Video #370: Finger prints and flaws will make you look like an amateur, which is not a good thing.
Topics Covered In This Video:
- How to avoid and remove fingerprints on your polymer clay before it is baked, so there is less finishing work required later on.
- Things to avoid that cause fingerprints to happen more easily (soft clay, warm clay, squishy polymer clay brands).
- Use firmer brands such as Kato Polyclay, Fimo Classic and my personal favorite, Premo Sculpey.
- Using cornstarch on your fingers can help fill the gaps in your fingerprint ridges, and therefore reduce the number of fingerprint impressions on your clay.
- Use cornstarch or water for erasing fingerprints and other small flaws on your clay’s surface.
- Use the side of your hand for smoothing. The lines are not as deep on that part of your hands.
- Work on paper. It has a nice smooth surface.
- Use latex gloves if you like. I personally don’t like working in them since my hands get too sweaty inside the gloves.
Question of the Day:
What do you do about fingerprints on your polymer clay? And do you have any special tricks or tips you would like to share?
By the way, if you have a polymer clay question or challenge you’d like me to address in an upcoming video vlog, do post it in the comments below. I’d love to help you find quicker and easier ways to bring up the professionalism in your polymer clay art.
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Looking forward to hearing from you!
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Thank you, this was really very helpful :) and right in time.
Well, I painted glue on my fingers to avoid getting fingerprints on my work. Worked fine but took three days to pick it all off so not recommended. I also put baby oil just a smidging on my fingers and wiped most of it off but that helped smooth out those pesky little lines. I agree with Cindy, it is much better to do all this before baking as sanding afterwards takes time that could be spent making other beads………………..cheers xx……………………………
Glue on your fingertips? That’s a new one Elaine! I haven’t tried that yet. Lol I have used oil or lotion on my hands but do find it to be a little more ‘smeary’ than just plain water. Rubbing alcohol of course works too, but its smeary as well. Whatever works and results in the least amount of sanding is the way to go in my books. Glad to see you’re working at keeping those prints off your beads before baking. It saves a lot of work that way, doesn’t it!
I use a q-tip and 100% acetone once the piece is finished baking. It removes dust, and fingerprints. Though, it does sort-of “melt” the clay a bit, if you are careful there is no risk of ruining a piece. I have noticed it leaves a white haze behind on some clays, but a bit of polishing with a piece of denim [as per you], and the haze usually comes right off. =]
I always do the corn starch, I learned from you in one of your tutorials Cindy!!!
GREAT video tip Cindy!!!
I use an eraser from a pencil.
I use my acrylic roller but edge of hand is a really great idea. Thanks.
Thanks for all the tips ladies!
Mainly I use corn starch. Water is good. In a pinch a little saliva works well too………..LOL
Don’t tell me you’re actually licking your pieces Patt! LOL
Oh man, don’t even JOKE like that b/c people will try it!!! LOL
hehehehe… hmmmm I think I like that “licking” tip more….hehehehe
I love your “finger-printy” comments, Cindy! Thanks for the tips!
Sometimes I’ll place a piece of saranwrap over a flat object (holding down the sides) and burnish it to smooth out any imperfections. Also, I will clean up the back? side of a piece and place that side face-down on a piece of patty paper (like what you have between frozen burgers) and then do the saran wrap technique on the top. I also like the fingercots for last minute toush-ups.
Today my sister had surgery, Amanda was getting over the flue and broke her fever, Duane is tired being the only driver for my sister and I and Mesha Boy is fine. Now that is out of the way here is my other news. Ps on my sister she has lived for 10 yrs now with too much calcium in her body, now her body is unsure how to handle it. So until things settle down I am not sure between Dr, nurse and pharmacists if they are all on the same page now, she had para thyroidism.
Today at the curvy chic show Miss Oregon Plus was there. She loved my jewelry so much she is looking for an outfit that she can wear for next weeks fashion show . There were two necklaces and earrings and one bracelet that she was looking at. Then she would like me to make some for her other fashion shows too. She will post the picture taken of the two of on her FB and Becky in charge of the show will send me one . Neat uh! Oh yea I sold 4 pieces and made about 100.00 today. Elizabeth Roozen was my helper and she sold one of her rose earrings. She was so happy.
What Miss Oregon liked was the flowers and use of colors, even the leaf necklace was a hit with translucent and mica powders. She said it is what you don’t see in stores.
Hi Cindy. Hope your sister is recovering quickly from her surgery and that Amanda is now over her flu. Sounds like a lot is going on around there.
