After putting the air drying clay in a silicon mold... set it in the freezer for about 20 minutes for a clean release. It will also help to preserve the details. 😊
Hello! I'm new to air dry clay. Have you had any type of cracking after the air dry clay dries? I'm hoping to make earrings but I'm afraid I'll fail miserably. 😔
@@lindascraftsandthings915 I have never tried to make earrings with air dry clay... but just from experience in making small items using molds with it... I would not recommend it. I DO recommend a product I fell in love with, though: Apoxie Sculpt. That stuff is a miracle and I think will do well with small earrings. You can even mix oil paints in to change the color. Dries much quicker and the finished product is durable and hard as a rock. ❤
Thank you :) Air dry clay is not waterproof, even after applying varnish it's not 100% sure that it won't get wet and crack. So for that reason I wouldn't use it outside.
@@Venus_0101 Probably the best one would be normal clay which has to go to the kiln. But of course that's big investment and I don't even have one. I would try polymer clay which you bake in the oven. It's very durable. Plus deepens where are you leaving? The air dry clay might be alright outside in your environment, but make sure to apply a lot of varnish on it, all the way around. I live in the UK, so we got rain most of the time. But I might try to create something from air dry clay and keep it outside during the summer to see how its going to behave.
@@Venus_0101 if you can get hold of it, try Pal Tiya Premium. It was developed by Weta specifically for outdoor use and iirc it’s air dry, no firing needed.
Writing tips down from the video so I can come back on this and to help others: •use greaseproof paper to protect your surface from stains •try to wear clothes that you won't mind getting some clay on you •get a damp cloth near you as clay can dry very quickly on your hands and may affect your project •make sure the clay is fully dry before painting as some paints are water-based and will ruin the clay •make sure to put leftover clay in an airtight sealed bag so that it does not harden •water can be used to soften the clay and join two pieces together
Hi Thanks for the tips. I made my first project with air dry clay. After drying everytime it touch it; the white dust sheds from the project and sticks to my hand. And I get chalky hands. So before painting it with acrylic color should I use some product ? or is it normal?
If your air dry clay hardens, don't worry. Just toss it with some water and wait. I recommend using a zipper bag or container, not your sink. If you have an unsealed sculpture you hate later, you can do the same thing, put it in water and wait. It will resoften. If there's too much water, it will go sludgey, in which case you can use as "glue" or slip for your other air dry clay or just wait a while and eventually that water will evaporate and you'll have workable clay. If you've painted your sculpture or sealed it, this won't work. The time is hard to say because it depends on your environment and how much clay and water you use. If you add water and nothing happened, keep adding more water. Trust me, it will break back down to workable clay.
hi! i added too much water to my dry clay and its really sludgey like you said. should i just leave it to sit in my container and wait for it to come back? do i knead it? should i keep the lid on or off? please help! D-:
@@ameliakath9956 Sorry, I just found this! Sludgey clay you can leave the lid off to dry out some of the water OR you can use the sludge as "glue" for your other clay. The sludge is called slip. :) If it's kneadable, you can do that to distribute the water more, especially if some of it is still hard. But yeah, if you added too much water, leave it open but keep checking on it and turning it to make it an even evaporation. I hope that made sense.
Hi. I just made a bonsai pot with one air dry clay and when i read what you wrote i begin to wonder can i even use it as a pot? I have to water bonsai and if water make clay soft again it won't work🤔. Should i seal it and what to use as a sealant?
Very good tips. Some I might add: that you can use wire and foil to make an armature for sculptures, as with conventional clay modelling, but the interior structure can also be made of wood, card, string, plastic and/or papermache, it doesn't matter because it's not going to be fired. (Crumpled up news paper is quite good for filler). Also, when the clay is dry or nearly dry, it can be carved with a sharp blade, and that is a good way of refining the model and adding delicate detail. It can also be smoothed with fine sandpaper.
You can also use foam clay to bulk up the armature. This has the advantage of giving you a good perspective of what your sculpt will look like. The downside is that it needs to dry first but you can wrap it in masking tape if you're in a hurry.
I don't remember where I've seen this hack, maybe Joshua Weissman with a bread dough. But I believe it would work for clay, too. When rolling it out, use parchment paper and fold it into a rectangle shape. With the clay being sandwiched on the top, bottom, and sides. And then use it as a sort of guide to roll out the clay. Sorry if that doesn't make sense to anyone. Stay safe! 🥰
I feel very inspired now and will get some clay and have some fun myself. Thank you for your encouragement. I've enjoyed all your videos and watching you make things from clay. 😊✨
When I'm sculpting it can take a bit of time. The clay dries a bit while I'm sculpting and when im adding another layer of clay on this partly dryed sculpture, than later when I'm finished and let it dry, it rips. How can I prevent that?
