instead of baking polymer clay, can i just air dry it?

Answer 1

Nope.

Answer 2

No, it has to be baked. That is one of the nice things about polymer clay that it doesn't go "bad" if exposed to air accidentally. It can bake in a toaster oven...but make sure you check the temperature carefully first...and if you are going to do several projects, I'd recommend getting a clay dedicated oven. That way you won't have to clean it out after you've baked your polymer projects. The clay baking does leave a residue (gas) while curing and therefore you don't want to get any of that plastic stuff in your food.
Hope this helps..
Pat

Answer 3

The only way a "polymer" clay would really harden besides heating it to a low oven temperature for sufficient time is to create that temperature in some other way, or expose it to a slightly lower heat over a longer period of time.
One other thing that can "cure" polymer clay aside from heat though is long-term exposure to UV light.

Brands of polymer clay differ in how stiff they are to begin with, and some old clay may have been sitting in too much heat or UV light a long time in transit, etc., and have been "partly" cured.

Polymer clays will also stiffen after they've been left alone for awhile, even if they've been "conditioned" at one point, but they can be made pliable again with more stretching and warming or certain oily additives.
So polymer clays (brands like the 2 Fimos, Premo, several versions of Sculpey, Kato Polyclay, and Cernit, in the U.S.) aren't air-dry clays, though some clays that look like polymer clay are air dry.

If you don't have an oven or toaster oven you can use to bake polymer clay in and you want to cure it, you can create the heat necessary in other ways. Check out this page at my site for info on many ways:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/baking.htm
(...click especially on the category *Other Ways to Cure*...)

(You can also cure polymer clay in an oven inside another container or even inside a pile of baking soda, etc., or just partly covered or tented, if you're concerned about baking at all.... in general though, unless you're doing lots of clay, baking it in your oven is considered okay ... not *along with* food, of course.

HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 4

You need to read the manufacturers directions as to what you need to do to cure the clay you are using. Polymer clay normally needs to be baked in order for it to cure (Temperatures vary also, so you need to read instructions). Air dry clay is labled as such and can be air dried.

Answer 5

No, you can't air-dry it. Polymer clay will not harden without being baked.

Answer 6

You can but it won't be cured. It will still be water soluble. Heat catalyzes the polymer substrate.
.

Answer 7

no, it must be baked to be sturdy. if you want to air dry , get air dry clay or paperclay.

Answer 8

My husband sculpts in his free time. He says,depending on the type, yes,you can air dry it.