Great to hear your success with the curvy chic show!! That is awesome! It is fantastic to hear about these kind of successes!!
I know that others here will gain a lot from hearing your success story. It’s encouraging to think that there is a market for jewelry in all markets… not for just the skinny stick runway models but for the curvy chicks as well.
Most people may not have thought about it, but there would be many design elements that would need to be considered when making jewelry for a niche that doesn’t fit a ‘standard mold’. Stories like yours may encourage others to think more about who their product is ultimately for and if they couldn’t better design their work to suit their customer/recipient more.
Hey that gives me an idea… Have you thought about making jewelry that was specifically for blind people? Maybe with clasps that are easier to use? Or textures or shapes that would be more tactile and not just pretty to look at? Just a thought. Might be a market for you.
The one thing I made sure of for this show was that the jewelry necklaces were not 18″ as this tends to choke curvy chicks. So they were 22″ – 24″. One of the gals said she can neer find any jewelry as they are to short or way to long. She tried on one of mine and it fit her perfectly. So she has a new necklace. I also tried not to many of the smaller beaded necklaces out as they sometimes would be lost or just look wrong if you no what I mean. anyway Queen Tara now has all 3 pieces she liked with matching earrings. She will post pictures of them and while wearing them on FB.
Cindy P – was great to hear about your sales and success, also liked they way you thought about who you were making your jewelry for
It warms my heart to know that there are people who desire the fruits of our labor as the saying goes:)
I brush it with baby oil then bake. This takes most of the fingerprints out.
My dear friends, there is a girl in our group Happy Smile who comes to e very useful trick regarding the finger prints. She has developed it and finally it comes to a perfect adhesive too. It is with using a very small quantities of olive oil. Benefits: it removes the finger prints when gently applied, it reveals the colours better, makes bright and clears the top layer and finally with the time it works like a strong glue (instead of liquid clay or other). It is cheap and bakable :)
Thanks Vera, I am definitely going to try olive oil. That’s all I cook with, so available. Guess I will have to quit using spit to smooth LOL!!!
Do you know if old olive oil is okay with this trick? I have some nice olive oil that got hidden by other stuff and I forgot about. It’s gotten a bit stale but it makes me sad to throw it out. If I can use it for clay it will make my reuse/recycle soul happier and I won’t feel as bad about not getting to use it in food. ;-)
Hi Bertha, I would not ingest old oil olive since it can get rancid. There are lots of uses for it though. If you google “uses for old oil olive” you will get lots of ideas what to do with it. Good Luck.
Great tip Cindy thanks
I also tried latex gloves…maybe 3 or 4 times but they made my hands sweat too
then I learned about finger cots, my pharmacist gets them in packs of 100 they cost around $3.50…but water is almost free – so there you go – next time I’m going to try this new trick you’ve gifted us with
btw burled wood is so pretty and I’m looking forward to learning this faux tech when? you get all the bumps worked out
OK GUYS – NEWS : the above comment I posted yesterday on YouTube, then last night I remembered that it would be a big help to Doug if we also put it here- being SO computer savvy (NOT) I wondered if the copy/paste thing would work from youtube to here well it did work and no one was more suprized than me ;)
Thanks for double posting your comment, Sherry. It really is a BIG benefit to have everyone’s valuable input archived here at this blog… all searchable in one location.
That being said, Cindy and I also really appreciate seeing all of the comments going out on YouTube and Facebook too. That helps to create more visibility, which ends up introducing more clayers to the PcT community/family.
Not a fan of finger prints. I think it makes a big difference in the quality of your? work. I mist water also or take a piece of stretched candy paper over a flat piece then rub with finger. Thanks for the wonderful Tips, great as always Cindy and Doug.
FYI, did you know that as you grow older your fingerprints begin to fade? A few years ago I moved to a new state and had to get a background check to teach school. The police officer had a hard time getting good prints from me and he told me that fingerprints become less distinct with age.
They disappear from all the hard work and dishes we’ve washed over the years. LOL
Hey, are you trying to say that people who have deep fingerprints don’t do enough dishes?! LOL
You can use bleach carefully to smothen or erase your fingerprints…
and you keep it for months…cheap and use it just a little a few seconds…
Hi Giri, unfortunately Bleach is not going to ‘cut’ into the clay and smooth it, like rubbing alcohol will. Rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl Alcohol) is cheap and keeps for months as well, so the bleach really wouldn’t be much of a benefit. Thanks for your question though. It never hurts to ask! :)
Someone in our guild swears by KY to remove fingerprints. Haven’t tried it myself, but I suspect it’s the same principle.
