If you need to look up bake times and oven temperatures by brand quickly, here is a simple polymer clay baking chart. The remainder of this article provides comprehensive responses to frequently asked questions about polymer clay baking issues and techniques for beautifully and safely cooking beads.
Pre-heat your oven to the manufacturer’s recommended setting (typically 230°F to 275°F) before baking polymer clay. Typically, baking times range from 15 to 30 minutes for each 1/4 inch of thickness. Thinner clay needs 15 minutes to cure. When properly baked clay is cooled, it can be scratched with a fingernail without the mark sinking in.
The most frustrating aspect of making clay crafts is baking polymer clay to harden it, even though it sounds simple. Don’t worry; if you follow a few simple safety precautions, you CAN cure polyclay with confidence. Additionally, you’ll always have a project to be proud of!
How Do You Know When Your Polymer Clay Project Is Done Baking?
When you remove polymer clay from the oven, it will still feel soft because it stays soft while baking. The clay will harden as it cools. You must rely on your estimated baking time rather than eyeballing the polymer clay to see if it’s finished.
Clay can overheat if you keep it in the oven too long and possibly split and crack. A “tester” piece of clay is one technique some crafters use to evaluate their creations. Bake some clay after rolling it to the same thickness as your project. You are prepared to bake your project if the tester results are satisfactory.
Cooling and Glazing the Clay
{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/s/thumb/a/a7/Bake-Sculpey-Clay-Step-9.jpg/v4-460px-Bake-Sculpey-Clay-Step-9.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”/s/thumb/a/a7/Bake-Sculpey-Clay-Step-9.jpg/aid11327789-v4-728px-Bake-Sculpey-Clay-Step-9.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:259,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:410,”licensing”:”
</p>
</p></div>”}
- Using Sculpey glue, you can rebake broken pieces of clay if they broke while it was in the oven. Do this first before applying any paint or glaze.
2 Squeeze your clay figures lightly to test their firmness. Test each of your clay pieces for how hard they are by gently pressing on them to see if they hold up. If your fingers make indents in your clay or your figures bend easily, they are not firm enough and you should put them back in the oven for 2 minutes at a time until they are hard.[11] 3 Apply Sculpey glaze the clay for a glossy finish. If you want your clay figures to look sleek and polished, you can apply a glaze made specifically for Sculpey clay after your figures are baked. Use a paint brush and lightly coat your figure in Sculpey glaze and let it dry for 5 minutes, or until it is no longer tacky to the touch.[12]
- After using Sculpey glaze, be sure to rinse your paintbrush thoroughly because it will harden there.
Advertisement
Baking polymer clay in a toaster oven
It can be trickier to bake polymer clay in a toaster oven than in a conventional oven. It’s possible that your toaster oven won’t maintain a stable, precise temperature depending on its size, age, and model. Additionally, due to its diminutive size, the clay project might be too close to the heating elements, which could result in scorching.
Therefore, if you’re using a toaster oven, pay close attention to the temperature. Also, make sure to wrap your clay pieces in foil or a baking pan turned upside-down.