Thanks for this video, just working up to my first project (in years) in air dry clay and this was a great refresher... your pacing was just right, not too slow or fast
@@simplybya now that is a good question, was originally going to try a figure inspired by my Paul Smith howling wolf statue, but I may now have a go at creating an interesting shaped outer for this plain flower pot/planter which was going to go to charity (once the charity shops reopen) ;) I am really taken with the baking soda/acrylic effect too from another's one of your videos :)
All gereat tips but there's one thing I have to disagree with. You CAN use heat sources to heat up DAS clay because it's paper based and, from my experience, it won't crack even if very thin. If you're using an earthen based air dry clay then it will definitely crack if dried by heat.
That's actually true. I agree with you. Back when I was filming this video, I didn't know about it. I also sometimes put DAS clay to the oven on the lowest temperature. 😊 but I'm not sure how other clay brands would behave
You can use damp sponge to smooth the surface before you leave it to dry. Or as @TThaKid said you can smooth it out by using sanding paper after it's dry 😚
That's a tough one. I've never experienced this with my clay. Will you be able to place something slightly heavier inside? Something what won't leave the marks on the clay but it will press it down enough.
It becomes much stronger and kind of more flexible when you put varnish on it. I wouldn't say it break easily but it of course deepens on the size and thickness of your creation.
If you roll the clay out and there are some air bubbles appearing, you just have to open them up and roll over again. For the smooth and even surface I recommend using some sponge. Dip it in the water and go over the surface. It takes time and patience. 😊
Thanks for asking this - my clay keeps coming out part smooth and part ridged despite my having loads of experience with other style clays. I’ve tried smoothing it with more water, but actually wonder if adding water makes it more likely to become bumpy to the change in ratio. Trial and error I guess but I hope you find a way that works...I’m returning to mine later! 🤞🤞🤞
I have put varnish on top of the acrylic, when the varnish is dry, I can peel it off using my fingernails. Can you give me some tips so that the varnish doesn't peel?
Sand down the project before applying the varnish. Choose good quality varnish (I always use mod podge and never had that problem). Make sure the clay is fully dry before applying it. And apply thin coats. Better two thin coats that one thicker one. Hope that will help ❤️
You don't. You can also use kids schoolg glue or don't use anything at all. Depends what you're making. Mod podge gives this extra protective layer on the project. 😊
Yes it will stick to most of the surfaces as long as you wrap it around. I have done it with ceramic lamp, I've wrapped the clay around it and it dries nicely and stays in one place.
I usually dry my clay inside the house. It takes about 2 days to dry. Just remember to turn your project so it drys evenly and maybe don't keep to close to the radiator. 😊
@@simplybya thank you so much! I don't even have a radiator ahaha, so, I need to turn it and check it sometimes right? And what would be the best surface to put the project? I was thinkiing about grabing some newspaper and put it inside my gabinet or drawer
Hey! Thank you so so much for this very helpful video. It helped me a lot. I would love to have a question. If I use varnish on the fried clay, will it handle water or is it not safe for that?
Thank you ☺ In this video I talk about air dry clay which even after applying varnish it doesn't become waterproof. It will handle small amount of water, but the clay and varnish itself is toxic so it's not suitable to use it as a drinking or dining pottery.
You can use epoxy resin to coat thoroughly-dry air-dry clay and make it waterproof, but it won't be totally food safe, especially for acidic foods and hot foods.
Hello, I have a queation some of my air dry clay projects were broken with a little crash or may be i have to say they are being a little bit crunchy or fragile... what do you think about the reason?
Hi I got a few questions. I know that you can use tinfoil for a base/inner part of the sculpture if you want to save on the clay and time. Can you do the same with air drying clay? Also is it totally hard when it has dried up? Also does it break easily when dry, let's say if you drop it?
Hi. I've never tried it but I've seen people using tin foil to create skeleton of the sculpture and then putting air dry clay on top of it. Air dry clay dries quite hard but it's much lighter than normal clay/ ceramics. So I would say it's much easier to damage ceramic when you drop it rather than air dry clay. I hope that helps 😊
Recently found your channel😍. My newly graduated son moved into his own home. I plan on trying some of your projects to help decorate his home…and will do some for myself too🤗
Thanks. I have an issue with tape sticking to my counter, trying to hold the parchment paper to. Maybe I'm using wrong tape? My workspace is smooth. What is your thought please .. Now .. with that music, while listening to you, all I needed was the massage 💆♀️.. ☺️
haha some people found my voice annoying but I'm glad you like it 😊 The tape is quite tricky, my sometimes moves as well. I usually use paper masking tape or electrical tape.
Thank you ♥️ I won't be able to do arabic translation, but there are a few ways of translating it by yourself. You can copy the script and put it to Google translator.
