With all the completely different manufacturers of polymer clay in the marketplace, you could be questioning, “What is the best type of polymer clay for jewelry and earrings?”
If that’s the case, you’re not alone! Hold studying for an entire assessment of my favourite manufacturers for clay earrings and different sorts of polymer clay jewellery.
Reading: How to bake clay earrings
Table of Contents
Polymer Clay Jewellery Making
Polymer clay is a sort of plastic modeling clay comprised of vinyl and plasticizers. Artists love working with polymer clay as a result of it’s versatile, versatile, and could be baked in an everyday house oven.
Polymer clay is a superb materials for making all types of bijou, together with fashionable earrings, beads, charms, and pendants necklaces.
If you’re curious about studying easy methods to make polymer clay earrings, try my step-by-step tutorial: How to Make Polymer Clay Earrings.
For much more polymer clay concepts, you’ll want to learn this checklist of 21 Polymer Clay Concepts and Initiatives.
What’s the perfect model of polymer clay?
I wouldn’t say there may be one “best” model of polymer clay. Relatively, the perfect polymer clay is the one which has qualities well-suited to your particular venture.
There are a lot of manufacturers and sorts of polymer clay, and every has its personal strengths and weaknesses. Some are stronger, some are extra versatile, some are softer and simpler to control.
When you think about these qualities, you’ll be able to see how sorts of clay are well-suited for jewellery making, whereas different varieties are higher for sculpting or child’s crafts.
Power and Flexibility
For jewellery making, select a model of polymer clay with the next qualities:
Simple to Work: Search for clay that’s gentle sufficient to mildew together with your palms, however not so mushy that it smears or will get sticky. It’s higher to decide on a firmer model of clay, so it holds the small print of your designs.
Power when Cured: You’ll need a model that’s sturdy when baked, so your completed jewellery is sturdy sufficient to put on.
Flexibility: The very best sorts of clay are versatile in skinny areas, quite than brittle. You don’t need your delicate jewellery items to interrupt when confused.
Suggestions
The very best manufacturers of polymer clay for making earrings and jewellery are Sculpey Premo, Fimo Skilled, and Kato Polyclay. Or, if you need a softer clay with a matte end, think about Sculpey Souffle. Moreover, if you need translucent and specialty colours, strive Cernit.
- For newcomers: Sculpey Premo or Sculpey Souffle
- For extra element and management: Fimo Skilled or Kato Polyclay
- For translucent and specialty colours: Cernit
If you must select only one model, begin with Premo. It has a pleasant medium firmness that works nicely for jewellery, and it’s extensively available in shops and on-line.
That will help you select, let’s speak in regards to the execs and cons of every of those three manufacturers in the remainder of this text.
Bake Nicely for the Greatest Outcomes
Earlier than we stock on, it’s vital to notice that the power of your completed jewellery items additionally relies on how nicely you’ve baked the clay. Underbaked polymer clay is brittle, whereas totally baked polymer clay is stronger and extra sturdy.
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So you’ll want to bake your designs completely to remedy the polymer clay.
Most manufacturers of clay bake at 275 F for no less than 25-Half-hour per 1/4″ of thickness. And basically, the longer any polymer clay cures, the stronger it’ll get.
It’s vital to bake on the proper temperature, too. If in case you have bother together with your clay burning, effervescent, or darkening, your oven could be operating too scorching! I like to recommend utilizing a cheap oven thermometer to measure the accuracy of your oven.
Learn this whole tutorial for the easiest way to bake polymer clay for nice outcomes.
Greatest Polymer Clay for Earrings and Jewlery
For polymer clay earrings and jewellery, I like to recommend three extensively out there manufacturers: Sculpey Premo, Kato Polyclay, and Fimo Skilled.
For newcomers, I’d select Sculpey Premo as a result of it’s a medium-firmness polymer clay that also provides nice outcomes.