Good job, Cindy!
Depending on the imperfections/fingerprints, I burnish the clay with my finger or wipe it with rubbing alcohol on a piece of smooth material.
Well I have got to try those finger cots. Don’t use the latex gloves, the box has sat on the shelf forever. Wonder If I could just cut off the tops of the fingers and use those? Do they work as well? :D
Have been working with the Makins Extruder lately and I hate the screechy noise it makes besides being hard to extrude at times. Hard to keep fingerprints off these. Here’s a great tip I found using the Extruder. Some Metal clay artists use a product called Cool Slip which is great for polymer clay. You spray just one quick spray inside the extruder tube and WOW what a difference. It comes out easy, no screeching and if handled right very little fingerprints. It’s not very expensive and makes your extruding job a whole lot easier.
Just wanted to share that. More snow in the forecast here, ugh!
Hi Dixie Ann – hmm, not sure if cutting off the fingers of the gloves would work – but heck since you have some gloves give it a go and see:) the cots at the open end look like the end of a balloon (kind of) they come rolled up and you put it on the tip of your finger and roll down
I have large hands and I get the size large cots, sometimes they get to feeling too tight on my thumbs and I cut (carefully) little slits in the rolled up area
this is something I have to ask for from behind the RX counter in our area – also they should be able to special order them for you
I looked up Cool Slip & saw it was for metal clays but I didn’t find any info about using it with polymer – didn’t really search anywhere but Cool Tools site though
I like using a small padded vise to hold the extruder other wise it’ll kill your hands – didn’t Cindy do a video about that? anyway I hope you don’t get any more snow hon i bet you guys are way over it by now:)
LOL, Sherry it sounded like you were describing something else but I won’t mention it here. Your right, all I can do is scrap one pair if they don’t work. The Cool Slip spray is a Metal Clay release agent but it also works with polymer clay, states it right on the bottle. So you can actually use it as a release agent in your extruder and molds also. Just don’t use too much, It only takes a very tiny amount. I am comfortable using my hands and wrists extruding now as long as I am using the spray. I’m finding that a lot of stuff used for metal clay can be used for Polymer Clay so it’s a whole other area to explore. Just got the latest weather report and it ain’t good. :(
Hehe I was thinking the same thing Dixie Ann! Love your idea about the cool slip. I haven’t looked it up yet, is it some sort of silicone based lubricant like WD-40? Just wondering if that would work in your extruder as well? Just a though. Thanks for getting those rusty gears going in my brain. (Did you see how I did that there? Linking rusty brain with a spray lubricant? Clever hun! LOL)
Sucks that its snowing there for you! I guess you don’t want to hear about the sun shining, the birds chirping and the flowers blooming here in Vancouver right now then? Sorry… after the torrential rains and winds of yesterday morning, I couldn’t help bragging about the gorgeous day we’re having here today!
I was really hoping for nice weather for my birthday but alas, it’s rain, storms and chance of snow again. Did you send it this way Cindy? At least someone is having a lovely spring! :) I think the WD-40 has a little thicker viscosity than the Cool Slip but they are similar in appearance. Cool Slip was made specifically for the Metal Clay to prevent sticking which it is notorious for doing. Just one tiny spray is all it takes. With WD I would probably coat a cotton ball and then run it up and down the sides of the extruder to prevent from over lubricating it rather than spraying it inside the tube. Your brain is far from rusty, it’s well oiled and grabs thoughts like a steel trap. That’s what makes you such a good teacher. You never pass up a possibility of making something new or better, using that ingenuity you possess.
Happy Spring!
(wink-wink)
:)
Dixie, great tip for the extruder tube. Bet it works a treat. In past I’ve given it a short spritz of WD-40 or olive oil cooking spray too.
Plus, warming in on a heating pad.
Cindy, this is just great, now I know to use the back bottom of my palms to remove prints!
Mentioned here and other that I am a fan of acetone to remove prints because it evaporates quickly. Used it on Sculptey, Fimo, Kato, and Premo brands with no problem, bakes and finishes fine. But the s-m-e-l-l….ew.
So I use an old nail polish dispenser found in nail salons back in the day. Fill it up, and the metal cap seals it. If I need some, I tap on the metal pump, and just a drop comes up to use. Once tapped, it reverts to sealed.
