Just like an old game of “telephone”, people share information to help each other and as the information spreads, it changes. Over time, details change or people misunderstand. Soon there are “facts” that people have “heard” that get repeated over and over. This phenomenon is part of human nature and found in every culture, age group, and community. The crafting community is not immune, of course, and that means that polymer clayers do also spread polymer clay myths. Most of these myths do have a kernel of truth inside of them, however. Here are some common polymer clay myths and the truth behind them.
1. Polymer Clay is Toxic
This is the single most prevalent polymer clay myth that I encounter when visiting online groups and forums. All major brands of polymer clay undergo testing to certify they are non-toxic materials suitable for craft use. Yet many people mistakenly believe that polymer clay is dangerous. When used as directed (eg. don’t eat it, put it in your eyes, use as diaper cream), it is perfectly safe for contact with your hands and to bake in your home oven. Polymer clay, when it’s cured, is actually just vinyl plastic. This the same material used to make a baby doll, kiddie pool, tablecloth, and shower curtain. It’s not good to burn polymer clay (or vinyl baby dolls for that matter), but it has to get to 350°F (176°C) for that to happen. For a more complete discussion of this most prevalent of polymer clay myths, read my article on Polymer Clay Safety.
2. Polymer Clay Burns Easily
It’s so disheartening when you work hard on a beautiful dragon, put him in the oven to cure, and he comes out black and bubbly. Because this is SUCH a frustrating issue, many assume that polymer clay burns easily. They reduce their baking temperature to prevent this problem. However, this particular polymer clay myth is a case of mistaken identity. It’s not that polymer clay burns easily. It’s that ovens lie to you and aren’t very good at doing what you tell them to do. If you use a digital oven thermometer (Affiliate Link – learn more here) to track the actual temperature over a bake cycle, you’ll find that the temperature will fluctuate greatly. If your oven gets hot enough, your clay will burn.
Always use a separate oven thermometer to verify what your oven is actually doing in there. It’s your way of keeping your lying oven accountable for its actions! Feel free to adjust the setting to give you the temperature that you actually want to use.
A word about burning. You will know if your clay burns. The clay will bubble and blacken and there will be profuse and terrible smelling smoke. This won’t happen unless your clay reaches 350°F (176°C), however. Far more common is the situation of browned or darkened clay. This happens when the heat from the oven’s element toasts your clay. It can even happen when the oven is at the correct temperature if your oven’s element has long cycles. It’s always a good idea to cover your clay to protect light colors against darkening. You can learn all about this, including how to choose an oven, all about temperature, how long to bake your clay, and tricks to help bake your clay well in my course on Baking Polymer Clay.
3. Polymer Clay Breaks Easily
Equally horrifying to watching your dragon go up in smoke is when you create something as a gift to someone and find that it breaks while you are wrapping it. Or worse, you realize that items you have sold are breaking. Why is polymer clay so fragile? Well, you guessed it. This is another polymer clay myth. Manufacturers make polymer clay from PVC particles that need to fuse during baking into a solid mass. If you don’t bake the clay long enough and hot enough, the fusion will be incomplete and your creation will be fragile. Make sure that you are baking your clay properly.
Also, there are dozens of brands of polymer clay and they’re all made with slightly different formulas. Some are stronger than others. Some are better for jewelry, others are just fine for making cute little chibis and figurines. Some brands that work beautifully for chunky pieces will be far too brittle for making anything that will be extensively handled or will be thinner than 1/4″ (5mm). Make sure you choose the Best Brand of Polymer Clay for the kind of work you like to do.
4. You Need to Seal Polymer Clay
I’m not sure why this polymer clay myth is so popular lately, but it sure is a hard one to overcome! Polymer clay is vinyl plastic and therefore is already waterproof, washable, and durable. It does not need sealing and in many cases adding a sealer, varnish, or glaze can ruin your piece. These brush-on products can sometimes remain sticky, get cloudy, peel off, or deteriorate over time.
