Comments on: Baking Polymer clay http://byzarah.com/baking-polymer-clay creative beading Sun, 01 May 2011 01:35:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Zarah http://byzarah.com/baking-polymer-clay/comment-page-1#comment-1074 Zarah Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:19:01 +0000 http://byzarah.com/?p=1797#comment-1074 Happy for the tips! That's a good point :) Who doesn't want stronger beads? I look forward working more with polymer clay, it's fun to work with colors like that. Thanks for stopping by! Hugs Happy for the tips! That’s a good point :) Who doesn’t want stronger beads? I look forward working more with polymer clay, it’s fun to work with colors like that. Thanks for stopping by! Hugs

]]> By: Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor http://byzarah.com/baking-polymer-clay/comment-page-1#comment-1071 Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:38:06 +0000 http://byzarah.com/?p=1797#comment-1071 I agree with you Zarah that polymer clay needs to be baked properly to have the strength needed for your jewelry projects. As long as your temperature is correct you can actually bake your beads for much longer than the 30 minutes the package says, and in fact I recommend baking for 1 hour or more to ensure proper curing. If you try this yourself, you will see your beads are much stronger and will sand and polish up much nicer than if they are cured for a shorter period of time. Typical ovens, especially toaster ovens go up and down in temp so often that the polymers in the clay aren't held at the correct temp for the half hour they need to cure. By adding the extra time, it ensures that they have bonded and the end product will be of much higher quality. If a piece burns, it is not due to the amount of time baking but rather the temp they were baked at. Just make sure they are baked at the proper temp and you can bake for as long as you like without burning. I agree with you Zarah that polymer clay needs to be baked properly to have the strength needed for your jewelry projects. As long as your temperature is correct you can actually bake your beads for much longer than the 30 minutes the package says, and in fact I recommend baking for 1 hour or more to ensure proper curing. If you try this yourself, you will see your beads are much stronger and will sand and polish up much nicer than if they are cured for a shorter period of time.

Typical ovens, especially toaster ovens go up and down in temp so often that the polymers in the clay aren’t held at the correct temp for the half hour they need to cure. By adding the extra time, it ensures that they have bonded and the end product will be of much higher quality.

If a piece burns, it is not due to the amount of time baking but rather the temp they were baked at. Just make sure they are baked at the proper temp and you can bake for as long as you like without burning.

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