I know this is very old and maybe no one cks anymore but I was wandering if this still apply to new poly clay that say, bake for 10 to 30 minutes on the package?

Thank you for saying that KayTay! That is sweet of you. I bake all my premo polymer clay pieces for about 1 hour at 265F - 275F. That should give enough time for the thicker pieces and more strength to the thin pieces. Has worked well for me for many years.

Helpful????? That's a HUGE yes!!!!! I spent a couple of days making folk art dolls that came out looking amazing--I surprised even myself. But within a month or so, each doll had a broken arm, because I was following advice I heard on KZfaq and in many other places. I've never made another doll because I wasn't sure I could get the clay cured properly, so THANK YOU!!!!

This was one of my main problems when i started poly clay. I was doing everything for 10 min and wondering why EVERYTHING was breaking. Now I do a min of 45mins. up to 90 mins depending on thickness. And I bake everything in a glass casserole dish with glass lid. I have never burned anything. Not even that one pendant i forgot about for 4 hours. lol...

Thank you so much! Finally, someone who gives good, detailed tips, unlike the majority of videos on here as well as the rest of the web.

So glad you did this video! I made a piece that was the same thickness, baked it according to package directions (15mins) & it just didn't feel or look done- Even after baking it an additional 10m & yours was the only info I could find. S a HUGE thank you!

Hi +Deanna Darby Most brands of polymer clay are verified non-toxic and are safe to bake in your home oven. But some people are sensitive to the fumes. If you are not sensitive then it is no problem... if you are then you would need to bake your clay in a very well ventilated room (or out in the garage or something). Hope that answers your question.

I was having trouble with things breaking after I put a lot of work into them. I checked to see what you had to say and now I get it and I am looking forward to doing it your way. Thank you very much for your tutorials. Linda

Oh thank you soo much for making this video!!!! I just rebaked a bunch of stuff that was falling apart and now it bends and doesnt break. THANK YOU!!!

I'm new to polymer clay and your videos have kept me from giving up! Thank you!

Well, my thermometer just sits in the oven, so I can't actually set it. But I do watch it while its baking and make sure it stays between 265F and 275F (for Premo). I have a ton of information on baking polymer clay properly if you come to my blog. Use the link in the description box above and type 'baking' into the search box at the top of the page of my blog. There you'll find what you need.

Thank you so much Cindy. I have been doing my own baking experiments as just starting out. I had been baking 2.5mm thickness tiles from 5 to 40 mins but all have turned out brittle on a flex test (tried out 3 brands). About to give up until I checked your video. I had my temp only at around 110 centigrade - so I was baking a bit too low in temp and not long enough either. Off to do some more checks now with more hope in my heart for a good result. Thank you.

wanted to thank you INFINITELY for all the detailed/clear videos on polymer clay.planning to start this new hobby soon so i am studying the whole theory part first.

Hi, I did exactly what you said and I can’t believe how strong the peace’s are. I also baked it according to the package and it broke. I baked the second one for almost 3 hours and it’s so strong. THANKS!

Thanks for sharing this amazing note. I feel that some colours, especially the fluor and light ones get too dark if I go over 14 min at 275. Not sure how to deal with that... Maybe add some white clay while modelling?

This answers so many questions for me!!! Thank you so much for all the great information.

This is the only channel I follow for polymer clay! Haven’t even tried anything yet but I’ve learned so much! Watching all your videos first in hopes of avoiding making dumb mistakes.

Yes Avira bero. With Sculpey III though you need to be extra careful to protect your pieces by watching your temperature closely and tenting them or covering them with baking soda or cornstarch while baking or they will discolor. Premo and Fimo are not as vulnerable so I prefer them over Sculpey III.

Hi Michelle Li, You can leave your clay unbaked for as long as you want, as long as it isn't in a place that is too warm (which will partially bake it) or on something absorb ant that will leach out it's oils. Oven bake polymer clay like Premo, Sculpey, Fimo, Kato, etc. doesn't dry out in the air.

I'm big on most crafts but new to clay. Your videos are absolutely wonderful for people like me. Thank you for all of your help.

This has been the best polymer clay advice I've seen in such a long time! Exactly what I needed to improve my pieces. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for making this video. I haven't even tried it yet and it's helped me so much haha! XO

Thank you so much for this video. I have been so afraid to leave my clay in the oven for longer than 15 minutes for fear it would burn. I've never been sure about baking times as far as how thick/thin, large/small my item is. I've also had trouble with some of my things breaking too, which in some cases has absolutely broken my heart. lol:) Thank you again for this helpful information and your wonderful channel!