Sometimes, however, it’s not the polymer clay that you want to protect, but rather the surface treatment that you’ve applied. If you’ve used mica powders, metallic pastes and creams, glitter, or foils and metal leaf, you will likely want to protect the surface. Choose your varnish wisely, however. Always test a new varnish with the brand of clay that you’re using before applying it to a project that you’ve spent a lot of time on. Also, know that most spray-on sealers are completely incompatible with polymer clay, leading to sticky results. There are exceptions, however. You may also want to change the level of gloss on your piece by using a varnish. Read more about sealing polymer clay and learn which brands of brush-on and spray sealers and varnishes I do recommend in my article Do You Need to Seal Polymer Clay?
5. You Should Sand and Buff Polymer Clay
This one isn’t so much a polymer clay myth as it is an assumption. A sanded and buffed polymer clay finish is truly wonderful. It feels warm, smooth, silky, and invites your touch. But it’s not the only way to make something from polymer clay! Polymer clay creations can still be “finished” and “professional looking” when painted, textured, distressed, or even just left au naturale. Sanding will ruin some projects, so don’t think that you need to apply sandpaper to everything you make.
Sanding and buffing, however, are excellent techniques to have in your repertoire. A perfectly sanded bead can rival glass in its smooth beauty and you truly must sand and buff mica shift to get that incredible sparkle and the illusion of depth. If you’ve tried sanding and aren’t happy with your results, you will certainly find my Sanding and Buffing Polymer Clay eBook to be indispensable. It is over 120 beautifully formatted pages and it covers everything you could ever imagine about sanding, buffing, tumbling, tools, tips, and tricks. Even the most seasoned clayer learns new things from reading this book!
6. Polymer Clay is a Child’s Toy
We all played with modeling clay when we were in primary school, and in many ways polymer clay certainly resembles the oily Plasticine clay that most of us used. And polymer clay does make a wonderful modeling clay for children, especially the softer brands aimed at them such as Bake Shop and Fimo Kids. But polymer clay is oh so much more than that! Because you can clay mold, extrude, sculpt, carve, drill, sand, paint, roll, knit, layer, twist, texture, and chop polymer clay, it lends itself to use in every kind of art imaginable. Yes, it makes great Minions and hair bow centers. But it also makes vessels, brooches, mosaics, paintings, collages, jewelry, and even art installations. (Do take some time to explore the work in each of those links…they are luscious.)
Polymer clay is arguably the best art media for exploring the use of color. Because you can mix colors of clay together in the same way you can mix colors of paint, it’s the perfect medium for teaching yourself the mechanics of color mixing. But unlike paint, you can use polymer clay in three dimensions to extend color’s expression beyond a flat surface and into the sculptural realm. That doesn’t sound like a child’s toy to me. 🙂
7. Polymer Clay is Tacky and Tasteless
Now this rather unbecoming polymer clay myth isn’t one that most polymer clayers hold, but the general public often does. Perhaps because polymer clay is plastic or maybe because it’s such an accessible medium for beginners, many people do have the unfortunate impression that polymer clay is garish, cartoonish, and ugly. Well, frankly, some of it is. Like crocheted toilet paper cozies, any craft can sometimes be taken too far and polymer is no exception. But that’s not a fault, or even a defining characteristic, of the medium. As I mentioned above, polymer clay is also used to make great art. I wish we didn’t have to overcome the stereotype that polymer can have, but my solution is to just ignore it and make great polymer clay art. Keep doing what you’re doing, and show them how fabulous this medium is!
8. You Can Make Polymer Clay at Home
On Pinterest there are many recipes explaining how to make your own polymer clay. Like the other polymer clay myths, this one has a nugget of truth and a lot of misunderstanding. Manufacturers make polymer clay from materials that you cannot purchase in quantities suitable for home use. You cannot buy the ingredients in a store or even online to make polymer clay. What those recipes actually make is an air dry clay that’s commonly known as “cold porcelain”. There are some commercial products called “air dry polymer clay”, but please understand they have their own characteristics and are not interchangeable with oven bake polymer clay.
