Are you looking for a home remedy or a home-style way of preparing your polymer clay projects? The last step is to bake to keep them locked in their positions!
If the baking is not done correctly, your polymer clay crafts will lose their rigidity, toughness, and strength to keep in the shape you provided earlier.
And can such a job be done using your home’s most available kitchen item, or can you bake polymer clay with a common toaster oven?
Yes, most precisely, a toaster oven is almost identical to an official clay-bake oven for seamlessly baking your polymer clay. A toaster oven is known for an even distribution of heat that protects your polymer clay from burning at any specific portions or getting overexposed.
For more, keep up with us till the end.
Can you bake polymer clay in a toaster oven?
Do not compare anything else for baking polymer clay with that of official clay-bake ovens. But if you want nearer results, despite also sitting at home, consider your toaster oven your best friend!
You will never want any risks or accidents while baking your polymer clays. And to be safe, you first must ensure that your clay is not getting burnt.
Highly toxic HCl gas released from the burning of polymer clay mixes with air that reacts with O2, producing toxic white fumes and vapor. These things are incredibly unpleasing to your eyes, tongue, and other organ parts. Also, breathing such kind of acidic gas is highly hazardous for your lungs as well.
But, don’t worry, you are entirely safe from all such scenarios if you use the right thing, like a toaster oven, to get the job done.
Lower energy output makes it an excellent choice to bake your polymer clay economically with a high yield and less cost. There remains no concern about food contamination using the same oven while preparing your food. Also, those sensitive to clay smells can use a toaster oven for this job!
As toaster ovens mostly come in small to medium sizes, you cant expect large pieces of polymer projects for baking purposes. So, while baking your clays, keep that fact of length in your mind.
Read Next: Is The Das Clay Oven Baked | Detailed Guide
At what temperature and for how long can you bake polymer clay in a toaster oven?
Again, there is a bit more twist about your polymer clays and that all brands are not the same! That is to say, the brand you have purchased may not provide the same temperature range at which the polymer clay will burn compared with other brands.
But generally, the most common temperature range for baking polymer clay is 275 °F or more for a specific period.
Again, the time limit also has many things to do with the baking results. That said, 30 minutes per ¼ inch or 2 hours of baking for a 1-inch thickness of polymer clay is required to let them fuse.
A temperature lower than 275F or a shorter period can leave your baking session incomplete, making them last no longer and stay in the partially raw state. Again, anything higher than this range can result from their burning and cause many other related issues.
What happens if you do not bake polymer clay using a toaster oven?
It doesn’t make sense if you think a toaster oven is the best and only way of baking your polymer clay. Experts handle polymer clays professionally using various baking procedures and advanced equipment.
But, when it comes to the home recipe for baking your polymer clay projects, we must admit that toaster ovens are simply the best.
The reason for which we suggest staying away from other ovens or things that can happen if you do not bake polymer clays using a toaster oven are:
- Ovens, similar to microwaves, do not heat items evenly, leaving your clay hard at some points and staying soft at others. Microwave ovens heat outside and inside at the very same time, which can be the result of many clay complexities.
- Many ovens contain hotspots, unlike toaster ovens, which can cause the burning of your clay at specific portions and ruin your project.
- Polymer clays start to melt and bubble up immediately as they receive overheating caused by another type of oven.
- Another main reason we are concerned about staying away from other ovens is that you run the chance of burning yourself. Polymer clay stores heat if not baked correctly, which can cause your hands to burn when cleaning them.
- A Microwave, to be exact, will ruin your clay creation once you put them inside. A solid fine, looking outside, leads to raw and weak inside finishing. Again, good knowledge leads to crumbly and inconsistent looking outside.
Conclusion:
Indeed, you can use the same thing for baking the polymer clay that you use to prepare your food with just a periodical cleaning session. As toaster ovens are easy to monitor and control, they will not give any harmful chemicals as you’ll considerably manage the baking.
Also, as you already have one at your home, you do not need pato pay extra for baking your polymer clays!
