Air-Dry clay in a nutshell
From all the varieties of clay available in the stores, air-dry clay remains one of the safest (and absolutely, the cheapest) materials to use if you are planning to create a piece of art which you want to enjoy for a long-long time.
Compared with polymer, air-dry clay might not give you the same colourful gamma (unless you are a very good with painting tiny details), and applying complex pattern to your toys, pottery, sculptures or any other clay object will take much longer time and more effort (unfortunatelly polymer millefiori technique cannot be applied to air-dry clay) but there are plenty of advantages as well.
So let’s first talk about the advantages of the air-dry clay.
The price is one of the things to consider when you are deciding what type of clay you should use. Whether you are buying ready-to-use air-dry clay or making the dough yourself, this will cost you considerably less than buying the same amount of the polymer clay. This is especially noticeable when sculpting bigger objects. Besides, since you do not need to bake your finished product, you will also save on your electricity costs.
The other good thing is a possibility to make air-dry clay yourself. Many recipes require ingredients which can be found in every kitchen. This comes very handy if you would like to offer a fun activity to your kids – cheap and entertaining in every step of the process.
Both, ready to use and good homemade clay provides for a permanent effect (although it IS breakable as opposed to polymer clay), and can be used by artists of all ages and levels of experience.
There are some cons to consider too.
As mentioned above, although working with the air-dry clay provides for a permanent end result, meaning that your finished piece of art will not fall apart or crack if you give it a good squeeze, but it is breakable, so should be treated with care.
Working with raw air-dry clay is somewhat more difficult than with polymer clay, as it crumbles and leaves more mess. This is especially applicable to ready- to-use clay. A good tip here is to either sprinkle a bit of water on a piece of clay you are working with, or to dip your fingers in water. This helps keeping the clay moist. Unfinished projects will also need to be sealed in zipper bag, to make sure it does not dry before you have finished the project.
Starting a project with air-dry clay, you need to be aware of the time needed for your art to dry. The average drying time is 24 hours. But it can take much longer depending on the size of your project and the clay you use. And you need to be absolutely sure that your artwork is dry before you start painting it.
Other than the above, the air-dry clay is an absolute pleasure to work with. Further we will list some tips on how to make your claying experience easier. And we are always happy to receive more tips and tricks to share them with everyone who enjoys working with clay.
Compared with polymer, air-dry clay might not give you the same colourful gamma (unless you are a very good with painting tiny details), and applying complex pattern to your toys, pottery, sculptures or any other clay object will take much longer time and more effort (unfortunatelly polymer millefiori technique cannot be applied to air-dry clay) but there are plenty of advantages as well.
So let’s first talk about the advantages of the air-dry clay.
The price is one of the things to consider when you are deciding what type of clay you should use. Whether you are buying ready-to-use air-dry clay or making the dough yourself, this will cost you considerably less than buying the same amount of the polymer clay. This is especially noticeable when sculpting bigger objects. Besides, since you do not need to bake your finished product, you will also save on your electricity costs.
The other good thing is a possibility to make air-dry clay yourself. Many recipes require ingredients which can be found in every kitchen. This comes very handy if you would like to offer a fun activity to your kids – cheap and entertaining in every step of the process.
Both, ready to use and good homemade clay provides for a permanent effect (although it IS breakable as opposed to polymer clay), and can be used by artists of all ages and levels of experience.
There are some cons to consider too.
As mentioned above, although working with the air-dry clay provides for a permanent end result, meaning that your finished piece of art will not fall apart or crack if you give it a good squeeze, but it is breakable, so should be treated with care.
Working with raw air-dry clay is somewhat more difficult than with polymer clay, as it crumbles and leaves more mess. This is especially applicable to ready- to-use clay. A good tip here is to either sprinkle a bit of water on a piece of clay you are working with, or to dip your fingers in water. This helps keeping the clay moist. Unfinished projects will also need to be sealed in zipper bag, to make sure it does not dry before you have finished the project.
Starting a project with air-dry clay, you need to be aware of the time needed for your art to dry. The average drying time is 24 hours. But it can take much longer depending on the size of your project and the clay you use. And you need to be absolutely sure that your artwork is dry before you start painting it.
Other than the above, the air-dry clay is an absolute pleasure to work with. Further we will list some tips on how to make your claying experience easier. And we are always happy to receive more tips and tricks to share them with everyone who enjoys working with clay.