While there is much overlap in the ways that all you use all modeling clays, air dry clays are very different from polymer clay because there is substantial shrinkage and you can’t get the precision in caning that you can get with polymer clay. In short, some things are similar, some things are very different. But please don’t fall for the click-bait that promises recipes to make your own polymer clay. You can’t, really.
If you live where polymer clay is not readily available and is a luxury-priced import good, cold porcelain is an affordable medium to create with. Enjoy using it to create things from polymer clay tutorials. But do be aware that your results may differ.
More Polymer Clay Myths
Here are a few more polymer clay myths or at least misconceptions that I wanted to add while I’ve got you here:
Don’t Store Polymer Clay in Plastic – Polymer clay can degrade some types of plastic, but others are perfectly safe. Find out which plastics are safe to use with polymer clay.
Don’t Bake Polymer Clay Multiple Times – It doesn’t hurt to bake polymer clay over and over, as long as it doesn’t get too hot (though it may darken). In fact baking a piece in stages (body, then muscles, then skin and details) is the best way to create without messing up earlier sections. Some sculptors bake at the end of each day’s work.
Spray Sealers will Degrade Polymer Clay – Actually, it is the other way around. Something in polymer clay (likely the plasticizer) causes the plastic in most spray sealers to soften and become sticky. Learn more about using spray sealers with polymer clay here.
You Shouldn’t Wash Polymer Clay – Why not? It’s plastic. It’s so durable you can even run it through the washing machine. Here’s what happened when I washed polymer clay buttons.
Translucent Polymer Clay Should be Clear – Actually, it will be translucent, which means that light will come through it but you cannot see through it clearly. Not sure how clear your translucent needs to be? Have a look at my comparison of various brands here.
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30 thoughts on “Polymer Clay Myths (and the Truth Behind Them)”
Can you add polymer clay pieces as a decoration to lip gloss safely?
No, polymer clay is not certified to be safe for use in cosmetics. It’s not intended for consumption or use in this manner.
Are your tutorials Ebooks or paperback or videos
Nearly all are PDFs, but most can also be taken as an online course. They are not paper nor are they videos.
This was a helpful article, but I’m still worried about toxicity. It’s very clear from scientific research that polyvinyl chloride is toxic, so I’m trying to figure out how polymer clay is an exception despite it obviously being a main ingredient. I know it’s all around us, but all those things are potentially toxic too apparently.
Toxicity is a scientific term that takes into consideration dosage and exposure. As we all know, alcohol is toxic, but in low doses it’s yummy and can even be healthy. Salt is the same way. Medicines, vitamins, and minerals are the same. Used as a craft material, according to the instructions on the label, polymer clay is not toxic. If you were to eat it, inhale industrial quantity fumes, inject plasticizer into your veins (etc…you get my point) then it would certainly be toxic. From the information that we have right now, based on toxicology testing by scientists using standard, peer-reviewed methods, polymer clay is not toxic when used the correct way. Also, polyvinyl chloride is toxic? In what circumstance? I’ve not seen that information. PVC is a common material in our lives. It makes everything from clothing to IV tubing to the pipes which carry our water.
Nice article by the way, as always.
Is polymer clay biodegradable?
No, it’s vinyl plastic.
Is baked polymer clay effected by sunlight or UV light? I’ve always heard that sunlight or UV light will deteriorate the clay. Is this true?
Fantastic article!
Absolutely not. Prolonged sunlight will fade some colors, but we’re talking years, not minutes.
Hi. I make my own lotions and body butters. Since polymer is just plastic can I create containers to store them? Thanks.
No, polymer clay is not suitable for this application. It’s not a chemical incompatibility, it’s physical. It’s not rigid enough and is hard to make where a lid can be attached.
