Polymer clay is a sculptable material based on the polymer polyvinyl chloride. It usually contains no clay minerals, and is only called "clay" because it can be used for similar purposes as natural clay. A polymer (from Greek: πολυ, polu, many; and μέρος, meros, part) is a substance composed of molecules with large molecular mass composed of repeating structural units, or monomers, connected by covalent chemical bonds. ... Polyvinyl chloride Polyvinyl chloride, (IUPAC Polychloroethene) commonly abbreviated PVC, is a widely used thermoplastic polymer. ... For other uses, see Clay (disambiguation). ...

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Introduction

Polymer clays of all brands contain a basis of PVC and one or more of several kinds of liquid plasticizer to keep it soft until cured. Small amounts of kaolin or white china clay are added as an opaquing agent to some colors. Others remain more translucent and can be left without pigment, or pigments can be added. Mica is also added in some colors by some brands. Plasticizers are additives that soften the materials (usually a plastic or a concrete mix) they are added to. ... Kaolin Kaolinite (Aluminium Silicate Hydroxide) Kaolinite is a mineral with the chemical composition Al2Si2O5(OH)4. ...

Bakelite was extremely popular with designers and had an early form of polymer clay available in kits, but the phenol base of uncured Bakelite was flammable and these were discontinued. Today's clays are non flammable and certified as non-toxic art supplies. FIMO polymer clay was made popular by Maureen "Fifi" Kruse, daughter of a popular German doll designer Kathe Kruse in the early 1940s. The compound was later sold to Eberhardt Faber in the 1960s and they named it after her. Bakelite is a material based on the thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride developed in 1907–1909 by Belgian-American Dr. Leo Baekeland. ... FIMO is a name for a brand of polymer clay made by Eberhard Faber. ...

Polymer clay's history as an art medium is only decades long, unlike many media that have been around for centuries and have long traditions. This newness means that there is a great deal of innovation by users of polymer clay. Often, ideas are born by borrowing from the traditions of some other materials, such as metalworking (mokume gane), ceramics, glass (millefiore), paper, etc.

Polymer clay hardens by curing at temperatures created in a typical home oven (generally at 265 to 275 °F (129 to 135 °C), for 15 minutes per 1/4" (6 mm) of thickness), and does not shrink or change texture during the process. When properly cured, most clays create items which won't break if dropped or normally stressed. It also comes in liquid form and in permanently flexible solid form. A piece may have additional layers or enhancments added to it, and re-cured with no ill effect. As long as the maximum curing temperature is not exceeded there is no limit to the number of times a piece can be re-cured. In polymer chemistry and Process Engineering, curing refers to the toughening or hardening of a polymer material by cross-linking of polymer chains, brought about by chemical additives, ultraviolet radiation or heat. ...

Polymer clay is sold in craft, hobby, and art stores, and is used by artists, hobbyists, and children. Leading brands of polymer clay include Premo created for Polyform Products by Marie Segal,an early pioneer in polymer clay, Fimo, Sculpey, Cernit, Formello, Modello and Kato Clay formulated for Van Aken by Donna Kato an early artist for Fimo. FIMO is a name for a brand of polymer clay made by Eberhard Faber. ... Sculpey (often misspelled as Sculpy) is the brand name for a type of polymer clay that can be molded and put into a conventional oven to harden, as opposed to typical modelling clays, which require a much hotter oven, such as a kiln. ...

Few tools are essential for use with polymer clay, and these can often be found around the house. A pasta machine is often used to create evenly flat sheets, to mix colors, to condition the clay, and to create patterned sheets. This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Polymer clay is available in many colors. Special-effect colors such as translucent, glow-in-the-dark, mica-containing "metallics," and "stone" colors are also available. Clays can be mixed together to create new colors, gradient blends, or other effects. Judith Skinner ^{[citation needed]}was credited with a technique to use the pasta machine to create a gradient blended sheet of color. This technique is used frequently in many other applications and is one of the early skills developed by hobbyists or artists in the media. In optics, transparency is the property of being transparent, or allowing light to pass. ... Phosphorescence is a radiative transition involving a change in the spin multiplicity of a molecule. ... Rock with mica Mica sheet Mica flakes The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. ...

Polymer clay can be colored with other media. Paint, ink, colored pencil, chalk, metallic (mica-containing) powder, metallic leaf and foil, glitter, and embossing powder can be applied to the surface. The same materials also can be mixed in as inclusions; this is often done with translucent clay. When acrylic paint is cured onto the surface, it forms a permanent bond with the surface.

After it has cured, the clay surface can be left as it is, it can be sanded and buffed, or it can be finished with a varnish.

Uses and Techniques

Polymer clay can be used in many ways, a number of which have been generalized from other art or craft techniques. Some of the things which can be done with polymer clay include:

• Sculpting. Hand-shaped items can be any size from "miniatures" to quite large. Bas relief can also be created; clay clothing and accessories can be made for sculpted figures.

