With all of the completely totally different producers of polymer clay obtainable available on the market, you is likely to be questioning, “What is the best form of polymer clay for jewelry and earrings?”
If that is the case, you’re not alone! Maintain finding out for an entire analysis of my favorite producers for clay earrings and totally different styles of polymer clay jewelry.
Polymer Clay Jewelry Making
Polymer clay is a form of plastic modeling clay made out of vinyl and plasticizers. Artists love working with polymer clay because of it’s versatile, versatile, and is likely to be baked in a day by day dwelling oven.
Polymer clay is an outstanding supplies for making each form of jewelryalong with stylish earrings, beads, charms, and pendant necklaces.
In case you might be severe about finding out learn to make polymer clay earrings, check out my step-by-step tutorial: How one can Make Polymer Clay Earrings.
For far more polymer clay ideas, be sure that to be taught this file of 21 Polymer Clay Ideas and Initiatives.
What’s the perfect mannequin of polymer clay?
I wouldn’t say there’s one “best” mannequin of polymer clay. Barely, the perfect polymer clay is the one which has qualities well-suited to your specific problem.
There are a whole lot of producers and styles of polymer clay, and each has its private strengths and weaknesses. Some are stronger, some are additional versatile, and some are softer and easier to manage.
When you consider these qualities, you probably can see how styles of clay are well-suited for jewelry making, whereas totally different varieties are greater for sculpting or little one’s crafts.
Power and Flexibility
For jewelry making, choose a mannequin of polymer clay with the subsequent qualities:
Simple to Work: Seek for clay that is mild ample to mould collectively together with your arms, nonetheless not so mushy that it smears or will get sticky. It’s greater to resolve on a firmer mannequin of clay, so it holds the small print of your designs.
Power when Cured: You’ll want a mannequin that is strong when baked, so your accomplished jewelry is sturdy ample to placed on.
Flexibility: Probably the greatest styles of clay are versatile in skinny areas, reasonably than brittle. You don’t want your delicate jewelry gadgets to interrupt when confused.
Ideas
Probably the greatest producers of polymer clay for making earrings and jewelry are Sculpey Premo, Fimo Expert, and Kato Polyclay. Or, to ensure that you a softer clay with a matte finish, take into consideration Sculpey Souffle. Furthermore, to ensure that you translucent and specialty colors, try Cernit.
Should you should choose just one mannequin, start with Premo. It has a nice medium firmness that works successfully for jewelry, and it’s broadly obtainable in outlets and on-line.
That may help you choose, let’s focus on regarding the professionals and cons of each of these three producers within the the rest of this textual content.
Bake Successfully for the Best Outcomes
Sooner than we inventory on, it’s mandatory to note that the ability of your accomplished jewelry gadgets moreover relies upon upon how successfully you’ve baked the clay. Underbaked polymer clay is brittle, whereas fully-baked polymer clay is stronger and further sturdy.
So be sure that to bake your designs completely to treatment the polymer clay.
Most producers of clay bake at 275 F for a minimum of 25-Half-hour per 1/4″ of thickness. And usually, the longer any polymer clay cures, the stronger it’ll get.
It’s essential to bake on the correct temperature, too. In case you’ve gotten hassle collectively together with your clay burning, effervescent, or darkening, your oven is more likely to be working too scorching! I wish to advocate using an affordable oven thermometer to measure the accuracy of your oven.
Be taught this whole tutorial for among the best methods to bake polymer clay for good outcomes.
Best Polymer Clay for Earrings and Jewelry
For polymer clay earrings and jewelry, I wish to advocate three broadly accessible producers: Sculpey Premo, Kato Polyclay, and Fimo Expert.
For novices, I’d choose Sculpey Premo because of it’s a medium-firmness polymer clay that additionally gives good outcomes.
For a lot of who want firmer, artist-quality polymer clay, I’d choose each Kato Polyclay or Fimo Expert.