For individuals who need firmer, artist-quality polymer clay, I’d select both Kato Polyclay or Fimo Skilled.
Sculpey Premo
Premo is among the finest polymer clays for brand spanking new artists as a result of it preforms nicely in quite a lot of tasks. It’s a medium firmness clay that straightforward to work, however will nonetheless retain high-quality element.
Premo is well-loved for its power and suppleness. It’s a medium firmness clay, which signifies that’s it’s gentle sufficient to work by hand, however agency sufficient to carry high-quality element.
It is available in a variety of colours together with metallics, pearls, translucent, and speckled varieties. It’s straightforward to combine colours, and extremely popular amongst clay earring makers. Premo is extensively out there at craft shops and on-line. I like to recommend beginning with this sampler pack, which has every thing you want to get began..
Notice: Take care to not confuse Sculpey Premo with the opposite strains of Sculpey clay — the packaging can look very related.
Kato PolyClay
Kato Polyclay is knowledgeable degree polymer clay developed by artists.
It’s firmer than Premo, although rather less agency than Fimo Skilled. It could possibly take just a little longer to situation this clay, but it surely’s firmness is right for holding element and sharp strains.
If in case you have heat palms that have a tendency to go away fingerprints, you could just like the agency texture of Kato. It doesn’t smear, so it’s nice for creating millefiori canes and different intricate polymer clay jewellery making strategies.
When baked, Kato could be very sturdy. It’s rather less versatile than Premo or Souffle.
Kato clay does are available in fewer colours than the opposite manufacturers, however the palette was designed for intuitive shade mixing. It additionally retains shade the perfect, that means it darkens the least when baked.
Fimo Skilled
Fimo Skilled is among the few manufacturers that is available in true main colours, so mixing your personal customized colours is straightforward and enjoyable. I like to recommend beginning out with the Fimo Skilled True Colours pack.
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Fimo Skilled is taken into account one of many stiffer polymer clays, so it can maintain element nicely. It may be onerous and crumbly if you first take it out of the packaging, however don’t surrender. After just a little conditioning, you’ll love working with it.
After baking, Fimo is robust and sturdy. There’s little or no shade change when baked.
Notice: The Fimo Skilled line is completely different than the traditional Fimo or the “Fimo Soft” line, which I don’t advocate for jewellery making.
Different Manufacturers to Contemplate
Listed below are just a few extra choices that you could be like, relying on the completed look you wish to obtain.
Sculpey Souffle
This model of polymer clay appears to be just a little controversial. Some jewellery makers adore it, some don’t.
Sculpey Souffle is quite gentle and simple to deal with. (Some artists say it’s too gentle, and evaluate it to bubblegum.) It’s fairly opaque, and bakes to a matte “suede” end. It’s sturdy and versatile when well-cured.
Souffle is available in a pleasant shade vary, however doesn’t have true main colours for customized color-mixing.
Cernit
Cernit polymer clay is extraordinarily sturdy and fairly versatile after baking. It may be just a little gentle, and is delicate to hotter temperatures. Additionally, it may be onerous to seek out.
Cernit is available in many colours, together with a line of metallics, translucent, pearlescent, and speckled clays.
Manufacturers to Keep away from
Let me preface this part by saying that the next manufacturers of clay aren’t dangerous, they simply aren’t suited to creating fashionable polymer clay earrings.
You’ll wish to keep away from the next manufacturers of polymer clay for jewellery making.
Sculpey III: This clay could be very gentle, so it may be sticky and maintain fingerprints. It tends to be brittle after baking, particularly when skinny.
You’ll wish to keep away from utilizing Unique Sculpey, unique Tremendous Sculpey, Sculpey Bake Store, Craftsmart model, Fimo Tender, Fimo Children, and huge multipacks of unbranded clay.
Discover Extra Polymer Clay Concepts
To learn to make polymer clay earrings, try my step-by-step tutorial: How to Make Polymer Clay Earrings.
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