Vid #005: Plastic Wrap is Great for Polymer Clay Storage… But Be Careful Which Brand You Use:
Plastic wrap such as Glad Cling wrap is great to use for sealing up partial blocks of unused polymer clay once the original packaging is gone. However, don’t make the mistake of using other brands of plastic wrap that contain certain types of plasticizers.
Many of these plasticisers can bond to your polymer clay in a way that makes the clay harden up. Other plasticizers can make your clay go all rubbery.
Polymer clay storage is an important consideration if you want to keep your polymer clay usable over a long period of time.
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The full version of the “Storing Polymer Clay” preview video shown above, is included in my Polymer Clay Bead Making Fundamentals Course [SEE Video #5 of 39]. Be sure to store your your polymer clay in a way that protects it rather than causes harm. In this video tutorial I discuss:
- Cane Storage Tips
- Plastic Wrap Brands
- Plasticiser Identification
- Temperature Considerations
- Plastic Storage Container Options
- Which Plastic Container Recycle Symbol To Look For
Most brands of plastic wrap will say on the box or label whether they contain plasticizers. If in doubt, do a "storage test" with just a small piece of your polymer clay. Let it sit for at least a week (longer than a week is better), and then peel back the plastic wrapping. If the plastic sticks to the clay, I’d look for another brand.
Plasticisers leach out the softening ingredients in polymer clay and if left too long, the polymer clay won’t recondition properly.
Better to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to storing polymer clay.
Cindy’s last blog post..Polymer Clay Lentil Beads – Making Them Can Be Very Addictive!
I’ve heard you can recondition really dried out clay in a food processor. Would you be able to do that with the clays that were stored improperly in a “bad” plastic wrap?
What does everyone do out there with the little pieces that are all dried up so they don’t go to waste?
One thing you can do is use a few drops of baby oil or mineral oil to help soften up the hard pieces. This process goes really fast in the food processor!
Thanks for this – I learned the hard way, and thought that half a block of blue FIMO had gone to waste because it wouldn’t mix properly. Now I know there is something I can do about it :)
You are welcome Nathalie. I’m glad this tipped help you.
And by the way, always keep in mind that there is always a use for clay that won’t mix properly. Making Jupiter Beads is a good example. You can follow the link by my name above for more info.
Hi there, so I was wondering if we had to be as careful about storing the finished/baked polymer pieces? I have one of those 3 drawer Sterilite that I got from Walmart. I checked the drawers and they have #5 on the bottom. Would it be safe to store the finished pieces in these? Thank you.
Hi Taylor, once your piece has been baked, it doesn’t matter what type of container you store your piece in. The only time polymer cay has incompatibility issues, is when it is raw.