So clearly this one won’t be a tutorial, though I assure you these polymer clay projects started out pretty cute. There appears to be an issue with the heat levels in my polymer-clay-only toaster oven. I did not mean for this to happen.
Especially not twice.
I have been working on buttons and bangles, and after burning my first batch, I made some adjustments and tried again. See, I’ve read that using a separate oven for clay is a good idea. Which makes sense! But, I don’t know if this is going to work at all, LOL.
Because after burning this batch, I turned the heat down and lowered the timer.
It turned out worse the second time. I even set off the smoke detectors – and that was in only 10 minutes, right there in the room. Ugh. The second batch was absolutely charred. So, no buttons or bangles yet, since the third time is sure to be a charm, but I just didn’t want to haul everything out again.
I’ve had lots of great success with polymer clay in the past – in fact, I’ve actually never burned a piece before in my regular oven! So this was a bit of a shock to me. I can laugh about it, though. Proof that not everything I make turns out great, haha.
How are your crafty endeavors coming? Got anything funny to share?
I hate hate hate when that happens!
You should be really careful in those situations, gases released when polymer clay is burned can be harming (trust me, I am chemistry student). Make sure to ventilate and aerate that room as good as you can before using it again.
Too bad for bracelets, they looked really nice :/
I absolutely love to read your blog!!!!
LOL!! I was trying to guess what on earth the charred remains had been! I think you must have a “lemon” of a toaster oven. I am so used to Pinning your tutorials. Still laughing…. thanks for sharing.
Oh man… that’s totally something that would happen to me – smoke detectors and all. You’ll have to let us know if you find that magic setting, lady!
I use an oven like the one you pictured here, and I just preheat the oven before I put in the clay pieces. Usually my oven’s heat doesn’t quite match the dial, so I had to use trial and error for a bit the first couple of times.
I haven’t used a toaster oven for polymer, but in a regular oven it’s recommended to use a thermometer INSIDE your oven and not trust what your dial tells you. I don’t use one and I did’t have any issues with my clay baking. Maybe using a thermometer inside your oven will help? Thank’s for sharing your “fail” with us. Stuff like this is why I love your blog.
Haha – thanks. May as well keep it real, right??
I’ve never had any trouble with the real oven, but we were cooking Sunday dinner in there. My husband offered up a little me-time while we were waiting on food to be ready, so I wasted it charring a few projects. :P
I know it’s obviously too hot, because this happened in just 10 minutes. I was just curious if anyone had a suggestion, like be sure to preheat, don’t preheat, etc. I haven’t ever used a toaster oven for food, I guess I don’t know how they’re different from a normal oven besides the size. I think I will try watching a thermometer in there and see what’s happening. I don’t know if the heat is uneven (like fluctuating up and down as the heating element cycles, maybe the warmup is getting too hot?) or if it’s just running consistently hot.
If I finally master the experiment, I’ll be sure to report back!!