Sanding, Buffing & Polishing

Sanding

Sand paper

Sanding removes unwanted fingerprints. (sandpaper that can be used either with or without water) to avoid inhaling dust during sanding. This type of sandpaper is black or grey, not brown or tan, like regular sandpaper. The package will specify the type, so there should be no confusion.

You can find higher-grit sandpapers in some hardware and hobby stores or in the automotive departments of stores or online. Deciding which grits to use is a matter of personal preference. Experiment until you find a routine that satisfies you. You should usually start with a grit that looks and feels like the texture of your clay surface.

Follow the link by amazing PC tutor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdy17OUUGyE

Buffing 

Once your polymer clay piece has been sanded, you'll want to buff it to give it some shine. Unsanded clay can also be buffed, but for the very highest shine, sanding is preferable. Polymer clay can be

buffed by hand with a piece of old, soft denim (white is best, as it can't possibly leave behind a trace of color), muslin, or other soft fabric. Vigorously rub the polymer clay against the fabric until you achieve the desired results. Hand-buffing produces a soft sheen.
When buffing polymer clay, you should not use the powders or pastes that are used when polishing metal or rocks. These will damage polymer clay. You should only be using soft, dry fabric.

Polishing

Finishing or polishing used  to seal any surface treatment that might otherwise loss. For instance, pieces antiqued with acrylic paint or decorated with mica powders may need to be sealed to protect the surface treatment. There are a number of finishes used by polymer clay artists. 

A few are manufactured specifically for use with polymer clay, while others have been "discovered" by artists to be compatible with the clay. Apply thin coats after curing. You can use poly glaze introduced by clay manufacturers or even you can go for a transparent nail polish.

Curing ( Baking) your clay

Hey .. it’s nothing other than the baking process. 

Baking/curing is the most important part of creating with polymer clay. You can create the most amazing thing, but if it's under cooked your creation will break. On the other end tend to burn inside oven. Be cautious it neither over cooked nor under cooked. Both harm your creation.

Try baking like this, will not damage the shape of your work

Polymer clay needs to be baked for it to become hardened and durable. To bake your polymer clay creations, you will need an oven that can program temperatures between 215°F (102°C) to 325°F (163°C). This range is sufficient to bake any polymer clay item.

You can use a regular oven / convection oven or a toaster. BUT do not a microwave as it will burn.Me uses an OTG(mini oven)for my works to cure. 

Polymer clay is known to be safe and non-toxic for people;however while it is baking, don't let it burn because it may generate enormous volume of fumes that are toxic. Never bake polymer clay items and food in the same oven at the same time. 

Oven Thermometer

 Preferably place your oven where ventilation is plenty or in an isolated room, cover your polymer clay item with aluminium foil or place it between two disposable aluminum pans lids to catch the fumes.It also prevent transulent clay from fading by exposing to direct heat. I always leave them after baking,in the oven itself to cool down. Unless if it seems over cooked n scared of burn immediately place the hot beads or charms whatever thing you made into icy water. You will get a strong piece.

If polymer clay is baked above it's recommended temperature, it will get burned.As I told, It produce enormous toxic fumes not to breathe.So be cautious keep away children. Make sure the temperature inside the oven is correct by using an oven thermometer. We can’t relay upon the temperature actually our oven produces.

Another difficulty in determining the time to be taken for baking, why it becomes hard because different ovens produce different temperature for the same setting. So we have to make some tests with some bits of clay. Each time record the temperature, time taken etc and try to break the clay cured. Continue till you are satisfied with the strength. Then you will be able to conclude yourself. Now lets go baking.

Its good enough to insert beads on a skewer to keep lifted not to touch any surface like showed in the picture.

Techiques used....

Every one  longing for beautiful product at the end,  no matter whether it could be a figurine, charm , key chain, jewelry , even can be a customized pen wrapped in clay. There are lot of techniques in which few popularly known will be quoted in coming posts.

               
:)

Working with Clay

Before you start to make whatever things you want, prepare the clay for best n beautiful results. For that you have to condition your clay of any brand.

So, let’s see what is conditioning…..

Before it can be used, polymer clay must be conditioned to soften it and to strengthen the finished product. You should condition clay until it is well pliable.

For the process,roll the clay into a log and fold it in half with no "crumbling" in the log, it should be fine. Or, if you are mixing two or more colors of clay, by the time the colors have merged, the clay should be thoroughly conditioned as well as a new color formed.

Some brands of polymer clay are hard than others. Similarly, older clay may require more conditioning than fresh clay. Working ability can also vary between batches of the same brand of clay. The polymer clays are fairly malleable right out of the package. It is still generally recommended that you condition these, but they will require less effort than very firm clay.

Conditioning softens the clay by kneading, scrunching, rolling, and folding it repeatedly. A pasta machine can help you for doing the work again and again. Another benefit of feeding through pasta machine are fast conditioning, easy blending of colors, easily gets skinner blend effect,and produce even thick sheet etc. Never place uncured clay in direct sunlight or any other heat exposure.

Some brands of clay-or old clay-or sometimes just unfortunate batches of a brand of clay that is usually soft-may be crumbly. Though you may be able to condition crumbly clay without additives, crumbles often mean that the clay needs more plasticizer. Soften crumbly or very hard clay with Clay Softener.Start with a very small bit of additive and continue to mix in small amount until the clay is workable. If you have translucent clay in a softer brand, you can also mix this into the firmer clay. Be aware, however, that if you add too much of translucent clay, it may not give you the desired color of your other clay.

If you accidentally add too much softener to the clay, or if the clay is softer than you like it right out of the package, you can remove some of the plasticizer by leaching it. Leach clay by placing it between sheets of blank paper.

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