Salt Dough Help?? How long do they last??

Question

Hey,
I have decided to try to make Christmas Ornaments using Salt Dough. I have the recipe, and I actually have a small batch in the oven testing them out. My question is, how long will they last once baked, dried, and painted? Does anyone have any creative ideas for ornaments also? All help is greatly appreciated!!

Answer 1

Salt dough clays, and any other air-dry clays**, need to be *thoroughly* sealed to prevent moisture from softening them during storage, or if exposed to humidity/water anytime.
Air-dry clays which are based on grains (like salt dough) also need to be sealed to keep critters from getting in and weakening or destroying them.

Generally, a couple of coats of clear acrylic finish (like the stuff sold at hardware stores for sealing bare wood) is sufficient (let dry thoroughly between coats) --diluted permanent white glue can be used as a sealer too-- but if anything causes the finish to get tiny cracks over time, etc., the pieces may not last as well becuase stuff can then get in.
(A couple of coats of acrylic paint would do the same thing.)

You may also want to experiment with air-dry clays which are based on wood/paper (like Celluclay, Creative Paperclay, or even pre-colored ones like Makins), or experiment with polymer clays (which must be baked in a home oven but don't need sealing) instead of the salt dough though.

The cheapest polymer clay is a 2 lb box (or its sold in even bigger boxes too) of "original" white or terracotta colored Sculpey (you can buy that at craft or hobby stores, and at art supply stores it may be called Polyform clay). It will probably break if dropped and not fairly thick, but can also be made a bit stronger with a layer or two of sealer.
The next cheapest polymer clay is the flesh-colored SuperSculpey that comes in a 1 lb box... it's a bit stronger (similar to the 2 oz precolored bars of Sculpey III).
Stronger brands of polymer clay (which wouldn't break even if you dropped them when thin) would be Premo, FimoClassic, Kato, and Cernit... and FimoSoft to a lesser degree.
(Polymer clays can be painted over later with acrylic paints, or colored by mixing artist's oil paints or alcohol inks, or *small amts of acrylic paint*, into the raw clay.)

There are SO MANY different kinds of ornaments that polymer clayers make that you might want to check out some of the lessons, photos, and links to those on this page of my polymer clay website:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/Christmas.htm
...No matter which type of clay you use though, you could still probably use many of the ideas on that page.


**bread clay is even better than salt dough for getting small details (and smaller items), if you want to try it too...here are recipes for bread clay, as well as other craft clays:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=bread+clay+recipe


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

Better Than Salt Dough

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Salt Dough Help?? How long do they last??
Hey,
I have decided to try to make Christmas Ornaments using Salt Dough. I have the recipe, and I actually have a small batch in the oven testing them out. My question is, how long will they last once baked, dried, and painted? Does anyone have any creative ideas for ornaments also? All help is...

Answer 4

I have some 30 year old salt dough ornaments. The ones that have fared well were coated with polyurethane once finished. Those that weren't have fallen apart, been glued, fallen apart... you get the idea. Some have hit the wastebasket.

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

My mother still has our earliest ones, made in the mid 1960's. So I think they last forever! I think the paint preserved them or something.
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