Polymer Clay Baking Instructions

I understand that you should use a toaster oven for clay baking that will no longer be used for food, but, I read that if you place your beads in a metal pan and then clip another metal pan of the same size over it you can bake the clay in a regular oven and there is no problem.

Does that really work and if so, how, and who's doing it?

It does work Katina, Though you should still bake on a bead rack or a ceramic tile since it is not good to bake on metal. Metal can cause scorching on your beads, which is not good.

Hi again Cindy :-)!

I have 2 small problems and I hope you can help me with some advice.

1. I live in Israel and I haven't found Finish floor polish here. Do you have any idea what can I replace it with (other kind of polishing wax or something)?

2. I made a thin disk on the weekend (about 2 m"m thick) and after baking, it still remained flexible. Did I do something wrong? (I baked other stuff also together with the disk, but just this disk didn't harden entirely)

Thank you in advance for your answer

Corinne

Corinne, I will answer your question in two different comments so you can click on the links by my name for more help.

For your first question. I don't know what the equivalent floor polish to Future Floor Finish would be in Israel. I do have several readers from Israel that come here, maybe they could point you in the right direction.

You can order Future Floor Finish online if you like. The link by my name has more info on the product and where you can order it, if you are interested. There is also info there about another Varathane-based finish you can use on your beads instead, so have a look at that too.

For your second question Corinne… As long as you baked the disk for an hour it will be baked hard enough. Some clays remain a little more flexible than others when baked. Since this is a thin piece, you will be able to notice the flexibility more than in a thicker piece.

To make sure you are baking your beads properly, click on the link by my name and go read that article. I think you will find it very helpful!

Cindy – I dragged my old toaster oven from the cellar and attempted to bake some beads (w/o an oven thermometer). This was my first attempt at baking. The clay was a marbled black and white and after baking came out a dark brown. Also the beads had what look like "warts" on them and one was twice the size as before I baked it. Would you say this was the cause of a faulty toaster oven?

Hi Susan,

The toaster oven may be fine but it sounds like it is running way too hot. The warts are air bubbles and the brown is from being burnt. I've never seen a bead get twice as big, but it may have expanded by burning. Make sure to get an oven thermometer. They are cheap if you buy them at a grocery store or at a Walmart. The ones at the craft store are too expensive. Most ovens are a little off, so I would test it first before getting rid of it.

For more a comprehensive list of articles about tips for baking polymer clay, click on the the link by my name above.

Hi Cindy,

Your web site is great! I am relatively new to polymer clay but have made a few items. I was just about to mix 2 colors of FIMO SOFT together to make another color when I noticed that each package has a different baking temperature. One (translucent) says 265 degrees and the other says 230. I had thought all polymer clay had to be baked around 265-275. Can I mix these 2 clays together, and if so, at what temperature would I bake them? The one that says 230 says do not heat above 350 so I guess it would be safe to bake it at 265 but I'm wondering if there will be problems. Thank you for being there.

Carol

I'm trying to bake my clay and I am completely confused. I have a pasta machine that puts my clay down to 2.269 millimeters and it is 15 minutes per every quarter of an inch to bake. And before I blow my house up I was hoping to get some help with figuring this out. Thank you.

@Dawn: Hi Dawn, the package directions that tell you "30 min. per 1/4 inch" are very general. The really important thing when baking polymer clay is the oven temperature, not time. Use an oven thermometer (buy one cheap at a dollar store or grocery) to monitor the temperature, and keep it at or slightly below what it says on the pkg. directions (usually between 265F & 275F for most clays.) Thermostats can be way off. Ovens fluctuate, have hot-spots, and temperature spikes; so monitoring the temp is crucial. As for the length of time, you can bake most things for an entire hour, as long as the oven doesn't get over-heated. As one member put it, "it's not like baking cookies" — the clay won't burn if left in too long. What burns the clay is a too-hot oven!

So, don't worry about how thick your pasta machine is or your finished piece. If you make something paper-thin, bake it a minimum of 30 minutes. Otherwise, just bake most things (pendants, beads, smaller sculptures, etc.) for an hour. If you make something really thick, like a larger sculpture, bake it even longer. Just make sure you monitor that oven temp, and you should be fine. [Quick tips: you obviously want to keep your clay away from the sides of the oven as well as the filament. These are extra-hot. Metal gets hot very quickly - baking on a ceramic tile or keeping one in your oven can help keep the temperature more even. If your clay is light-colored or translucent, you might want to cover (tent) your piece with foil or paper, or even corn starch, to avoid darkening. Information about all these tips can be found here at the blog. Just use the search box at the top left, and put in one or two keywords like "light clay" or "baking" etc.]

Read the post by Cindy right above your comment. She has great baking advice as well as sharing ways to find even more info. There is a link by her name that leads to another great article on baking. And last, but not even close to least, there's a link to Cindy's Polymer Clay Fundamentals Course, which is absolutely amazing. It will teach you everything you need to know about getting started in polymer clay and how to really make your pieces the best they can be.

There are hundreds of articles with information here at this great site. Don't forget to read the member comments as well, because there's even more tips and tricks there. This post, "Most-Asked Beginner Question…:" has links to most of the baking-related posts, so check that out. Use that search box, like Cindy said in her comment, or use the "Topic Categories" list below the search box. You can also click on one of the tags at the end of each article, under Cindy's signature. As you can see, there are so many ways to find what you need. If you still need help after taking a look around, just ask. Someone is usually around and happy to help!

Best of luck with your clay, & have fun!

You're welcome, Cindy, I love to help. As you might be able to tell, I haven't been able to clay much lately. I've been stuck in bed with too much back pain, so I've been doing a lot of reading (and posting.) If I can't clay, I love to read about it! Thank you for creating such a great site. It's a wonderful clay community here, and it feels good to be a part of it.