Fimo, Sculpey, Polymer?

i havent heard of sculpey or polymer, only used fimo so here is my opinion on it:
very soft, keeps your fingerprints in it.
plus i burnt my latest fimo attempt. instructions said 30mins 230 degrees so i did and it almost exploded i was gutted. now i got to do it all again. i like the colours but now want air-drying clay due to the cooking problems of other things.

Hmmm. Well I live in the U.S. so that could be why you haven't heard of them.

I shop at Michaels often, if that helps anyone.

I live in the US too, and I first tried Sculpey.. it's like $10 for a pack of 12 colors at Wal-Mart. I feel that it was a good starter kit because you got so much and so many different colors at once. Plus it came with the tools! At Joann's they usually have sales on the clay (if you go on a good week or get coupons ) of 40% off on the Sculpey and Fimo.! The blocks of color are about $2.50 each but I think they are well worth trying out when on sale. After I started running low, I bought some Fimo when it was on sale and I have come to really like it. Probably more than Sculpey. I feel that Sculpey gets more dried out and harder to knead through when sitting too long. Also, Fimo is usually softer and more firm, I don't know how really to explain it. But don't get me wrong I really do still like Sculpey. It has it's perks. My advice would be to try them both out and see which works best for you. The thing is, Sculpey bakes at 275 degrees(F), and Fimo bakes at 230 degrees(F). Fimo says not to bake any higher than 265 degrees(F), I have baked both types of clay at once at like 265 I think and it all turned out fine. I just had to find a moderate and reasonable time frame to leave them in for, which wasn't hard.
Everytime I went to Micheal's the clay is the same price but they never have sales >:| so I just stopped going and only go to Joann's haha honestly though, if you have a Joann's close, go! and definitely sign up for their membership email thing. They send you coupons in the mail and to your email and they are really amazing savings. Plus, their stuff is always on sale, it's fantastic.

I don't know what to think about what happened to Nikki, though. I tried to bake my Fimo at 230 degrees(F) for 30 mins and they were almost not baked enough :/ Maybe it has to do with climates and elevations. I live in Florida so I'm pretty low to the ground. So maybe if you live higher up, say in the mountains, you have to bake it at a diff. temp for a diff. amount of time? Not sure..

But, I hope I helped! I would def say go for it and don't be cautious about your choices because you can't really go wrong either way, it all works out about the same.. just look for the best way to get the most out of your $$ :]


Oh yeah! and polymer is just the type of clay they are. so.. Sculpey, Fimo, and Premo are "polymer" clays

im in england so... also the instructions say celsius nor farenheit or kelvin. i baked some fimo before that, took about 45mins,it was still kinda flexible, then i took it out of the oven and it hardened out of it.

I've only ever used Fimo as its much more readily available where I am in the UK, Ive always found it a brilliant sculpting material for jewellery and is quite cheap.

There's no such thing as a silly question when it comes to a new craft. I do want to try Sculpey and premo sculpey just to see what it is like and I've now seen alot more uk based craft sites are selling it at a similar price to fimo. basically all polymer clays are very similar because they are plastic suspended in a material that makes it clay like and will only set properly when baked.

I've tried air dry clays and they are all right but i find they are filled with fibres to help structually but makes them very furry if not smoothed properly and it is quite brittle when dry (I suppose it would depend on the brand)

Give it a go and find what works for you, with polymer clay you can do so much with it the possibilities are endless.

from what I heard
if the clay is really soft and easy to work with, it'll be more prone to breaking after baking

if the clay is really hard to work and stiff, it won't be as fragile



so long term, harder-to-work clay is better

the back of my Fimo says "for best results bake at 230F/110C. Do not heat above 265F/130C or exceed the 30 min baking time." but, its on a sticker thing attached to the back with a little mark on the bottom left that says For US only.

But, I agree with illegalcreative, the harder it is to knead through the harder it will be to break >,<

I always stick clay in my pocket for a couple of hours to make it malleable
Ovens vary so this and atmospherics are factors

Thanks you guys have been so helpful! I think I'll check Wal-Mart for sculpey the next time I go, but I don't recall ever seeing it. I also think I will try to find a JoAnns near me. Sally you said the pack of sculpey came with "tools", what does that mean, like tools for making textures or shaping? Oh, I also was wondering if they are non-toxic and also if they leave any residue on the table. Does anyone know what happens if they get wet, either before or after baking. Can you paint them, with like acrylic paint? Wow, I guess I have more questions than I thought!

When you make something do you have to smush the peices together or will they bake together if they are just touching? (Sorry, don't know really how to say/ask this.)

nothing really happens if they get wet, before and after
they are non toxic (just wash the table cos you might not wanna eat clay)
you can paint them
if they're just touching, they'll kinda stick together, but they're more prone to falling apart. it's better to smush them, but if it's not possible without destroying the piece, bake them separately and just glue them together with crazy glue

If I'm doing miniature highly detailed pieces, I prefer Sculoey premo.
To stick different pices of clay together, use TLS ( translucent liquid sculpey) as a glue, before baking.
For tiny pieces, you can boil them in a glass of boiling water in a microwave for 3-4 minutes, saves using a big oven!

The Sculpey clay pack at Wal-Mart is always in the craft aisle/section where you would find felt and foam and beads for crafts. I think it's always in the same aisle as the clothes dying supplies and paints. The tools that come are these tools here: (except the roller)

<a href="http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/sall3/craft%20stuff/?action=view&amp;current=SculpeyToolSet-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a119/sall3/craft%20stuff/SculpeyToolSet-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I like using pictures :]
As you can see one is kind of like a knife and another one has a pointy tip which can be useful. they aren't the most amazing of tools but they're better than nothing! But, come to think of it.. you only get 2 of the purple stick tools with that clay pack. I got the third purple tool in the Sculpey eraser kit.

I would definitely say wash your hands and work surface thoroughly before using the clay because it will pick up any and all dirt or dust that comes to contact with it >,<
and it's very soft so expect fingerprints
also, I find wax paper to be a good place mat to work on to protect your table or surface
you can def paint over it after it's baked, white clay will prob be your best friend :]
and I would say to smush the pieces together also. just touching won't be very secure.. unless you do get the TLS like Nora (which i'm sure works awesomely). or you could just crazy glue the pieces together after.. whichever works best for you!