Commercial vs. Homemade Polymer Clay

The polymer clay snow people figurine I shared yesterday was made using homemade cornstarch-based polymer clay. I was experimenting on how to get the controversial formaldehyde out of the traditional Pasta Francesa recipe. My substitution of 1 ½ tablespoons white vinegar for ¼ teaspoon formalin is now included in the recipe on The Artful Crafter website.

I much prefer using commercial polymer clay like Sculpey, Fimo or Cernit. My little snow people made of homemade clay “melted” 35% by weight as they air-dried, causing some cracking. I filled the cracks with Liquitex Super Heavy Gel and proceeded.

You may be asking why anyone would use homemade polymer clay when they can buy something “better” at their local craft store. Well, not everyone has a craft supercenter in their neighborhood. Others need to save some money. Some have concerns over the plasticizers used in commercial polymer clays. Finally, if the project is small without a lot of detail, for example clay beads, the shrinkage is not a big problem.