what is the difference between polmer clay and sculpey 111 clay?

Question

I am new to working with polmer clay and notice that sculpey clay is cheaper then polmer. I would like to know if it is ok to use sculpey clay in place of polmer. thanks for your help

Answer 1

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Sculpey III is just one brand (and line) of "polymer clay."

It's often the cheapest of the small pre-colored brands polymer clay (at least when Michaels *isn't* having one of their sales --which is right now!).

Polymer clays must be heat "cured" at a certain temperature for a certain length of time or they won't harden (they don't harden in the air by "drying" like "air-dry" clays do).
"Modeling" clays (the older type primarly used by kids) also won't harden in the air, but if baked it will actually melt.

When most people say "Sculpey," thery usually mean Sculpey III which comes in 2 oz bars, but other "Sculpeys" are the original Sculpey (white or terracotta color only, generally comes in 2 lb boxes), SuperSculpey (translucent flesh colored clay, in 1 lb box), or one of the other specialized Sculpeys, like Ultralight or Eraser Clay, etc.

All of the regular Sculpeys are weak clays though after baking in any thin or projecting areas, so be aware of that if you need the clay to be thin.
The brands of polymer clay which are stronger in thin areas after baking are Premo, Kato Polyclay, Cernit, and FimoClassic (....FimoSoft is in-between).

There's loads of information on the various brands and types of polymer clay at my website, as well as almost anything you could want to know about how to use it (lessons, examples, etc.).

If you want to check out the whole site, look on this page:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/contents.htm
(scroll all the way down... when you find a topic you're interested in, click on its name from inside the alphabetical navigation bar on the left to go to it).

If you just want to check out the different brands and types of polymer clay, look on these pages:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/Characteristics.htm

and specialized "colors" of polymer clay:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/translucents-glow.htm
(....translucent & glow-in-the-dark clays)
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/mica.htm
(....metallic clays)


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

not sure about polmer (or do u mean polimer clay?) if u bake scuply in the oven it should become hard.

Answer 3

Polymer clay is sturdier and works better for things that will get used, such as jewelry.

Answer 4

I think it really depends on what you are using it for... I have used both and sculpy has always worked pretty well on most projects. What are you using it for?