath–what am I doing wrong? I started at the largest setting and then came down to a 7…….help!!!!

Disclaimer: Only take apart your machine like this if it is a lost cause and you would have to throw it out anyways. Once you start taking stuff like this apart, you will never be allowed to return it, and it may not go back together. So only do this as a last resort!

You might scratch it up a bit, but you can usually pop off the cap on the dial with a screwdriver. Once the dial is open you can remove the nut and washer from the dial and slide it off the machine. Then you can remove the housing from the side of the machine. There you will see the gears clearly. It should be reasonably obvious why the handle will not turn, once you can see it all open like this. Fix the problem if you can and put the machine back together. You won’t have to put the housing or the cap back on if you don’t wish to. That way if it happens again you can fix it without taking it apart.

Now if you are not mechanically inclined, find someone who likes to tinker with stuff like this to help. Since it was broken anyway, there isn’t anything to lose by trying to fix it. Good Luck and let us know if you succeed!

For example, if your thickest setting is a #1 and your thickest is 7 or 9 (each machine is different), then start at 1, then go to 2, then 3, etc until you get to 7 or 9. This way there isn’t so much clay being forced behind those rollers and the sheet shouldn’t wrinkle up so much. It won’t necessarily be perfect, but it will be much smoother. Hope that helps!

BTW there is tons of free information here at the blog if you want to use the search box at the top of the page. There are also many paid tutorials and even a Beginner’s Basics course that will help you along your way with polymer clay. For info on the course, click the link by my name.

HUD housing so standard linoleum floors. Took elbow grease and some applications of alcohol and paper towels for bled spotting, but all in all, came up like a dream.

Acrylic carpet is another story. Leave a bit on there too long and it eats a spot out of the rug, plus adds a little blop of color, very not needed on a beige carpet.

Try to keep the entire area on a tarp or easy to fold up rug, and empty the little bits before they migrate….but, alas, the best made plans of mice and men…..LOL!