Monday 4 August 2014

Polymer Clay vs Air Dry Clay

Hi everyone, a number of people has been asking me about the differences between polymer clay and air dry clay. There are many sites that already shows comparisons, but here's another one :


Polymer Clay
Air Dry Clay 

Oven baked
Self-hardening with air
Dries hard and solid
Dries hard (not as hard as polymer clay)
Plastic-like
Porcelain-like
Does not shrink
May shrink a little
Dries slowly
Dries faster
Can work with slowly (till baked)
Need to work faster with
Made with polymer polyvinyl chloride  (PVC)
Can be made at home (google recipes)
Used to make anything but mostly smaller things
Used to make anything, works well for bigger pieces compared to polymer clay
Tend to be more costly
Tend to be cheaper
Need not be kept air tight
Must be kept air tight
Baking time matters depending on thickness (check package for instructions)
Just leave it to dry. Appx 1 or 2 days to harden completely
May get burnt with brown/black marks (oven)
Will not be burnt (Dries with air)
Water resistant
Melts in water and heat
Doesn’t need a seal coat to be water resistant
Need a seal coat to be water resistant
Need to condition the clay before usage
Soft and easy to be used right away.
Has a few precautions
Non-toxic and child safe
Comes in a variety of colours
Comes in a variety of colours
Colours can be mixed for more colours
Colours can be mixed for more colours
Can be painted with acrylics
Can be painted with acrylics
Popular brands : Sculpey, Fimo
Popular brands : Das, Hearty, Makins