Here is a source: dhgate.com/new-empty-pump-dispenser-for-nail-art-polish/p-ff8080813ada6e40013b07fd9d852af7.html
Think this style dispenser, and the plastic versions, can be used with acetone, alcohol, water, bleach, and probably a few other liquids. They are attractive and heavy so you cannot tip them, a biggie with me. EBay might have collectible versions, just like the old salt and pepper shakers you can place on multi level revolving stands to house salt, papkrika (faux rust tute), ground mica, sparkles, etc. If you go to Meyers.com, you can see how they use these in the glitter industry. Too cool!
Thanks Jocelyn for that info! I think we may have one of those dispensers hanging around here somewhere. I seem to remember Doug’s Dad having one in his Dental Tools and supplies he gave me for my studio some time ago. I think he used the dispenser for rubbing alcohol. Will have to dig around and see if I can find it.
I’ve had great luck w/finger cots so far and they can be reused if you let them ‘dry out’. And yes, the description given is exactly and humorously what they look like! (but very very small compared to the ‘real thing’ ;) See me blushing?!/! Thank you Cindy for the info on using side of hand to smooth out lines. And yup its winter again in N. MN also!
Thanks for the great video, Cindy.
If my clay gets too soft I sometimes lay it on the pasta machine. The metal conducts away the warmth of the clay, cooling it. This works for small pieces.
I also have a number of ice packs in my freezer. I put them into a small cooler and bring it to my work station. I can lay the clay on a squishy ice pack, with a piece of paper between. Sometimes I put the clay between two ice packs, with paper on both sides of the clay.
I like my squishy, flat ice pack the best, but I only have one and so I use the others, too.
Again, thanks for the great video!
I always use finger cots. I get them online x 144 for about $5.00. The ones I found at the drug store came in various sizes and I like just the small ones to avoid wrinkles. They’re reusable depending on the color of clay (the strong colors do tend to transfer). Thanks to everyone for all the tips.
Hi Cindy and all!
Alice Stroppel from The Stroppel Cane told me to try using Natural Orange Lotion Hand Cleaner to remove fingerprints. It’s all she uses!
Now I have a question for you Cindy. I’m working on a tile bracelet – so a flat piece – and I don’t know where they are coming from – but I keep finding all kinds of different fibers in my pieces. I am getting so discouraged! Do I have to remove them? Or do they cook out like in my brother’s pottery kiln?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Nice to hear from you Aims! Hope all is well for you. Sounds like a great tip! Thanks for popping by and sharing it with us!
Good to see you Aims, the hedgehogs are great! Being the multi talented artist you are (knitter deluxe, lol), think bits of fibres are everywhere, and poly clay finds and absorbs them like glue. I wear cotton shirts and jeans now, since even the bits from my wool sweaters are all over and inside some work over periods of time. Think you just have to work clean, and if you leave something for a second, put it in a Glad baggie or cover your surface with Glad Cling Wrap. Cannot imagine how you get them out of or off the surface of a poly clay creation. Tried everything, and it marks the clay surface. Sand, and more come to the surface…. All best and hope you are well.
Hi Jocelyn!
I was beginning to think that pumping up the heat in my little portable fireplace heater and claying naked was going to be my last resort – but you may have saved the day (and the neighbour’s eyes) by suggesting cotton! :0)
I would hate to move out of my studio to have to do my claying – and yes there are balls of wool sitting there in their wool sacks just waiting to create some kind of mischief, but I vacuum as much as possible and try to move around as little as possible – especially near them!
However – I see it’s a hopeless situation no matter what. I’ll have to learn to grin and ‘tweezer’ them out. I had this bracelet ready to put in the oven when I noticed a piece of fiber sticking out. Then I noticed another and another and………… finally the whole thing was wrecked. Yep – little sobs could be heard around my once happy studio.
Ah well. Now I know – it’s search and destroy fibers as I go along and take out crystals and sparkly things before baking!
:0)
Aims
LOL! Join the club, you should see what I brought home from the neighbor’s cat. ARGH!
Cotton is the best, and if you need to you can wear cotton long underwear then layer on top. I have never found a fiber from a prewashed cotton or denim jean anything (Thank the good Lord, lol)!
The other suggestion, is to get a box set of those air spray jobbies used to clean computers. If you keep it near your work surface, and spray religiously, at least the air will move the dust and fibers out of the way.
So happy to see you back! Could you please throw up a link to some of your art sites? Need an oogle today, lol!
