Wednesday 25 February 2009

Storing Unused PMC & Art Clay Silver Clay

Storing Unused Clay
I know that in the early days it seems almost impossible that you'll have any left over clay from those "tiny little packets", but just in case you do here's a few suggestions for keeping your clay from drying out....
NB - If you use different types of clay with different shrinkage or drying rates e.g. Original PMC / PMC+ or ACS650 / ACS650 slow dry it's best to have a seperate labelled container for each

For short term storage -
Use the outer foil pack that your clay came in..
Make sure your clay is moist (if not dampen it) then wrap in cling film before putting back into the ziplock packet.
Wet a piece of kitchen towel & put into packet with the clingfilm wrapped clay.
Ziplock the top shut. (This has kept clay good for days for me & if you keep check the moisture level daily there's no reason it couldn't be longer).

For Regular Storage -
A home made option is to get a small airtight container (little lidded pots)and put a piece of wet sponge in the bottom (dense make up sponge type).
The moist wrapped clay then goes into the pot and you keep the sponge moist.
This way you can have multiple pieces.

Longer Term Storage -
If you want a good pre-made solution or have larger quantities of clay to store regularly then an American site http://www.pmcsupply.com/ has something called Clay Vaults and Clay Keepers. They are "zip lock" plastic containers with hydrated water crystals inside & they're very good.

Nic xx

6 comments:

  1. Invaluable information here! Great tips and a lovely, easy to read blog! I'm a fan already!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Pips
    Your first silver clay piece was very beautiful, I'll be keeping an eagle eye out for more.
    The polymer clay work you do though is droool worthy...OMG that pink canework ring.
    Yummy!
    Nic x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi
    I have not got a blog, but I have a question gor you. I have beenworking with pmc clay for 2 years now, and would call myself an intermediate student of pmc clay. I do not get the required results when I use Aura 22. The gold does not stick everywhere. After I fire the piece, I clean it with the correct product, I mix the paste well, leave the piece longenough after each layer- and then fire it again thoroughly. Still not perfect. What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I put the gold paste directly onto the fired white silver. I've written out my whole method here :)
    http://pmctips.blogspot.com/2009/02/applying-gold-overlay-paste-to-silver.html
    I also find torch firing to give better results

    Hope that helps
    Nicola xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi,
    I have some old leftover clay which has gone very hard ....is there any way of rescuing it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes you can use a coffee grinder to reduce it to dust and then reconstitute it. Lisa Cain of MidCornwall Jewellery School did a brilliant vid on that very topic
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ7iLswiMrs

      Delete

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