Polymer clay is a pliable, blendable polymer compound that many artisans use because of its versatility and light weight. Some of my pieces weigh as little as 1/4 of an ounce and, even the heaviest pieces weigh only 7 to 7.5 ounces with most weighing between 1 to3 ounces. It is not a true clay. Clay is fine particles of silicate suspended in water, whereas polymer clay is fine particles of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) suspended in plasticizer.
What makes polymer clay special is its versatility. It comes in dozens of colors, and you can blend clays together like paints to make your own colors. Since the color is inherent in the particles, you can also work two or more colors together without blending them, if you prefer, for special effects such as caneworking and marbling. The clay's pliability and ductility let you use techniques from glasswork, textile arts, and sculpture. And polymer clay doesn't dry out, so you can sculpt and form it without worrying about a time limit.
To harden the clay a process called firing is used. The process that fuses the particles into a solid requires only low temperatures . Because of the properties of polymer clay, the low temperatures are achieved using a standard toaster oven and do not require "firing" in a traditional kiln. The colors and size are not changed during firing. When fired, the clay gets hard enough to make durable objects, and can be finished in various ways to obtain textures from glassy to stonelike.
What makes polymer clay special is its versatility. It comes in dozens of colors, and you can blend clays together like paints to make your own colors. Since the color is inherent in the particles, you can also work two or more colors together without blending them, if you prefer, for special effects such as caneworking and marbling. The clay's pliability and ductility let you use techniques from glasswork, textile arts, and sculpture. And polymer clay doesn't dry out, so you can sculpt and form it without worrying about a time limit.
To harden the clay a process called firing is used. The process that fuses the particles into a solid requires only low temperatures . Because of the properties of polymer clay, the low temperatures are achieved using a standard toaster oven and do not require "firing" in a traditional kiln. The colors and size are not changed during firing. When fired, the clay gets hard enough to make durable objects, and can be finished in various ways to obtain textures from glassy to stonelike.
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