Rather than buying this in kit form, where the colours and styles are created for you, all parts are sold separately giving you the opportunity to combine the colour of your crystals with any colour clay and to set them into any blank you can get your hands on. The design opportunities are endless. There are also opaque and tinted sealants available or you can create them on your own by blending clear sealants and paints. Correct any flaws that you find now. It will be much more difficult to take corrective action later. Renaissance Wax does a lovely job enriching a smooth polymer clay surface. Just apply a thin coating, let dry for a few minutes, then buff with a cloth. This will work sort of like wetting a beach pebble and can enrich a dark clay surface. Wax can also change the appearance of surface treatments, such as paint, chalk, and mica powders. I like to think of waxes as being a surface treatment themselves and not a protectant. Air-dry clay doesn’t need a kiln to cure; it dries by allowing the moisture in the clay to evaporate naturally in the air. Unfortunately, this means that if the clay is reintroduced to moisture, it will become soft again. As such, air dry clay isn’t naturally waterproof.

Best for: Sealing surface treatments, especially mica powders. Great on textured items where varnish would pool. Embossing Powder

Resources, guides & advice from the jewellery making experts

Resin contracts as it cures, often pulling the resin away from the edges of your polymer clay pieces. Both UV and epoxy resin have a short shelf life, so buying in bulk isn’t always wise. Frankly, there are poorly performing resins out there, and you won’t know they don’t work well until you have ruined your pieces. Available in gloss, matte, and satin formulas Vallejo Polyurethane Varnish is a water-based finish of superior purity. When dry it is UV and water-resistant and goes on very smoothly. It can be brushed or sponged with ease and provides a crystal clear finish that will not yellow or cloud with exposure to sunlight or damp conditions. Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating Best for: Deepening and enriching dark colors, giving a warm sheen to smooth clay. Liquid Polymer Clay Due to its delicate and absorbing nature, air dry clay can never truly be waterproof. However, there are seals and finishes you can apply to air-dry clay to give it a water-resistant quality. It won’t be able to hold water for a long period of time but will withstand a rainstorm or light washing. You can and can’t bake air-dry clay in an oven. If by bake you mean cure it at high heat as you would resin clay, then no, you can’t. If you mean, can it be warmed in an oven to speed up the drying process, then yes, it can. It can also depend on the type of air-dry clay you are talking about.

Varnish (sometimes called glaze or sealer) is just wood varnish or the varnish that’s used to coat acrylic paintings. On wood, it soaks into the fibers to form a super-durable surface. On polymer, however, it merely forms a super thin skin on the surface of your clay. A popular brand of varnish is Varathane. I also like a newcomer on the market, Brite Tone, that you can read about in my article here.

Doodlecraft

An excellent sealant and varnish for a wide variety of crafting applications, Vallejo Polyurethane Varnish is water-resistant, provides UV protection, and has a beautiful finish. Comes in gloss, matte, and satin formulas. Due to the mixing process of epoxy resin or just due to the act of pouring itself, it’s common for resin to have lots of small bubbles. These need to be popped before you cure the resin. The best way I’ve found to remove bubbles is as follows: As stated, you will need nothing to bake the clay that you probably don’t already have in your home. While spills clean up easily with rubbing alcohol, it’s easy to miss little spills because it’s clear. Wear an apron while you work with resin. It can get messy fast. Bubbles

Now that we’ve discussed a little bit about the natural state of air-dry clay and warned you against using it as a material to serve food with, let’s get into the methods for making air-dry clay water-resistant. 1. VarnishWhether you can glaze air-dry clay depends on how you think of glazing. If you mean, can you apply a sealant or coating to improve its durability and alter its appearance, then yes you can. If you are thinking of glazing air-dry clay as you would ceramics or pottery then no you can’t. Air-dry clay is mainly made of cornstarch, resins, glues, and other additives. Most of these are flammable and will literally burn up if fired like ceramics. Do you need to seal clay? Also known as Kato Liquid or Kato Sauce, this liquid has the consistency and appearance of thinned white glue. To use as a varnish, apply a very thin coat with your finger or a brush. Allow to level, then bake. After baking, you will need to use a heat gun to make the thin layer of clay crystal clear and shiny. Fimo Liquid You won’t commonly see polyester resin used in the craft world as it’s pretty noxious. It’s used similarlyto an epoxy resin, except that you use a large volume of resin (part A) and a small volume of hardener (part B). I’ve not used this since I was a kid and helped my dad repaira fiberglass tank, so I’m only mentioning it here as an FYI. Dimensional Glazes Liquid clay is just that, a liquid version of polymer clay, and it must be heated to cure. Most brands of liquid clay cure somewhat cloudy. There are a few brands of liquid clay that cure crystal clear and glossy and can therefore make an excellent alternative to resin.

Resin can make a good shiny coating, but if your item has a lot of texture, you’ll be happier using a varnish for this. Even light-bodied resin is still quite viscous and can make subtle texture disappear. There are other waxes that work just as well. Neutral shoe polish and paste wax both work nicely on polymer clay to create a warm, enhancing sheen. But frankly, so does Vaseline, at a tiny fraction of the cost. Varnish and acrylic paint are both solid options for indoor or outdoor display, though they are more of a middle-ground when it comes to sealants. A better use for varnish is to seal surface effects such as mica, pastels, or complex color treatments. In this case, the varnish protects the stuff that’s ON the clay. Varnish is also your best choice when you want a textured surface to have a glossy or shiny finish.Kato Liquid Polyclay, Sculpey Liquid Clear, and Fimo Liquid will all cure clear and glossy when they’re fully cured. They do, however, need to be cured quite hot to create this effect. You just apply the liquid clay to the surface of the clay and then bake it in a hot oven, about 300F/148C. In most cases, though, a heat gun is required for the best clarity. It’s a process with a steep learning curve ( here’s a paid tutorial from Debbie Crothers), and it can be quite difficult to avoid getting bubbles and blisters, especially if an item is large. Air-dry clay offers more glazing options than polymer clay or traditional clay that you would use for pottery or ceramics. Unlike, polymer clay, air-dry clay is not sensitive to the components used in aerosols, or oil-based varnishes. EnviroTex Lite Epoxy Resin Let’s review the different options for sealing your air dry clay to give you the right level of water resistance for your decorative pottery. Types Of Sealants For Making Air Dry Clay Water-Resistant