Can you bake polymer clay in a regular oven

Use whatever setting gives you the best results and the most even heat. I am still having a lot of trouble with bubbles forming in my polymer clay when I take them out of the oven.

Do you have any tips on this? Thank you! Sometimes this comes from the item being too close to the heating element. Protect the item from the heat by covering it. Will regular paper work if i dont have copy paper? I just bought a convection oven because my home oven was just not getting to the right temp according to the oven thermometer. Ill be returning it and use your baking method. Is the tin foils too much for earrings?

Will ceramic tile paper and foil work? Thsnk you! Any paper works just fine, but avoid paper with printing on it. Foil is great for going OVER the clay, to tent it, but your earrings will be shiny wherever they touch the foil.

Or does it have to be a tinfoil dish with a ceramic tile. I just figure instead of two separate items that a casserole dish might do. What are your thoughts? No, you can bake your clay on whatever heatproof surface you wish.

The only thing is that you want the bottom to be flat, which is why tiles are great. Most dishes are curved, even if slightly. Also, be aware that a ceramic or glass dish like pyrex is going to take quite a while to warm up, so adjust your baking time accordingly. Hi Ginger…..

Say, F for premo or something under F ,.. Yes, you need to bake longer. Much longer, such as double. Perhaps even longer. But duration is the key. It takes a long time for the heat to penetrate. Do you have recommendations on materials that you can bake on, which the cost will release from easily? Getting it to release is the trick. Glass is an easy one. You can usually get it off without too much trouble by sliding a thin blade behind the clay to release the connection, then pull it off.

Or you can use some foil or paper between the two to prevent sticking. Get a thin metal blade and slide it behind your pieces, releasing them from the table. Would a sheet of paper be the answer? Thanks for the help in advance! Can I bake polymer clay with jewelry findings in it? Because my clay falls apart if I cook it and then try to use the findings. Your polymer clay earrings are breaking because they are not fully baked. Properly baked polymer clay will not break unless you really try.

I am having difficulty trying to get a polymer clay piece onto the cookie sheet without damaging it, since it is soft. When I try to pick it up by hand, it sometimes gets a little misshaped, or fingerprints.

I tried using a spatula, but it damaged the back of it. Any suggestions? Thanks, Dottie. Thank you for such an informative article. I have a question about the binder clips that you use to connect your two aluminum pans. Have you ever experienced any melting? Are there certain brands of clips you would suggest? I had always thought they contained plastic, but I may be wrong. Standard binder clips from an office supply store are made completely of metal.

The brand will likely change depending on the country. Staples brand will also work. Do you have recommendations on baking thin or 2mm clay? The process is the same for both.

The temperature needs to be correct and you should bake at least 45 minutes to an hour. And some ovens have wildly varying temps which make it really challenging to nail down a process. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. About Ginger. Help with Your Order. My Account. Privacy Policy. Terms and Conditions. Keep in the loop about new articles and tutorials.

Get tips and info. Weekly emails, or thereabouts. This is the newsletter that everyone talks about. Tutorial Shop. More Posts. Rustic Components, Earrings, and a Surprise. Floor Wax on Polymer Clay? Sealing Metal Leaf. Should you apply mica powder before or after baking polymer clay? Spray Sealer for Polymer Clay. Earrings made with translucent polymer clay tinted with alcohol inks.

A Tribute in Blue. Polymer Clay in the Dishwasher. Instagram Facebook Pinterest. What polymer clay oven is best? You can use any oven that will reach and maintain the correct temperature through the baking process. Small ovens are fine, but tiny ovens can cause more burning. Convection ovens are nice because the fan creates a more even temperature. Digital readouts do not mean the oven is digitally controlled. Most ovens are wildly incorrect they lie! No one brand is best…all brands have terrible records for some people.

There is huge variability even with a single model. There are valid alternatives such as Nu-Wave, Halogen ovens, or turkey roasters.

End the confusion about baking. Need baking help? Baking and Curing Polymer Clay. Learn More. End the confusion. All is well. My confidence is up and I begin a new project. What is that smell???? Oh my goodness Poly clay does not smell good when it is burning. The tent is smoking and my lovely piece has turned bubbly and black. Bad day and Night. So today I will begin again as I am on a deadline for this one.