Sculpey Premo
stress is among the many best polymer clays for model new artists because of it performs successfully in numerous duties. It’s a medium firmness clay that is simple to work, nonetheless will nonetheless retain optimistic aspect.
Premo is well-loved for its energy and flexibility. It’s a medium firmness clay, which means that it’s mild ample to work by hand, nonetheless company ample to hold optimistic aspect.
It’s obtainable in quite a lot of colors along with metallics, pearls, translucent, and speckled varieties. It’s simple to mix colors, and very common amongst clay earring makers. Premo is broadly accessible at craft outlets and on-line. I wish to advocate starting with this sampler packwhich has the whole thing it is worthwhile to get started..
Phrase: Take care to not confuse Sculpey Premo with the alternative traces of Sculpey clay — the packaging can look very comparable.
Kato PolyClay
Kato Polyclay is a professional-level polymer clay developed by artists.
It’s firmer than Premo, though moderately much less company than Fimo Expert. It may take considerably longer to scenario this clay, however it certainly’s firmness is sweet for holding aspect and sharp traces.
In case you’ve gotten warmth arms that tend to go away fingerprints, you may identical to the company texture of Kato. It doesn’t smear, so it’s good for creating millefiori canes and totally different intricate polymer clay jewelry making strategies.
When baked, Kato could also be very strong. It’s moderately much less versatile than Premo or Souffle.
Kato clay does can be found fewer colors than the alternative producers, nonetheless the palette was designed for intuitive shade mixing. It moreover retains shade the perfect, meaning it darkens the least when baked.
Fimo Expert
Fimo Expert is among the many few producers which might be obtainable true essential colors, so mixing your particular person personalized colors is straightforward and pleasurable. I wish to advocate starting out with the Fimo Expert True Colors pack.
Fimo Expert is taken into consideration one in every of many stiffer polymer clays, so it could keep aspect successfully. It might be exhausting and crumbly when you first take it out of the packaging, nonetheless don’t give up. After considerably conditioning, you’ll love working with it.
After baking, Fimo is highly effective and durable. There could also be little or no shade change when baked.
Phrase: The Fimo Expert line is completely totally different than the normal Fimo or the “Fimo Clean” line, which I don’t advocate for jewelry making.
Totally different Producers to Take into consideration
Listed under are various additional decisions that you would be like, counting on the finished look it is advisable to acquire.
Sculpey Breath
This mannequin of polymer clay seems to be considerably controversial. Some jewelry makers adore it, some don’t.
Sculpey Breath is reasonably mild and simple to take care of. (Some artists say it’s too mild, and consider it to bubblegum.) It’s pretty opaque, and bakes to a matte “suede” finish. It’s sturdy and versatile when well-cured.
Souffle is on the market in a nice shade range, nonetheless doesn’t have true essential colors for personalized color-mixing.
He sees
Cernit polymer clay is very strong and pretty versatile after baking. It might be considerably mild, and is delicate to hotter temperatures. Moreover, it might be exhausting to go looking out.
He sees is on the market in many colors, along with a line of metallics, translucent, pearlescent, and speckled clays.
Producers to Stay away from
Let me preface this half by saying that the subsequent producers of clay aren’t unhealthy, they solely aren’t suited to creating stylish polymer clay earrings.
You’ll have to stay away from the subsequent producers of polymer clay for jewelry making.
Sculpey III: This clay could also be very mild, so it might be sticky and keep fingerprints. It tends to be brittle after baking, significantly when skinny.
You’ll have to stay away from using Distinctive Sculpey, distinctive Large Sculpey, Sculpey Bake Retailer, Craftsmart mannequin, Fimo Clean, Fimo Kids, and big multipacks of unbranded clay.
Uncover Further Polymer Clay Ideas
To find methods to make polymer clay earrings, check out my step-by-step tutorial: How one can Make Polymer Clay Earrings.
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