Your Precious Blocks of Premo or Fimo Clay Will Get Damaged if You Don’t Store Them Properly:
Now that Spring has officially arrived, it’s time to do a little organizing around the craft room. This should include cleaning up and organizing your blocks of polymer clay.
Polymer clay does not contain water or solvents and therefore won’t dry out. But there are a few things you should know in order to store it properly.
- Keep out of direct sunlight and heat. Polymer clay bakes at a very low temperature and you don’t want your clay to partially cure while it is being stored.
- Keep your clay covered. Although it won’t dry out, dirt, lint and dust can easily stick to its tacky surface.
- If you wrap your clay and canes in plastic wrap, make sure it’s a brand that does not contain plasticizers. Read the following article for some important information about which plastic wrap brands are safe to use: How To Store Polymer Clay Canes
- Be careful about the type of plastic containers you store your clay in. Some plastics will actually bond with the clay causing damage to the container and making the clay all sticky and hard to work with. Generally all plastic containers with a recycling symbol of either 5 or 1 (see photo above) will work with polymer clay.
- Use zip-loc bags for storage. Recently I picked up a bunch of small 3″x5″ zip-loc bags at the dollar store. They fit a whole block of Premo nicely. And they are small enough to keep under control in a box.
For more resources on polymer clay storage read:
- Best Craft Storage Boxes for Fimo Clay, Premo and Jewelry Beads
- More Ideas for Polymer Clay Plastic Storage Boxes
- Fimo, Premo, Sculpey Clay Storage Ideas
If you have a great polymer clay storage tip you would like to share, please leave a comment below!
My 12 yr old granddaughters are coming for 2 months this summer and I want to introduce polymer to them as well as myself. I want it to be a fun time and something they will enjoy forever. Where do I start now that I have an oven and pasta maker? They arrive the middle of June.
Oh Joyce what a sweet Grandma you are! They are going to love that! My daughter is 12 and she really likes working with polymer clay. It is a great thing for you guys to do together!
At the risk of sounding self-serving, I think your best bet is to get my Polymer Clay Bead Making Course for Beginners. It is all in video (39 videos actually) and will teach you and your granddaughters the right way to work with the clay and how to get the best results, so you are all happy.
If you get it now before they come you can make sure you have everything ready for when they arrive. You can also go through the course before they come and decide which things you would like to work with them on and plan to show them those videos.
I am also here to help with any questions the three of you may have.
To find out about the course click the link by my name.
Cindy, you are awesome, thanks for the quick response. I am really looking forward to enjoying your course and I don’t feel that you are self-serving. You are so giving with all your knowledge. You see, I have been reading lots of your blogs and love all the comments of others. What a wonderful group of clay artists interacting and sharing experiences. I hope to be able to share in the future. Thanks again. ‘Till later…
I am so glad to hear that Joyce! Feel free to ask any questions if you should have any. Hope you have a lot of fun making beads with your granddaughters!
Have you ever seen the Oscar Mayer Center Cut Bacon packages? They cost a bit more than other bacon but I buy it for the container. (shhhh don’t tell my husband. I just convinced him that it is because it is healthier for my family) Well, that is what I use to store my canes. I wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in the container. It has a lid on it. They stack perfectly and take up less room than the big plastic box I was using. I love absolutely love them!
LOL! I haven’t seen those packages, but they do sound great! It is healthier for your family if you can find a great cane storage solution plus get bonus bacon out of the deal! Isn’t it? :-)
I use small 5 draw organizers against the back of the wall along my worktable. They are easy to get to what I need without having to always un-stack things to get to the lower kept ones, etc. Also they keep the dust out and have a nice semi transparent front I can see some of what’s in them for easy access or I could always add a label to the front if I later choose.
I am an out of sight out of mind kind of girl. If I don’t see it I may not use it so I want to see what I have and these organizers are not only great but recently Wal-Mart had a great sale on all organizers of this type and I stocked up for just Under $40 and I got Three 5 Drawer organizers and one 7 Drawer on wheels that is awesome, holds blocks of clay, beads, my bead stringing board and many other larger drawers for storing big and small items.
I also keep a photo album with large plastic pockets that are kept in page form within. I have skinner blends and large sheets of cane leftovers I have already rolled out on the pasta machine safely within the pockets and away from touching one another etc.. Its keeps them seperated, organized by colors if you wish and certainly out of the way with the one book I have so far which can sit upright against one of the 5 drawer storage drawers I have. Perhaps I may need more albums later but the one has worked well for me for years and I have room to add more within it.
Thanks Andrea for the detailed storage ideas! They are excellent. Alice Stroppel stores her canes and blends in a similar way. It seems like a great way of doing it, though I never have extra teardrop blends lying around since I tend to use them right away.
I do store my cling rubber stamps on acetate sheets in a binder which makes them much easier to find.
The small desktop drawers would be nice for my worktable when I set up my new studio. Will have to keep an eye out for those on sale.
Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Hi Cindy,
Hello hope all is well.
We were just wondering where do you store your premo clay? We just purchased 18 cases and Polyform suggested we freeze them. We have never tried this method and was wondering if you have.
Thanks
Paul
Swirly Designs
@Paul S: Hi Paul, nice to hear from you!
I just store my clay in a metal file card cabinet with drawers. It seems to keep pretty cool in there, but I do live in a moderate climate (Vancouver).
You can store clay in the freezer if you have problems with your studio getting too hot. You will get some condensation on the packaging when you bring it out into the warm air but other than that, there’s no problem storing there. Kind of a pain though, but I guess it would be better than having a bunch of ‘cooked’ clay!
Good luck! Sounds like things are going well for you guys. See you in all the magazines. 18 cases is a heck of a lot of clay. Looks like you have your work cut out for you!
Take care,
~ Cindy
While walking through Wal Mart this year I noticed all the back to school items and among them were these Sterilite pencil boxes….they looked to be made from recycled milk carton plastic, the bottoms are milky white and the tops are see through black, blue, red or green. Needing something to store my 2 oz. clay squares in I bought several, they hold 20 blocks as well as all my canes, my extruder all the pieces I made but haven’t made jewelery from yet as well as a hundred other little things in the studio that were just piled into whatever would hold them. They stack nicedly and they passed the raw clay test beautifully. my studio is more organized than ever and I can see into them and know what I am reaching for every time. My baskets on the shelves next to my chair where I keep the clay hold 6 each. Best part is they are only 97. cents each. They are definatly a nice band aid for my ocd.
Hi. I’m a newbie!! After conditioning the clay from the machine in a thin roll , what the item I can use to store the clay in if I’m not using it right away. Plastic sheet? I don’t know which plastic sheet to use for to store
Hi Debbie, you can use Glad Clingwrap, Glad Press n Seal or the plastic page protectors you use in a binder (though test clay on it first to make sure it is compatible.) Here is a link to a video where I use those sheet protectors so you can check them out.