The only good thing now Is I still have the canes , the flowers are easy ones, and I know exactly how to put it together no more changes necessary. I know what it will be when it is done. Man, that must have been really bad. So glad you can regroup for a deadline, but, I feel your pain. Lost a whole bunch of natasha beads and mirror images here. So want to try and save some, so going back to my old shell crafting days and hauling out some muric acid to try to see if some will bleach up more.

I do wish you luck. I am off to buy a new thermometer for the oven as I am certain it is no longer working properly. Which would explain my fatal attempts in the last few weeks. I thought it was the oven. Hope all goes well with attempts with revival. I am now a tosser. Hi Cindy, Newbe here. I have watched quite a few of your videos but I still have a few questions before I start.

I hope that you can either answer them for me or at least let me know which videos I should watch. I hope anyway since I bought so many of the Fimo. LOL Anyway my two main questions so far are a can I bake the pendant with the findings already in the piece instead of adding it after it is done. Fimo Soft is fine to use, though my favorite is Premo which Michaels also sells, so try some of that the next time it goes on sale and see what you think.

Since you are a Newbie, my recommendation is for you to buy the Beginners Course… it will save you a lot of grief and money in the long run by not having to make so many mistakes that all new people make. Also this blog has tons of free answers to your questions, by just typing your keywords into the search box at the top of the page. So make sure to spend some time swimming through the archives… there is so much to learn there.

There are many options for findings and paints which the search box and the course will help you to answer. There really are too many to list here. Hours and hours of work… 10 canes… and the most unique designed necklace…looked gorgeous.. What did I do wrong? I am so sorry to hear that happened to you Linda! Use a strong brand like Premo, Kato, Pardo or Fimo.

Bake at the proper temp Use an oven thermometer. And bake your pieces for 60 mins Premo, or Fimo or 45 mins with Kato. There is tons more baking info if you use the search box at the top of the page. I just have a small question on baking polymer clay sculpts in a toaster oven. What does it mean by thickness? Oh Frederick, I just found this question and see it is several weeks old.

I find it too soft, not strong enough when baked and it discolors badly when baked long enough to make it reasonably strong. When they are talking about thickness they mean diameter basically. So if you have made a sculpt with a big round solid body, it thickness would be the distance across the thickest part if you were to cut it width wise.

With baking what they are worried about is whether the heat can penetrate deep enough into the clay to cure it. Thicker pieces may need to be baked for more than an hour to be properly cured.

Hi Ana, I am not totally sure what you mean. If you mean, how long to bake? The answer is 1 hour at the correct temperature for your brand. If you mean, how long can you wait before you have to bake the piece? The answer is, you can wait as long as you want or you can bake right away.

It is ready when you are. Hopefully that answers your question! Hi, I mix fimo and premo polymer clay on my creations but not sure what temperature is safe to use since the recommended baking temperature is different on both clays. What temperature should I use and time?

Just use the temperature that the bulk of the clay is mixed with. If it is the other way around, then bake at the higher temp. I use toaster oven without the temperature control and its small toaster oven and its with just 15 minutes time. My toaster oven easily heated that why some of my clay burned. Hi Ashley, it sounds like you would have better luck using your regular home oven to bake your polymer clay.

Type the word baking into the search box and you will find many videos on how to bake polymer clay successfully. Can I asked another question? I use sculpey 3 and some charms that I baked using that brand are easily to cracked. Sorry for lot of question. Baking longer will help but not near as much as just changing brands. I would also suggest that you watch as many of my videos as you can. There are tons on brands, baking, tools and all kinds of tips that will help you tremendously.

May I ask can I rest my sculpted polymer clay for a day before baking? Does it have any effect in durability and flexibility of my work? Hi Christine, yes you can let your sculpted piece rest for many days before baking it. Just make sure that it is not sitting on an absorbent surface though, or the plasticizers will leach out of the clay ad make it more brittle. I have some problems baking in my home built in convection oven.

Hope that you can advise me. I bake to a full 1 hour for premo but realize it feels soft. When I try to break the item I can see layers of clay instead of a nice clean break.

Does it mean that I did not bake thoroughly? I did place a piece of foil on top of the tray but I choose the top bottom heating without fan option. If I do not cover with foil, is it fine? Since you are using a good quality brand, and you are baking for long enough and your piece is still breaking, it is because the piece did not get hot enough during the baking process.

