General polymer clay advice

[DollyKim]

For a safe bake-able "cheap" bulking out you can use any air dry clay or paper mache mix. Make the general shape you need and let dry overnight, at least, then cover with foil to keep the polymer clean. Bake as recommended and when cool you can carve the air dry out. You can get the air dry wet to soften it too.

To help condition a stiff or crumbly clay without a pasta machine sit on it to warm it up. I put it in a storage bag but not sealed air tight. You can also step on it to get the kneading process started.

For arms and legs and other things with tubes wrap a knitting needle with foil then put the clay on. When finished the project easily slides off and is ready for baking. Use a needle the diameter of the string hole you want and you won't need to hollow it out.

Suspend or skewer parts on the pins of a bead baking rack to cure and cool without needing a nest or risk of flattening.

[yarwel]

Liquid sculpy can also be used to soften old hard clay. Polymer clay doesn't work well for mods on soft vinyl as the vinyl is more flexible than the cured polymer clay.
Uncured polymer clay can melt some plastics; if you are making something to fit close to your doll(such as shoes, or body armor, for instance) wrap the part of the doll you want to work on in plastic wrap before molding the clay to its shape.
Also, polymer clay residue will stick to your hands like crazy. It doesn't come off easily with soap and water; basically it has to be scraped or rubbed off. You'll want to be careful what you touch after handling polymer clay; don't touch anything that may be damaged by the clay or anything light colored or shiny.
If you're planning to use a craft(or toaster) oven to bake your clay, I would recommend making an aluminum foil "tent" to place over your pieces. This shields them from temperature spikes that can occur in these small ovens and cause scorching. If you do this, be sure not to let any of your pieces touch the foil as they may burn.

[victoriavictrix]

Another good option for baking polymer clay, especially if you don't have a toaster oven and must use the household oven, is to get a plain red clay flowerpot (without a hole) and saucer. Put what you have to bake on the saucer, invert the pot over it, and the clay will absorb the fumes. If you CAN'T find a pot without a hole, plug the hole tightly with packed aluminum foil.

[DollyKim]

If you've used conditioner and stomped on the clay but it's still crumbly and cracking it's no good. Chances are it got too hot and partially cured.

*Cernit has offered to replace the block of doll blend that was no good so hopefully the next one will be good.

[catshem]

Another good option for baking polymer clay, especially if you don't have a toaster oven and must use the household oven, is to get a plain red clay flowerpot (without a hole) and saucer. Put what you have to bake on the saucer, invert the pot over it, and the clay will absorb the fumes. If you CAN'T find a pot without a hole, plug the hole tightly with packed aluminum foil.

Good tip! Thank you!

[catshem]

Quiestion into the flowerpot tip: is a ceramic pot okay?

[DollyKim]

Mmkay, being it doesn't dry out the moment you get some clay test it and see if it's "gone bad" and won't condition. My replacement block from Cernit, nice customer service, was just as bad but I didn't open it until recent. Something must be happening in shipping. Now that I know what bad clay looks like I've had to toss several blocks from several brands and several stores.

On the other hand I have discovered Kato Polyclay has a smooth almost waxy texture when cured. It holds details and has a great stretch.

*Pluffy is very spongey and light weight. It has a good stretch but doesn't hold details as well as "normal" polymer clay.

[DollyKim]

If you have some "dried out" clay try adding some vegetable oil. Put the oil, a bit a time, and clay in a bag and smoosh together. Add oil gradually until the clay is workable. I didn't get to cook that block but this advice came from a clay site.

I had a stubborn block of Fimo, it can be harder to condition than Sculpey, that would only condition so much. While it turned out the block was bad, same store as the Cernit I'll never shop there for clay again, the point is the vegetable oil got the block workable enough to roll out a slab. It still cracked and wasn't usable for me but it was working. The surface of the clay was sticky and left fingerprints where I was holding it.