How to Bake Polymer Clay (like a pro!)
Baking polymer clay sounds simple, but if you’ve ever pulled out pieces that were brittle, scorched, or that snapped while drilling holes, you’ll know it can sometimes be a frustrating process. It's one of the topics we get the most questions about, so we wanted to share a few of our top tips!
Top 2 Things That Matter Most When Baking Polymer Clay
1. Temperature
Baking polymer clay at the correct temperature is one of the most important parts of the process. Too cool and your clay will be underbaked, too hot and your pieces will darken or burn.
Be sure to check the pack directions of the polymer clay you are using because some do bake at different temperatures, but if your pack says bake at 130°C, then bake at 130°C. Baking at five to ten degrees higher or lower can make a difference.
If you are baking at the correct temperature and still having trouble, it's almost always your oven. Ovens are fickle things and often the temperature it says on the dial, is not the actual temperature of the oven. Some even fluctuate in temperature which can create even more chaos! There's a simple solution for ensuring your oven is baking at the correct temperature though. An oven thermometer! This $10 tool is an absolute game changer, so even if your oven does run hot, or cold, you can still get perfect polymer clay bakes.
You can pick up an oven thermometer at your local hardware, homewares or department store. Alternatively you can find it on Amazon here (ad).
2. Baking Time
Baking for the correct length of time is another thing you should consult the packet directions for, but most polymer clays require at least 30 minutes to cure properly (depending on the thickness). If you only bake for 10–15 minutes, it's likely that your clay will be underbaked, even if the temperature is correct.
In most cases, so long as your oven temperature is correct, leaving your clay in a little longer won't hurt it. We often leave our polymer clay pieces in for 40-60 minutes.
So, in summary, it's better to bake your polymer clay a little longer, than for not long enough!
Other Baking Tips You Should Know
Always Preheat Your Oven
Just like baking cookies, wait until the oven has reached temperature before placing pieces inside.
Do a Test Bake
Doing a test bake is especially useful when:
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Using a new oven
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Unsure whether your oven temperature is correct
To do a test bake, simply get a small piece of white polymer clay and roll it to the average thickness you'd normally make your pieces. This will help you to test that your clay is going to bake correctly, and using white clay means that your can ensure your pieces won't discolour from an oven that's too hot.
Polymer Clay May Be Bendy After Baking
Unlike most other clays, polymer clay contains plasticisers, which means that once cured it can have a little bend. Not all polymer clay brands are the same, but for a lot of them, that’s normal and a sign that you’ve baked it correctly.
If Your Clay is Brittle After Baking, It May Not Be Your Bake
Baking your polymer clay incorrectly can most definitely cause brittle clay, but the other thing to be aware of is that not all brands are the same. Some brands of clay are designed more for modelling (such as Sculpey III). Clays like this may be brittle once baked, especially if you are rolling your pieces thin. Others will have great flexibility after baking and can therefore be rolled thinner, so lend themselves to jewellery, earring and accessory making (such as Sculpey Premo or Souffle).
You Don't Need a Special Oven
Unlike some other clays that require specialised ovens to cure (like a kiln), polymer clay can be cured in a standard kitchen oven. You can also use a toaster oven, just note that they are known to often run hotter and have greater fluctuations in temperature (this is where the oven thermometer mentioned above can really come in handy!).
Can I Bake Polymer Clay in an Air Fryer
Yes. Baking in an air fryer is not our first choice, but it is possible. There are a few things you should be wary of though if you give this option a go:
- It can be tricky to get the temperature and bake time right, so you will need to do some test bakes.
- Pieces will fly around if they're not weighted or stuck down (we burnished ours to a gloss tile when we tested it).
Baking shouldn’t be stressful, and once you’ve set up your oven correctly, it’s one of the easiest steps in the making process. To learn more about baking polymer clay, you can watch our free YouTube tutorial here.
Ready to start creating? Check out our huge range of polymer clay, cutters, and tools on our website here.
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