Thanks for the idea of spraying the dust and fibers out of the way Jocelyn, along with the dressing ideas! I could always spray myself down too I suppose!
As far as my polymer creations…. I only have a few that I have recently done and a couple of works in progress. I’ll have to get out my camera and get them up on the site. I promise I will get around to doing that.
Aims
Oh hey! I just might have found the answer to the dust situation! It’s a bit pricey – but in the end it would pay for itself I think!
Have a look!
Bingo. Think you have something here that over the long haul, more than justifies the expense, installation, and maintenance cycle. There are soooo many pollutants, dust, pollen, etc., that impact the quality of our life. For some of us, it just makes sense….filter your air.
Of course, you could always build a big A frame and cover it with a clear tarp, like they do on the home shows on TV, and use that big zipper thingie to enter/exit. Too cool. Make a great green house for air clearers like spider plants too.
Looks good Aims! I’ll have to look around the site and see if they have something with a hose that could be hooked up to my JoolTool. I can see this working for people using a dremel or just setting up behind their work station to keep the air cleaner. Thanks for sharing the link!
Hi Aims,
while reading your messages, I had an image in my mind of the film E.T. – you know the part of the film where the Big Guys come in and take over, just before the kids and E.T. take off on the bicycles? They’re in this giant plastic bubble – obviously dust-free!! Get on to someone in Hollywood, and they might give you a present of it!! LOL
Genie
I haven’t watched the video as of yet and am really looking forward to it, For some reason I have no audio this am and the big dog expert is still sleeping, to rest up for a week-end with the kids and Grandbaby who HAS to sleep with Grandma which is fine but sleeping with her is like sleeping with a fish just hooked and thrashing on the shore, I’ll be glad when she is older and doesn’t want to sleep with me anymore, ( or not, isn’t it funny the things we miss when they are gone )
Having said that I do like my spit and I do believe that I am old enough that my prints really don’t show much,but I am open and eager to learn other ways to do things since I worry about the toxicicity of the clay since we are told to have ovens and tools dedicated to working with clay. As a mother it was natural to ” go to the spit ” to clean a face or hand and it seems that with the clay that old habit just came right back.Probably the baby has someting to do with that . A 19 month old perpetually dirty face that Grandma must keep clean especially in public.
As to the lint and hairs I wear tee’s and leggings so not too much problem there . Where I have a problem is 1) the Boston Terror sleeping under my work table likes to put her signature on the clay with some hair occasionally, and 2) no matter how well I clean my pasta machine I still get transfer color and wind up cutting pieces of other colored clay out of the rolled clay before I can use it.
I came across Mod Podge Hot Glue Finger Caps at Michaels craft store the other day. Thought to myself they might be just the thing to wear to prevent fingerprints. They are made out of non stick silicone. I haven’t tried them yet, but they were inexpensive, and with a coupon I think they are worth a try. If the finger caps work for this purpose, another plus is that they can be wiped down over and over again to be reused.
I’m going to have to take a trip into Michaels I’m afraid to have a look at these things Marlene. Would be great if they work! I do hate fingerprints! Now if they’d only pick up lint and hair as well……..hmmmm
Hi All
I was making some (more) barrette blanks yesterday and something cool happened – I was giving the tops a wipe down w/ corn starch – the 2 shorter ones did fine and then one of the longer ones moved a bit – using my blade I picked it up and on a whim rubbed the back side down w/ corn starch also then I did the 2nd longer one too – off to the oven on their tile… Now the Cool part: when I removed them from the tile the shorter ones had the expected shiny areas and one even had a pretty big air divette (sp) BUT the 2 w/ the corn starch on the back side were perfectly flat and no shiny area surrounding air divettes – YAY – off now to put up a picture at PcT’s facebook page for visual aid :)
.
Hi Sherry,
Don’t you just LOVE happy accidents?………. This is the first I have heard of brushing the tops of a piece with cornstartch, I have buried translucent pieces in it, especially the flowers, is it the same? I will definatly brush the backs from now on though as I really don’t look forward to all the sanding needed without it.
Is it OK to put raw polymer clay into water? I’ve seen you do it in a few videos, and I’ve done it, but it makes the clay sticky, I left it for a while and will come back and see how it is. I can’t find much info about it on the internet but I’ve read that its not a good idea.?
Hi Fawa, are you working with Fimo? Fimo seems to be affected by water (when raw) more than any of the other polymer clays that I have come across. Premo doesn’t seem to have an issue with water at all when it is raw, but I have never left it in water for any length of time.