• Creating beads and jewelry of all kinds, such as pendants, earrings, barrettes, and buttons.

• Forming "canes," which are logs of clay with patterns running through their entire length, from which identical slices can be cut and used in various ways. The patterns created in canes can be simple, complex, or anything in between; they may be pictorial or simply geometric. Canes (and therefore their images) can be "reduced" so that they become quite small, and then combined to make multiple images (millefiori).

• "Cover"ing items made from materials such as glass, metal, cardboard, terra cotta, and some plastics. Some popular items for covering are pens, eggshells, votive candle-holders, and switch-plates. Larger items, such as tables, can also be veneered.

• Creating vessels large and small. Jars, boxes, bowls, and container pendants can be created freestanding, over armatures, or over removable armatures.

• Impressing textures, lines or images into raw clay with rubber stamps, texture sheets, sandpaper, needle tools, or other items.

• Making molds with hardened clay, then pressing raw clay into the molds to create casts and to duplicate textures, shapes, whole faces. Molds made from metal, glass, and silicone can be used with clay as well.

• Using polyclay to accept "transfers" of black-and-white or color images from photographs, drawings, computer-created images or text. Images can be transferred onto freestanding liquid clay films or decals.

• Creating simulations or fauxs of many natural materials such as ivory, jade, turquoise, wood, granite, metal, leather, stained glass, or cloisonne.

• Carving or drilling polyclay after it has been cured (and backfilled, if desired).

• Inlaying tiles or chips to create a mosaic.

• Onlaying clay or other materials to create collages. A "clay gun" can be used to extrude uniform rope shapes.

• Creating paintings with polymer pastes, and bas reliefs.

• Creating practical utility items, such as frames, games and game pieces, dioramas, toys, mini-books, notebook covers, greeting cards, and postcards.

• "Mokume-gane": shaving off thin slices from layered but distorted stacks of clays, powders, and inks.

• Using clay together with other media, such as wire, paper, beads, charms, stamps, and fabric.
• Skinner Blend: Gradient color blending technique for two or more colors developed by Judith

Skinner using triangles of clay and a pasta machine. Bas-relief (pronounced bah-relief, French for low relief) is a method of sculpting which entails carving or etching away the surface of a flat piece of stone or metal creating a sculpture portrayed as a picture. ... Murano Millefiori Pendant Millefiori is a glasswork technique which produces distinctive decorative patterns on glassware. ... Armature can mean: Armature (sculpture) Armature (electrical engineering) Armature (computer animation) Category: ... One half of a bronze mould for casting a socketed spear head dated to the period 1400-1000 BC. There are no known parallels for this mould. ... Look up faux in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Strictly speaking, stained glass is glass that has been painted with silver stain and then fired. ... Cloisonn is a multi-step enamel process used to produce jewelry, vases, and other decorative items. ... Mosaic is the art of decoration with small pieces of colored glass, stone or other material. ... In dentistry and oral surgery, an onlay is a method of tooth restoration, which covers, protects or reinforces one or more cusps. ... Extrusion is a manufacturing process where a billet of material is pushed and/or drawn through a die to create a shaped rod, rail or pipe. ... The Mona Lisa is perhaps the best-known artistic painting in the Western world. ... Mokume-gane ring Mokume is a mixed-metal laminate with distinctive layered patterns. ...

Polymer Clay Comparison Guide

Each brand of polymer clay has inherent characteristics that make it most suitable for certain applications. For instance, the more resistant brands hold their shape well in detailed cane work, but they can be more difficult to condition. Some easy-to-condition clays become brittle after baking. Most brands feature a translucent color in their palette – but some brands are more translucent than others, making them more desirable when mixing tiny inclusions (such as glitter) into the clay. Some clays change color after baking, making exact color matching more challenging.

• Premo! Sculpey is easy to condition and is also strong and flexible after baking. It has a tendency to become quite soft after repeated manipulation.

• Kato polyclay is both extremely strong and flexible when baked. It’s easy to condition and its color doesn’t change or darken regardless of how many times it’s baked. One of its best features is that it never feels sticky or too soft, even after being worked for long periods of time.
Kato Polyclay is a name for a brand of polymer oven-hardening clay. ...

• Fimo Classic is more difficult to condition that Kato but is also great for caning. It holds detail well and is very strong after baking, but without much flexibility.
FIMO is a name for a brand of polymer clay made by Eberhard Faber. ...

• Fimo Soft is easier to condition than the classic variety but it is not as strong and durable after baking.

Possible Health Risks

Many polymer clays may be incorrectly labelled "non-toxic."  Use of polymer clays may lead to unsafe levels of exposure to phthalate plasticizers, especially in children.  Exposure may occur through accidental ingestion of residue on hands after use and inhaled fumes during baking.^[1] R,R=CnH2n+1; n=4-15 Phthalates are a group of chemical compounds that are mainly used as plasticizers -- substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility. ...

