Baking Your Polymer Clay Project

Now that you’ve made your first bead, I’ll show you the steps to proper baking of polymer clay projects. As I stated in the tools section, you’ll need a toaster oven dedicated to polymer clay if you plan on baking alot of polymer clay items. Even though most experts say that the clay is safe, I like to err on the safe side and keep things I use for clay “dedicated clay items”.

Finding the right oven

Fairie Bottles Ready To Bake

Sometimes you can find toaster ovens at yard sales, be sure that the oven works properly, namely that the temperature/thermostat work properly. The oven must maintain a steady temperature for 20-30 (depending on the brand) in order to properly cure your items. It can be a bit embarrasing when you make a beautiful piece of jewelry and a customer tells you it broke in half shortly after wearing it. This is what happens when polymer clay isn’t baked according to directions. Sometimes things break because of the type of clay you use as well, so be sure and check out my description of the varying brands too. I have a separate thermometer that I use to test the temperature of my oven, you can probably even take it to the store with you when you go to purchase your oven. Yes, it’s that important!Sometimes you can find toaster ovens at yard sales, be sure that the oven works properly, namely that the temperature/thermostat work properly. The oven must maintain a steady temperature for 20-30 (depending on the brand) in order to properly cure your items. It can be a bit embarrasing when you make a beautiful piece of jewelry and a customer tells you it broke in half shortly after wearing it. This is what happens when polymer clay isn’t baked according to directions. Sometimes things break because of the type of clay you use as well, so be sure and check out my description of the varying brands too. I have a separate thermometer that I use to test the temperature of my oven, you can probably even take it to the store with you when you go to purchase your oven. Yes, it’s that important!

I went through several toaster ovens and now I use a convection oven. Many clayers prefer these because they have a fan which circulates air inside the oven, that enables the temperature to remain steady for a long period of time. They also cook about 30% faster, depending on the brand you use.

In the Oven

There is absolutely no harm in leaving your beads or project in the oven longer than recommended. In fact, some people advocate doing this as it hardens the clay even more. There are many of my projects that get baked several times, so don’t be alarmed if you forget about the time, as long as the temperature isn’t above the recommended temperature, you’re fine. It’s not a bad idea to leave the beads in the oven to cool off, you won’t burn your hands removing them, and the project will have some time to “cure” as well.

When you bake polymer clay it will soften at first and then harden with time. For this reason, many people like to use something to suspend their beads while baking. Another thing that will happen is that when the item softens, it can become shiny. So that when you’re finished baking you have a shiny spot where the item came in contact with the smooth flat surface.

So, you’ll want to suspend your beads and/or bake them on a non-shiny surface like paper, unless you want the shiny surface for effect.

Treat Your Bead With Care While In The Oven

There are some really cool bead baking racks for sale now, but when I first began with polymer clay, I had to improvise when baking my beads.

There is absolutely no harm in leaving your beads or project in the oven longer than recommended. In fact, some people advocate doing this as it hardens the clay even more. There are many of my projects that get baked several times, so don’t be alarmed if you forget about the time, as long as the temperature isn’t above the recommended temperature, you’re fine. It’s not a bad idea to leave the beads in the oven to cool off, you won’t burn your hands removing them, and the project will have some time to “cure” as well.
When you bake polymer clay it will soften at first and then harden with time. For this reason, many people like to use something to suspend their beads while baking. Another thing that will happen is that when the item softens, it can become shiny. So that when you’re finished baking you have a shiny spot where the item came in contact with the smooth flat surface.
So, you’ll want to suspend your beads and/or bake them on a non-shiny surface like paper, unless you want the shiny surface for effect.

One great method to suspend you beads, is to use a foil loaf pan and a needle tool, piercing needle, or hat pin, whatever it is you pierced your bead with. Poke a hole in the sides of the loaf pan so that the needle will go all the way through. Take the bead off, put the needle through the first hole, put the bead back on and then put the needle into the other side.

Tools for bead piercing and baking such as a turkey lacing pin, bamboo skewer (more kitchen items!), and a pin specially made for piercing and baking beads are pictured below (pic2).

Beads ready for baking

I have been using a heavy cardboard rack for my baking for years. You fold the cardboard like an accordian (pic3) and you can suspend your beads or cradle them. As you can see, my rack has been through a good bit of use!

Polymer Clay on Folded Cardboard Ready for Baking

Polyester batting supporting polymer clay bead

For those very delicate beads or projects that need special handling you can use polyester batting to suspend the item while baking (pic4). The batting will not burn during the baking process as it should be flame retardant by law.

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Baking Your Polymer Clay Project

Finding the right oven

In the Oven

Treat Your Bead With Care While In The Oven

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