With a convection it works best to have the fan on, because the heat will be more even. Try using an upside down foil pan as a lid instead of the foil and turn the fan on. I would first try baking a test strip at the Fimo temp with the Glassymer on top. That should cure the clay properly and at least partially cure the Glassymer. Then I would use a heat gun I use a W Heat Gun rather than a lower temp Embossing gun to heat just the Glassymer until it is nice and clear. Here is the type of heat gun Amazon affiliate link I am talking about.

And lastly, you can cure the Glassymer first on a sheet of glass and then add that sheet onto the Fimo piece as it bakes. I am new to working with polymer clay and am a little worried about baking something based off of plastic. In your time working with polymer clay have you ever encountered any health risks? Hi Daniela, I can understand your concerns. As far as safety is concerned, the polymer clay manufacturers selling to the North American market have strict safety guidelines that they must follow in order to sell their products.

Most if not all polymer clay brands that I have ever worked with are certified non-toxic and safe to be baked in your regular home oven. If you have any concerns you can check the companies safety data sheets to be sure. I have been working with polymer clay for 12 years professionally and use a separate countertop oven in my studio.

I have not had any health issues that I could contribute to working with polymer clay. I have a couple of health issues but they are stress and metabolism related. I cannot legally give you advice in either direction. Take care! Hello, just saw your video on baking polymer clay. I am doing a bust sculpture for my church and I am using Super Sculpey clay.

My problem is that this bust has different thicknesses over the entire thing. So you think it will be ok to put this in the oven for an hour and nothing will burn or crack or anything bad?

Any help would be so appreciated, trust me. Thank you for your time. The thin piece will be fine for an hour. As long as your piece is baked at the correct temp, is protected underneath with a stack of paper or a tile and is protected on the top with a flipped over foil pan, then you can bake a piece for many hours without harming it.

Use an oven thermometer and bake a few test strips to be sure you have the right set up and you should be fine. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page.

Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. How to Bake Sculpey, Premo and Fimo Polymer Clay in a Toaster Oven Cindy Lietz , June 23rd, , in Finishing , Tools The only time to use a full size kitchen oven for baking polymer clay, would be if you make enormous dinosaur beads :- There are so many reasons why a toaster oven is the preferred polymer clay tool for baking Sculpey, Fimo and Premo beads over your regular size, home baking oven.

These are the main ones: Small — less cost to operate than a large oven. Less power consumption is better for the environment. Cheap — I got mine free from a friend who was throwing it out. But you can also buy them second hand and even new at clearance places for next to nothing.

Portable — Can bring it to your craft room or studio. Separate from cooking oven — Some people are concerned that the fumes from baking polymer clay could contaminate food. Quick to heat up and cool down. But there are also a few problems you should be aware of when using a toaster oven to bake Sculpey and the other polymer clay brands Premo, Fimo, etc : Because the oven is small, it tends to cool off quickly and therefore has to reheat to get back up to temperature.

To avoid this it is important to tent your beads to protect them from the heat hitting them directly. When tenting your beads with folded parchment or office paper, it is important to check and make sure the paper does not touch the element. Although the baking temperature is very low and the paper will not burn if tented properly, it still can catch fire if you let it touch the element.

Be sensible! Be careful! Because of that, the fluctuating temperature can be a problem. To compensate, you will need to bake your beads for a longer period of time to ensure proper curing. The ovens that hold their temperature most consistently are the convection ovens. Partly because the oven dials are so small and that they are never that accurate, the temperature you think you are setting your oven at may not be the actual temp.

As with any oven it is important to use an oven thermometer to make sure you are getting the temperature just right. Always check the baking instructions on the polymer clay packaging. Sometimes even different colors within the same brand can even bake differently, so make sure to read the package instructions.

Then, apply a third complete layer, adding finishing details, and re-bake for a final 15 minutes at degrees F. Overbaking will cause darkening of the clay, and burning can cause bubbling and darkening. For all inquiries please contact us. Site by Dan Christie Designs. Powered by Shopify. Menu Cart. Start Here! Join the Club. Clay Liquids Mediums. Soft Effect Leather Effect.