HI shedvl26 , I did condition the 10 min strip. In fact both pieces were from the same piece of clay. The ten min one just wasn't trimmed cleanly like the 60 min one was.

Thanks Cindy I will make sure to do so from now on!

You inspire me! Thank you for your helpful videos! I didn't mean to throw my instructions away, so this helped me more than anything ;) Thanks again

Thank you :) I baked a small heart for an hour and it is surprisingly durable, I can bend it without it breaking! Thanks again :)

Thank you so much! I knew 10 minutes wasn't long enough. It's my very first time working with clay. I made a hydrangea.

Thanks for the quick video. It helped me talk about curing and the strength it provides

This was so so helpful. Thank you!

Hi Cindy, Premo instructions say 135C for 30 mins per 6mm thickness. (I'm in Australia) So this is not enough? I have just finished a miniature cupcake of 14mm thickness on the base, a bit thicker on top, so I thought that should be about an hour, yes?

Hi ClayCharmer4, sorry to hear that. Your sculpture burned because your oven got too hot. Buy an oven thermometer. I bought mine in the grocery store for $6. It will more than pay for itself by saving your hard work and precious clay. I have other video on baking as well. You may want to watch them. Good luck!

Thank you so much I’m new at these and I already read all your answers to the comments. They were so helpful

I love this woman! I had a questions but you answered it in the video, woooot! loveee it.

I make a lot of charms and sculpted figures and a lot of tutorials tell you to "pre-bake" different parts ,say the face of a chibi character, so that as you continue to work you don't mess up the face that you just worked so hard on. What is your opinion of/advice on pre-baking? Thanks so much and love your channel! You've taught me so many great tips!

Hi Cindy, does overbake makes items brittle? I made a few bracelet which no doubt broke since i baked them without a thermometer. After i bought thermometer i tested my oven and found they are under baked can I rebake my bangles which i already glossed with Sculpy glaze.

I'm going to try this. I've been using premium on some small sculptures and smaller pieces have been snapping off. I use a thermometer at 275 and have been putting in for 40 minutes to make sure they are done but maybe that just still isn't long enough. I will try more time. Thanks for all that you do. You make it so easy to learn clay. I appreciate you

This is the best video! I've always had issues with this due to following the directions on the packaging, and it always breaks! I'm glad to see that it actually needs to cure for longer than 15 minutes to make it more durable. Thanks so much for this information, as it's a game changer for so many of us!

So its best to bake all your pieces for any size and thickness at a temperature of 275 for 60 minutes then?????

I am making balls, from 1/2" to 1" in diameter. I've never known how long to bake

I've just seen your other Video 751 about 'the most common question asked' So now I know 60mins is good for Premo, Fimo and Sculpey. Great advice. Thank you. X

THANK YOU for posting this! I have just started sculpting with polymer clay and everyone said to bake for 10 minutes and the second anything would bump my work it would break! It has been extremely frustrating. My mom used to sculpt with polymer clay and never had this problem. Again, thanks for the info!

I just made my first polymer clay project earlier today. I made a bowl that I rolled out the clay and molded it over bottom of a glass oven proof bowl. I baked it at 275F for 15 minutes. Part of it is fine, part seems not hardened. My question: can I bake it again without damage? I did not measure the thickness, but know it was not uniform. Please help!

On polymer clay, it is written to beak it for 30 minuts, but it's never enough baked... is it cause i should prebake the oven, or because i should bake longer ? :(

Exactly the problem that I have experienced! Thanks so much for this wisdom!!!

Hi ShoutOutCrafty and Michelle Lechner, although ice water after baking does make the piece harden up right away, in most cases it doesn't actually improve the strength and durability of the piece. Baking longer does. I'll try and do a PcT Test Lab on the ice water technique soon. I believe there are some misconceptions on the subject out there that would be good to prove with some testing. Thank you both for your comments!

Is it possible to bake my clay for 10 minutes, take out to sand since it is soft at this point, and then continue to bake for another 50 minutes?

This was suuuperrrr helpful! Thank you for making this video! I've been baking my clay projects wrong this entire time...

Hi Cindy, Great video, thank you. My Premo clay is not braking anymore since I have been baking it at 275 for up to 1 hour. I have been using Fimo soft and classic for a while now and recently switched to Premo because of the shine it gives after buffing it and the strength after firing it at the appropriatge temperature. I'm really excited about this clay especially after I saw how it bend without breaking on your video. Again, thank you very much for your demonstration.

at what temperture

I have been working on a quartz-polymer necklace for MONTHS because I was too anxious that my design choices would shatter after baking...I’M SO GLAD I spent the longest time scrolling youtube for answers to my concerns. A MILLION THANKS! I can now be confident in my design choices and move forward!

