Polymer Clay - can I make it softer?

Cafe Society
1

I’ve never played with polymer clay before, but I bought one of those handprint keepsake kits and it uses polymer clay instead of the plaster-of-paris my mother used. Now, I’ve conditioned the clay pretty well I think, but when I’ve tried to get the handprints, it seems too firm. No matter how hard I press my little 2 year old’s hands into it, the best I get is a very shallow hint of handprints. If I could get the clay softer, I think it would work out very nicely.

A couple websites that I checked said that I could add mineral oil to the clay to soften it up. Will that affect the curing time? Any other hints and tricks from the crafty polymer Dopers?

If this goes well, I’m afraid I may have another crafting addiction on my hands. :slight_smile:

2

I would definitely go with the over-the-counter softening agents instead of attempting to use the vaseline or baby oil trick. That takes a lot of experience with how Sculpey behaves, and a willingness to discard repeated batches until you get it right. You can get stuff called, variously, Mix-Quick or Sculpey Diluent to mix with it. Ask at a store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels; I doubt whether Wal-Mart has it.

Also, it’s entirely possible your kit was sitting on the shelf so long that the clay just isn’t going to soften up no matter what you do, which might explain why your diligent conditioning isn’t softening it up. The warmth of your hands IME is generally enough to soften it. If it isn’t, might be your kit is too old.