General applications for liquid clay
You might have visited the craft store once and saw this little white bottle hanging on the shelf labeled liquid clay. And you might have wondered, what the heck is this for if there’s already solid clay and there’s already clay softener on the market, why would I need this?
Well, hold your creative socks, my friend, there is so much you can do with liquid clay.
First let’s take care of the elephant in the room and answer the question “what is liquid clay”? Liquid clay is just polymer clay in the form of liquid, that’s all it is to it. End of tutorial, just kidding.
You may continue reading, but if you’re like me who prefers to listen and see, you can watch in video format:
- Liquid clay mimics regular clay in terms of how you bake it and the result is also strong and flexible. However, you can do some extremely useful and wonderfully creative things that would be difficult or near impossible to achieve with just solid clay in your arsenal.
- Liquid Polymer Clay is generally known to be used as an adhesive to bond pieces of clay together (wether its raw to raw, baked to baked, or raw to baked) and it’s often used as a way to help condition and soften crumbly clay because liquid clay contains plasticizer. And if you watched my previous video on polymer clay safety, you learn that plasticizer is what holds the clay together, softens it and makes it pliable.
Now that i’ve discussed some of the general applications for liquid clay. Let’s go into some of the more creative and fun things you can do with it!
Creative applications for liquid clay
- You can use liquid clay to make image transfers
- As a sealer for many different media such as foils, leafing, transfers and beads.
- Laminating paper
- As a glaze or grout in projects.
- You can use it one it’s own or combine it with solid clay, or in conjunction with other media. For example you can coat regular clay with liquid clay and apply iridescent flakes to create a faux opal effect.
Use liquid clay as a medium and an art form
You can think of liquid clay as an art form in its own right to create faux effects, layers of textures and patterns.
- Some examples include:
- Making charms, pendants, hair clips, bracelets, mosaics, butterfly wings, book covers, beads, flexible patterned sheets to fit into bezels, decorative tiles wether big or small, mirror & window clings, and other various shapes by pouring them into mold to create jewelry and pieces for home decor.
- Other special effects can be created by mixing liquid clay with the following:
- mica powders, microbeads, sand, glitter, sequins, tinsel, metal flakes, dried flowers, spices, fibers, small metal objects, and much more.
- In terms of ratio, a good rule of thumb is do 3 parts liquid clay and 1 part custom medium for your special effects. If there’s too much custom medium, it may change how the clay behaves once cured so you don’t want to go overboard.
Difference between translucent liquid vs clear liquid
Ok so I wanted to go over this because I remember standing in the craft store squinting at the words “translucent” and “clear” and could not figure out the difference.
- Translucent liquid is semi-transparent and is often used to create multi-layered effects. I think the easiest way for me to describe this is to think of a raw gemstone with dimensional texture where you can see additional details beneath the surface layer, but not completely see through it. When tinted, you can create faux ceramic effects and translucent liquid also works better for image transfer because it is slightly opaque.
- With clear liquid clay, it creates more of a glass like effect. So for projects where you want to see through the clay, you would use this. Also, some people like to use this as you would use resin to encase an art form or small object.
Tinting liquid clay
While some liquid clay brands comes in different colors, you can also tint liquid clay. You can tint liquid clay by mixing it with any of the following: oil-based paint, alcohol inks, pastel chalk, or pigment powder by adding a few drops at a time until the desired effect is achieved.
Alcohol inks must sit on top of the liquid clay until it evaporates before you mix the color.
Applying Liquid Clay
To apply liquid clay, you can pour directly from the bottle, use a fine tip extension for precise application, or you can the flat end of a toothpick to dab clay onto the surface.
For detailing, use the pointy end of the toothpick, needle, metal stick, or thick wire to drag the clay to create swirling textures or shapes. You can also use your fingertips or a synthetic brush dedicated for liquid clay usage. If the liquid clay is too thick, you may apply thiner or clay softener.
To remove liquid clay use a Q tip with 70% rubbing alcohol.
Where to Buy Liquid Clay:
Generally you can buy liquid clay in your local craft store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. They generally range from $9 – $12. If you don’t find your desired liquid clay there, you can go online and I like to use Amazon as my next resource.
I will go into a more comprehensive study on each of the popular liquid clays and the differences in my next tutorial, but here are some of the ones I recommend, the cost, and where to get them:
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase through my link (with no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support.
- Fimo Liquid Clay is also known as Fimo Deco Gel, is one of the clearest liquid clays and currently sells on Amazon for a little less than $12 for a 1.69 fl oz bottle. And this is the best liquid clay for bonding pieces of clay together and it’s even better than Sculpey Bake and Bond.
- Clear Liquid Sculpey is also one of the clearest liquid clays (second to Fimo Liquid Clay) and they come in 2fl oz bottle. Buy Clear Liquid Sculpey Now.
- Translucent Liquid Sculpey which is great for creating multi-layered effects can be purchased at Hobby Lobby or Michaels for $9 for a 2fl oz bottle. Buy Translucent Liquid Sculpey Now.
- Kato Poly Clay is a great economical choice to use as an art medium or conditioner and it dries pretty clear, but not as clear as Fimo Liquid and it can be purchased at Hobby Lobby or Michaels at $7 for a 2fl oz bottle.
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