Hi Doreen G, polymer clay brands sold in North America are certified safe to use in your home oven. (There should be a little safety symbol on the pack.) If you are concerned though, you can use a separate smaller oven, just for baking polymer clay.

Without your video assistance, I'd have had no idea how long to bake my project, or even at what temperature. Thank you muchly for your help! ☺

Holy buckets~ just about to bake my first, just watched a video that told me to just do 15 minutes ~ glad it rolled over to this one as I was setting the timer!! Thanks so much!!

Wow! Thank you so much for this. I have begun sculpting after many years of not being creative at all, what was I thinking. I am a jewelry maker, wire wraps mostly, but I was stricken with trigger finger in my right hand. I was so perplexed as I had just started getting back into creating three years ago. I remembered using an oven bake clay in my younger days so I searched our local craft store. I have been attempting to make jewelry with clay but I have found that pieces that have taken me up to six hours to carve have broken even before they are a month old. I'm so glad that I haven't tried to sell any of these pieces yet. With your help I should be able to start paying my bills with my passion again. Bless you my dear.

Wow thanks for showing this. Great information !

I was wondering is it would fully set up that quickly; glad I came across this video; thanks!

That was a great demonstration. I have always baked a little longer, but never up to an hour. Can't wait to give it a try.

That was extremely helpful. This has been a long time worry for me. Thank you for the time to share this. :-D

You're welcome Mrs Chipi! I don't work with Fimo Soft very often, but I've baked it for an hour at the temp it says on the pack & got good results. You could do some testing on your own to see what works time is the most ideal. I bake thick or thin pieces for the same amount of time. Seems to work best for me. If it is a super thick piece like more than an inch, I will bake for longer tho. For filling the hollows, the baking temp is low so you can use paper, tape, tinfoil, wire and lots more!

Hi Cindy! Thank you for sharing you have been very helpful! I'm just learning thanks again x

Thank you for these videos! Very helpful!! 🙂🙂

Thank you, very detailed and beautifully explained

I've heard if you series bake them like for example when you're making sculptures and you attach different parts at different times baking between each new parts, its good because the part you've previously baked will be allot stronger with each bake.

Thank you! I was looking for this vid!

I just got into customizing action figures and I'm working with polymer clay so this video has helped me tremendously. Thank you dear I subscribed to your channel to learn more

Hi, thanks for this video! I asked this same question on another of your baking videos but I figure I would try it here as well. My question is, I am baking for an hour (per your suggestion) and I'm not having problems with burning or anything, but I find that my pieces become very brittle when they've been out of the oven for 24 hours. When I first take them out they are very flexible (I wait until they are mostly cooled down to take them out). I am using Premo clay exclusively, which I chose because of the strength and flexibility it's *supposed* to have after baking. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Have you ever heard of this, and if so can you please let me know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks for the help and the video! Have a wonderful day! 😊

I just wanted to say thank you. I admit I was hesitant to try keeping my sculpey in the oven for that long, so my first try was with a dark piece just in case it darkened. Tonight I did a handful of pure white pieces and they came out perfect. I also use your cardstock trick for baking them on, to eliminate the shine on the back. I no longer have to "rethink" my ideas to avoid small/thin areas. With the increase in oven time, they are not as brittle.

Thank you so much!! I've definitely had a problem with my prices breaking and falling apart and didn't know why

I love the way you describe things so properly 😇😇😇

This helped....a Lot! Thank you so much

Awesome. I love all ur videos. Im a newbie in polymer clay creations but have found ur videos very encouraging. Thank u for sharing. Keep up the great work. Btw i love ur clay pieces.

Yes Michelle that is the consensus out there. Although my current toaster oven is holding its temp pretty good with all the tweaks I have done to it with tiles and such (See my blog for info on that. Link is in description.) I will switch to a convection oven when this one dies. The way the heat circulates in a convection oven is far more even than in a conventional oven. So it only makes sense that it would be better for baking polymer clay!

Omg I'm so glad I saw video. I purchased a small set online & of course the label in foreign language, & had NO instructions. This video was so helpful since we had never done this b4.

