These are clay softeners and they’re used to make aged clay soft and pliable again.
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Aged clay? What’s that? Well, that’s all explained in the article on conditioning clay right here.
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But right now, because of the clay shortage and the fact that all clay is “fresh from the factory”, there is no aged clay. So there is NO NEED to use these products right now. ⁠In fact, you may need to leach your clay instead.
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Yes, if your clay is hard or crumbly, it’s not conditioned yet or you’re expecting it to behave like Souffle (I have two very in-depth review articles on Souffle here and here) or Sculpey III.
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Avoid adding these products to fresh clay, especially clays like Fimo, Cernit, or Kato. It’s not only unnecessary, but it will just give you a sticky mess that’s hard to handle.⁠
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And don’t add oil or water, either. That’s even worse. :)⁠