Can a jacket with polmer clay buttons be put in the washing machine?

Question

I was just wondering...because I am making a black wool coat and am looking for black rose buttons, but I cannot find any so I have decided to make some from polymer clay!
Like this:
http://images.etsy.com/all_images/a/a81/a6b/il_430xN.6503890.jpg

But could this jacket be washed if it had polymer clay buttons? Or drycleaned?

Thanks for looking ^__^

Answer 1

Hi,

You can definitely wash --but *NOT* DRY CLEAN -- buttons made from polymer clay.
In other words, water and soap are fine; dry cleaning solution is not (...baked polymer clay can also be washed in a dishwasher when it's been used to cover silverware handles, etc.).

Bare baked polymer clay is waterproof all by itself (it's just plastic, after all) and it requires no sealer --unless perhaps you just want a sealer to give the item a glossy finish (and don't want to sand-and-buff for that glossy finish), or you're trying to seal something onto the clay that might otherwise come off or tarnish, etc.

The heat created in a washer or dryer isn't close to the 230-273 degrees that's used to cure polymer clay, but since polymer clay is a thermosetting type of plastic, after it's hardened it could still soften up just a bit with higher heats (that still probably wouldn't be a problem unless your clay were very thin, or had thin or projecting areas, which might distort a bit ...the rounded shape of the rose in that link though should be totally fine).
We wash and dry clay buttons on clothing all the time...at the least, sometimes the dryer can actually buff the upper areas of dimensional buttons a bit, which looks great !

Now, there's also *strength* of the buttons to consider.

Some brands of polymer clay are stronger after baking than others though that's mostly noticeable in things which are not rounded and thick like your rose:
...the weaker brands are Sculpey, and FimoSoft to a lesser extent
... the strong brands are Premo, FimoClassic, Kato Polyclay, and Cernit (...for US clays).

You might want to check out the Buttons page at my polymer clay encyclopedia website for all kinds of other info about making holes or other connectors for buttons, more on washing/etc., and also for checking out some other polymer clay buttons:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/buttons.htm

P.S. If you'll be shaping your own roses for the buttons, you might want to make just one first and bake it... then press it into a wad of raw clay and bake that to make a rose "mold" you can use to make many more of the same buttons more quickly.
You can also make a mold in the same way from a non-polymer button or other stiff rose-item you already have, then use that to make your buttons.

There's info on this page at my site on making all kinds of roses from clay, as well as other flowers/etc, if you want to check them out:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/sculpture.htm
(... click on "Flowers & Leaves"...)
And here's more on making and using molds with polymer clay if you want more info on that:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/molds.htm


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

I know there are sites that tell you a lot about polymer clay. And one of the top posters here is also very knowledgeable. I am sure she will come and answer this question when she gets on-line later today.

But if you can not wash or dry-clean, make the buttons double, like cuff links.
Then you can take them off when you need to clean the coat.
If you make the bottom part of the link small, and the button hole on the button side of the coat small, nobody will even notice.

And it would also allow you to exchange the buttons for others as long as the size is the same.

Answer 3

Fimo Buttons

Answer 4

Due to the fact that your buttons will be three dimensional and a bit on the fragile side I would suggest not putting them in the washer. Now, I have seen projects where delicate buttons were used on an item but the buttons were not sewn onto the item. An inexpensive method would be to attach the buttons with safety pins for easy removal prior to cleaning. There are professional products that also allow you to detach buttons. Sorry don't know the names. Good luck. Hope you get lots of great answers.

Answer 5

Make sure the buttons have been sealed and weatherproofed. You can fold the section with the buttons on it, and pin the fold so the buttons won't get scuffed. Then use the gentle cycle on the washer. Don't use the dryer.
.

Answer 6

Jus fall in a washing tub or in swimming pool, b there for a minute (more than enough for a lazy guy) Washing machine wil rotate, which makes u tired.

Answer 7

I would cover them with aluminum foil and use a short gentle cycle or hand wash.