![]() ![]() My conclusion is that embossing powders and polymer clay don’t work well together. ![]() After 4 minutes, the embossing powders started to yellow and bead up, but I kept at it. UTEE was a bit harder than the other two, but all three still scratched or gouged off. In my fourth attempt, I used the heat gun for 6 minutes at 350˚. The other two embossing powders gouged and scratched off. UTEE got superficial scratches, but didn’t scratch off of the aluminum leaf. It took 5-6 minutes to reach that temperature, so this was the longest curing time yet. In my third attempt, I used the heat gun for 3 minutes at 350˚. In my second attempt, I used the heat gun for 4-5 minutes until the temperature rose to 316˚. It was easy to gouge all three with my fingernail after they were cool. They were cooked for about 1-2 minutes total. Then I turned it on high for a short burst. In my first attempt to cure them, I used a heavy-duty heat gun on low setting about 6″ away from the clay until the embossing powders melted. To adhere the embossing powders, I tried Ranger’s Perfect Medium, but it turned yellow when heated. The three embossing powders simply say to melt with a heat gun. Temperature probe is right next to the clay covered with aluminum leaf. Curing liquid clays and embossing powders with a heavy-duty heat gun on ceramic tile on a concrete floor. I haven’t bought it yet, but it probably would have saved me a lot of trial and error. ![]() There’s a new tutorial by Debbie Crothers: Curing Kato Liquid Clay and So Much More. It’s a rather long process and smells like baking polymer, so I wear a mask. It takes about 4 minutes just to reach 300˚. Kato Liquid Polyclay: 9 minutes at 300˚ with heat gun on low setting, then one minute on high setting at 350˚.Translucent Liquid Sculpey 4-5 minutes at 300˚ on low setting.Fimo Liquid Gel: 1-2 minutes with a heat gun on low setting, then a quick blast on high setting.I’ve found that getting closer for too long causes bubbles, smoking and cracking. I put the clay on a ceramic tile on a concrete floor in the garage and held a heavy-duty heat gun 6″ away from the clay. I made six attempts to cure the liquid clays with a heat gun so they wouldn’t scratch off of the four brands of clays. Clay swatches on right baked 30 minutes at 265˚F, Kato Liquid Polyclay applied and oven-baked an additional 30 minutes at 300˚. Clay swatches on left baked 30 minutes at 265˚F, Kato Liquid Polyclay applied and cured with a heat gun. In my limited experience with a heat gun, I’ve had smoke rise, bubbles form and clay crack, all very quickly. Kato Liquid Polyclay didn’t scratch off, but the white clay turned yellow, orange and brown. Trying to bake all the clays at 300˚ for 30 minutes so Kato Liquid Polyclay wouldn’t scratch off was a disaster. Kato Clear Liquid Polyclay––300˚to 350˚F for 20 to 30 minutes.Do not exceed recommended time or temperature. Higher temperatures increase translucence. Translucent Liquid Sculpey––275˚to 300˚F for 15 to 30 minutes.Fimo Liquid Gel––Don’t heat above 265˚F.The recommended temperatures for liquid clays are: The instructions say it will harden within seconds.Īfter waiting 24 hours, I tried repeatedly to scratch the sealants off with my fingernail. After the clay was cool, I dabbed on the sealants that needed to air dry. The Loon UV Resin was set with a Loon UV flashlight for less than a minute. Using my gloved finger, I dabbed one coat of 22 sealants onto these six surfaces:įirst, I dabbed on the embossing powders and liquid clays that needed heat to cure. Superficial scratches could be buffed out, or a matte surface touched up with super fine steel wool. ![]() Clay without a sealant gets scratched, after all. I’d rather not have superficial surface scratches. I guess they’re better than a sealant scratching off entirely and ruining the surface treatment below. I’ve also indicated whether a sealant is matte, satin or gloss. Sealants that just need to air dry are indicated by “cold.” Sealants that need heat to dry are indicated by “hot” in the chart above. Curing times and temperatures for liquid clays make a big difference. Please read this complete post for details. It reflects the best results I was able to get after trying different methods. The chart lists the sealants in order of best performance. Sanding and buffing should give it a nice shine, if that’s what you want. If there’s no surface treatment, such as mica powders, paint, pastel powders, metal leaf, etc., then polymer clay doesn’t need a sealant. My goal is to find sealants that form a hard, durable, reliable seal so I don’t have to worry about my polymer clay surface treatments getting scratched off. ![]()
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