Omg i found this so helpful because I was wondering why my charms would keep breaking. Thank you!

thank you i had been struggling baking clay until I watched your videos

Hi there! I have a question... So I have an oven thermometer and have determined that I need to set the temp dial at 295 for it to actually hit at 275 inside. I have ceramic tiles placed at the bottom to regulate the heat (and it works, heat will remain constant ). My problem is that when I place my tray with sculpey pieces inside, the temp will drop about 15-20 degrees (it stays constant at that temp). I only had the door open for a few seconds and the temp drop seemed to happen gradually. Should I just set my oven to a high temp to compensate for that? Has this ever happened to you? I have the ceramic tiles so I don't know if it has anything to do with that. Thanks! - Sarah

Helped me so much!

Tenting is always a good idea shirley jita, thanks for mentioning that! Like I mentioned before, if your clay is burning, it's not because it was in too long, it's because your temperature is too high. Get an oven thermometer and you won't have any trouble with burning. If you're using an oven thermometer & it is still burning, then either it's malfunctioning, your oven is spiking or your pieces are too close to the element. Go to my blog for info on baking. See the link in the description.

Thank you for the advice!

sooooooo glad you did this. I'm subbing you!

Hi WarriorOfMetal RoadOfKings, what brand are you talking about?

OMG!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I VERY MUCH NEED TO SEE THIS & I WAS NOT COOKING MY CLAY LONG ENOUGH...

Hey I was so happy to learn from you. Thank you For oven baking time, I did what you saw, stripe was in the oven 30 minutes, stripe was in the oven 30 minutes, and immediately afterwards is dipped in ice water and the last strip was 60 minutes in the oven. Unfortunately they all been broken ! strip was 60 minutes in the oven, broken down as quickly. I used black SCULPEY I'd love to understand why all the bars been broken and remain flexible. Thank you, Dalya

Much appreciate this important and useful info!!

Hi Luann Kindem, make sure that your piece sits on paper on top of your tile ad that will help a bit. If it comes out of the oven curved, you can sit something heavy on top while it cools (if the piece can handle it) and it should come out flat. If not try to straighten it out by hand while it is warm and then set the shape you want under cold water. That should fix any slight curvature in your flat textured on the front pieces.

You are such a sweetheart 😊 Thanks for proper and correct information 👏🏻 it helps a lot!

do you think premo maybe good to use and bake it for a longer time, and you think its strong.

When there are thick and thin bits on the piece you would bake up to the time required for the thickest part? If the oven is the correct temperature, this will not cause any problems with the thinner bits?

Hi Jayalekshmi J J , it sounds like your 'terracotta' clay is not actually polymer clay since it 'melted' when you baked it. It is probably either an earthen based clay or a modeling clay. Try using a brand like Premo or Fimo. You'll have much more luck with that!

very good video, thanks for your advice.

Hi. I have a question. I bought the Original Sculpey to make a seahorse sculpture for my final. I was wondering if it would work, or did I had to use the Super Sculpey Frim. I was also planning on painting it with the acrylic gloss paint, would it make it seem as though it is glazed? Also, how long would I have to bake it if it's around 3-4 inches. Thank you!

sorry for all my questions, do i bake the clay according to the temperature on the packaging?

Hi that's great advice for Premo. Would you recommend the same temp and time for Fimo too? I do 35 mins as it's says on packet but it always seems soft & breaks easy. X

hi! does it make a difference if i bake several times or does it have to be 60 minutes in one go? thanks.

Hi rfinney97, its not that convection ovens are more powerful (aka hotter), it is just that they move the air around so the heat is more consistent. Use an oven thermometer to determine the true temp that your oven is putting out and adjust the dial accordingly. You shouldn't have anymore problems with burning. Thanks for commenting!

Thanks! I lost the wrapper on my clay and want to make pendants with clay stamps, so this is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo helpful! Thanks for posting!!!!!

Hi, I have recently started using both fimo and Sculpey lll I made a sculpture with both. As I had used fimo first I made a mistake on the cooking time with the Sculpey lll and left it for 30 mins. The face was burnt to a cinder. The second project was a model horse made from fimo proffessional. I left that for the recommended 30 mins and that too was burn badly along it's back. The clay had blistered and burst in places. What am I doing wrong? Is it because both sculptures had armatures in them? Other small items that I have made with fimo have been fine. I was really disappointed with both bigger projects as I had spent hours on them only to have them burn. Help ?

I've made some delicate fuschia flower jewellery but it breaks as you suggested. I put them in at the correct temp for 30 mins but can I re-fire them to strengthen them?

Thanks. I am new at this. I needed the info.

Hi! i want an advice if its not too much problem, i use Sculpey and the box say 275°F(130°C) for 15 min. per 6mm thickness... do you recommend bake for the 60 min instead the 15 min ? im sorry for my english i speak spanish :(