References

1. http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plasticizers/Polymer-Clays-Hazard-VPIRGJul02.htm

See also

• Fimo FIMO is a name for a brand of polymer clay made by Eberhard Faber. ...

• sculpey Sculpey (often misspelled as Sculpy) is the brand name for a type of polymer clay that can be molded and put into a conventional oven to harden, as opposed to typical modelling clays, which require a much hotter oven, such as a kiln. ...

• millefiori Murano Millefiori Pendant Millefiori is a glasswork technique which produces distinctive decorative patterns on glassware. ...

External links

There are many online polymer clay groups open to all and polymer clay guilds or clubs in the US and in other countries. A guild is an association of craftspeople in a particular trade. ...

Information and Message Boards

• Polymer Clay Web Comprehensive site with information on everything relating to polymer clay. (Beta)
• Polymer Clay Central Largest PC group on the web, includes Clay Encyclopedia
• Glass Attic. "Encyclopedia" of polymer clay info, with 1600 pages, 90 categories of polymer techniques, lessons, and variations.
• Polymer Clay FAQ
• PC Polyzine, an online polymer clay magazine with articles about artists, plus tutorials and instructions.
• [[[Media:http://www.polymerclayproductions.com]]], an online podcast and videocast about learning to create with polymer clay.

More Online Groups

• GA Online Groups Page
• Polymer Clay Daily
• Polymer Clay Notes

Guilds

• Guilds
• National Polymer Clay Guild The National Polymer Clay Guild is US, non-profit organization
• [[1]] An online guild of artists working in polymer clay. Polymer Clay Artists Guild Of Etsy PCAGOE
• [2] San Diego Polymer Clay Guild. San Diego, California, USA

Books

• The New Clay: Techniques and Approaches to Jewelry Making, Nan Roche, Publisher Flower Valley Press; Reprint edition (March 1992), ISBN 978-0962054341 (pbk.)
• Adapting Quilt Patterns To Polymer Clay / Judith Skinner & Sarajane Helm Polymarket Press, Nov. 2006
• The Art of Jewelry: Polymer Clay / Katherine Duncan Aimone, ISBN 1-57990-616-8, 2006, Lark Books
  • Creating with polymer clay : designs, techniques, & projects / Steven Ford and Leslie Dierks. ISBN 0-937274-95-X (pbk.)
• The Polymer Clay Techniques Book / Sue Heaser, ISBN 1-58180-008-8
• Creating your own antique jewelry : taking inspiration from great museums around the world / Chris Dupouy ISBN 0-8109-9051-2 (pbk.)
• Creative Stamping in Polymer Clay / Barbara A. McGuire, North Light Books, 2002, ISBN 1-58180-155-6
• Creative stamping in polymer clay / Barbara McGuire. ISBN 1-58180-155-6 (pbk.)
• Foundations in Polymer Clay Design by Barbara McGuire, ISBN 0-87341-800-X
• Liquid Polymer Clay: Fabulous New Techniques for Making Jewelry and Home Accents ISBN 0-87349-563-2
• Making animal characters in polymer clay / Sherian Frey. ISBN 1-58180-041-X (pbk.)
• Making gifts in polymer clay / Stacey Morgan. ISBN 1-58180-104-1
• Making miniature villages in polymer clay / Gail Ritchey. ISBN 0-89134-956-1 (pbk.)
• Making polymer clay jewellery / text and illustrations by Sue Heaser. ISBN 0-304-34605-5.
• Modellare con nuova pasta sintetica (Polymer clay basics) / Monica Resta. ISBN 0-8069-7136-3
• Polymer clay : 20 weekend projects using new and exciting techniques / Irene Semanchuk Dean. ISBN 1-57990-168-9 (pbk.)
• Polymer clay : creating functional and decorative objects / Jacqueline Gikow. ISBN 0-87341-952-9 (pbk.)
• Polymer clay extravaganza / Lisa Pavelka, ISBN 1-58180-188-2 (pbk.)
• Polymer clay for the first time / Syndee Holt. ISBN 0-8069-6827-3 : 19.95.
• Polymer Clay for the Fun of It / Kim Cavender. ISBN 1-58180-684-1
• Polymer Clay: Exploring New Techniques and New Materials (Includes Precious Metal Clay) / Georgia Sargeant, Celie Fago, Livia McRee, 2002, ISBN 1-56496-869-3
• Polymer: The Chameleon Clay / Victoria Hughes ISBN 0-87349-373-7
• The Art of Polymer Clay / Donna Kato, ISBN 0-8230-0278-0, 1997, Watson-Guptill Publications
• The polymer clay techniques book / Sue Heaser. ISBN 1-58180-008-8 (pbk.)
• Polymer Clay Creative Traditions / Judy Belcher, 2006, ISBN 0-8230-4065-8, Watson-Guptill Publications