Hi Ginger! Thank you so much for these newsletters or blog posts. I am just beginning with polymer clay, and I do have small children in the home. I read something on phthalate being taken out of polymer clay back in 2008, does that mean all polymer clays are free of phthalate today or just some? I see that kids are crafting with polymer clays now n days, so I’m assuming its okay? My little one who is 6 years old would love to craft with polymer clay but I am concerned about the readings that I find. I read most of your blog posts and it put my mind at ease, but the questions still seem to remain, about what if theres a chance my child or children may still get sick from it? Please help give me some clarifications… Thank you so much!
I don’t know of any mainstream polymer clay brand that contains phthalates. But I’m not a testing agency, so I can’t tell you about all possible brands.
Look for the ASTM label on the package. That tells you that it’s been tested as a craft material and is safe.
Thank you very much for this article. It can be tiring sometimes to read the same old believes about polymer clay in forums.
An other big topic you did not mention is what can be added to polymer clay (when the polymer clay is brittle for example)… i read flour and body cream… And the word spreads…
well, thank you so much for all your time, info, tips
That’s a good point. I’ll add that to the list in the future. Thank you!
Is it safe to mount a polymer clay sculpture over the fireplace (it gets pretty hot)?
It’s hard to know how hot is gets in that location, so the best thing to do is put a thermometer there. If it gets hotter than 325°F or so, it’s too hot for polymer clay.
Myth’s #6 & 7 – I love telling people that my pieces are made from polymer clay- “Really?” they say, you can see the gears turning in their heads while I share all the techniques and possibilities… 😀
Thanks Ginger. I always look forward to your newsletters. I only make faux natural looking rocks, stones, minerals. Very rustic things like faux turquoise, jasper, or something you would find on a beach or in a stream, etc. Very hippy, flower child looking things. In fact many people have a hard time believing I actually made the items. Then there are those who really like the stones until they find out that they are PC and say things like “Oh, I don’t wear fake or imitation things”. Sorry, but being a man, I can’t resist and sometimes explain. Of course you do. Those eyelashes are fake, that eyeliner is fake, that lipstick is fake, that eye shadow and blush are fake. However, you really do look great because they work for you. Polymer clay would fit right in and the best part is that you can afford it and you don’t have to tell anyone what it is. You wouldn’t respond to a complement on how great you look by saying, “Oh, its just the makeup.” LIVE, LOVE, AND BE HAPPY. It’s up to you.
Thank you, Ginger. As ever, an articulate and comprehensive article that is much appreciated.
Como siempre muy grata la explicación, son mitos que una con el tiempo y la experiencia, va descartando. Muchas gracias por la entrada, seguro a muchas personas le hacía falta. Saludos cordiales
Once again, Ginger, you have cleared up a lot of misconceptions about our wonderful medium. Thank you for all you do.
Excellent info – as usual! Thanks so much!!!!
LOL I’ve heard most of these myths. I have been working with Polymer Clay for over 20 years and I haven’t broken out with any unusual growths or fallen over in pain from a toxic reaction. I don’t know where these come from. When I first started to use Polymer Clay I was a little leery of it but a man in my local Home Depot put my mind to rest when he told me that it is the same stuff our water pipes are made of. You know those white pipes under your sink, same stuff. If it’s safe for your drinking water it’s safe for you to use.
I’ve seen this information before, but it’s GREAT to see it all in one place. Thanks!
Great information! I’m a newbie and sometimes regret listening to well meaning tutorials. One told me to do a Sutton slice, NOT to use water or any kind of releasing agent. My head was telling me not to listen, but I figured she knows better than I so I didn’t. Major mistake!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
I like to make bowl with polymer clay, but I have been told/read that we should not eat out of them. If it is safe then shouldn’t we be able to eat out of it. Maybe nuts would be OK, but soup would not be OK.
I would love to know what is true on this question.
That’s a good question and it’s fully covered in my article Is Polymer Clay Safe?
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