Video #478: Coffee grinders work too, for softening up any brand of dried out & crumbly polymer clay.
Topics Covered In This Video:
- High speed machine chopping technique.
- The spinning blades will warm and soften your polymer clay very quickly.
- Once you use a food processor or a coffee grinder for conditioning polymer clay, DO NOT put them back in your kitchen. They are no longer food safe.
- Adding soft translucent clay, or drops of baby oil, will help if your clay is extra dry.
- Gather chopped clay and knead in hands or pasta machine until soft.
- Related Video: Conditioning Hard Polymer Clay Tip #1 – Using a Hammer
- Related Video: Conditioning Hard Polymer Clay Tip #2 – Using Oil
Do you have any suggestions for videos on tips, techniques or products you would like to learn more about? Let me know in the comments section below!
My goal is to help you to learn quicker and easier ways to bring up the professionalism in your polymer clay art.
Oh and don’t forget to give these videos a Thumbs Up click at YouTube if you are enjoying them. The more Likes a video gets, the higher it rises in the searches. And that means even more people will be able to join in on this polymer clay journey of a lifetime.
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Looking forward to hearing from you!
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left a comment for you at You Tube – but wanted to say Thank You here also – my old food processer’s plastic bowl finally gave up the will to live and went bye bye
Note to anybody that wants their processor plastic bowl to have a longer life span:
Always clean it with rubbing alcohol before storing- cuz that raw polymer clay will eat it- live and learn;)
Anyway my point was – I’m no longer having to look around (read: spend money) on another food processor Because of our Smart tutors demo on a coffee grinder, of which I (somehow) have two, YAY !!
Excellent point Sherry! I had planned to say that you can clean your machines with baby wipes or rubbing alcohol, but had forgotten to mention it in the video. Thanks for the reminder!
Cindy: “My goal is to help you to learn quicker and easier ways to bring up the professionalism in your polymer clay art.”
Done, and very very well.
Ahhhhhh, the sound of softening clay in the processor, music to my ears, LOL!
Hi Cindy,
I have used my old food processor for softening up clay. The thing that is maddening though is cleaning it up afterwards. I was able to snag two bowls: I keep one for the colors (red is probably the most “lethal” in my opinion of coloring other clays) and one for white/translucent. That way I can keep my translucent as pristine as possible. Because even if you think you have cleaned it up, those little specks of color can pop out and color your lighter clays.
Maria
Cindy I don’t have a food processor but after watching you use yours, it just went
on my wish list! Got any ideas of what brand would be good to get for clay?
Thanks Sherry for the cleaning tip.
Used Black and Decker Food Processors and coffee grinders are my first choice, I have two with two extra processor tops, and they last forever with strong motors. You can get extra processor containers at Goodwill or the like so you can separate by colors like Maria noted above. Same with their line of coffee grinders.
My hands are sooooooooo dry. Boowhoo poor me! I’m a newbie! If i have moistuerizer on my hands will it affect the clay? If i used olive oil or mineral oil on my hands would that be any better solution?
Thanks for having such a comprehensive website i’m on it alot these days learning so much from you, i really appreciate all the time you have devoted to this art form!
Hi Barb B.
Welcome and yes, you can use olive oil, baby oil etc. to keep your hands smooth. Just rub it in well before and after you have used polymer clay, after washing your hands. Don’t put too much on as it will affect your clay and turn it sticky but if you dust your work surface, roller etc. with corn starch (cornflour) it helps.
Again not too much and you can get a fluffy brush to dust down your creation either before or after baking. If you use the search box at the top of the page you will find heaps of great information. Just type in your subject and up pops helpful tips…cheers xx…..
Hello! Love your videos! I am learning so much but I have what may be a really dumb question. I have an Mack pasta machine and I love it but it’s driving me crazy! How on earth do you get the handle to stay in? Every time I l turn it the handle falls out as soon as I let go. Hopefully you know an answer for me. Thank you!
Thank you Kristi for your sweet comments! As far as the handle goes, watch this video, it solves that very problem:
Does Your Pasta Machine Handle Keeping Falling Out?
In the future, type your question into the search box at the top of the page and there may just be an answer for you in our blog already. Most questions have been asked at one point or another. If you don’t find an answer to your question though, do feel free to ask. You may have a new question that we haven’t heard yet and we would love to help you figure it out! :)
I think I will try this in my mini processor after all, It seemed to not be as messy as I thought.
HI I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO REMOVE CLAY FROM PLASTIC THANKS LET ME KNOW
Hi Donna, you can usually clean polymer clay off of plastic with rubbing alcohol or a baby wipe, unless the clay has eaten into the plastic because it was the type that is incompatible with polymer clay. If it ate into the plastic, there isn’t much you can do but avoid getting clay on it in the future.