To all you PC artists: I received these questions today about my husband's beads/pendants: "A question regarding the finishing of the polymer clay beads if you will: just how are they finished? Are they sanded with various grades of sandpaper? By hand? On a wheel? Are they sealed/finished with an acrylic sealer? These are important questions for many of us who use and make polymer beads...helps me decide in what manner I can use the bead."
My question to you is: what difference does it make? Isn't polymer clay permanent after it is baked, no matter how it is finished? Why would a certain type of finish be desired for a particular use, other than just a preference for shiny, matte, textured, smooth, etc.?
Should I be specific about what was done to a particular bead or pendant - assuming that the bead is properly baked - is that something a buyer needs to know?
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Karleen/Vibrant Jewels" :
]Should I be specific about what was done to a particular bead or pendant - ]assuming that the bead is properly baked - is that something a buyer needs ]to know?
well, sort-of, yes. because people are going to ask ME when they buy the finished jewelry. and i need to know what to tell them. and PC is a total mystery to me.
----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)
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's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you;it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis
Obviously it's important to the person asking, and there could be many reasons they ask.
Maybe they know a finish but sometimes pictures can be tricky on the computer. A glossy finish from sanding through numerous grits and then buffing doesn't stay shiny as long as one glossed with acrylic, if you ask me.
Maybe they want to know how it's done for perceived value in their eyes. (That is, how much work they feel went into the piece).
Maybe they want to know so they can do it that way too.
Maybe they've been unhappy before with a piece and are trying to make sure this time.
I could think of a LOT of reasons why one would want to know. So I guess I would say it matters, but maybe not as much to everyone. I've found with auctions that you should be as specific as you can to avoid confusion later.
When I was selling polymer I did indicate the finish...if it was glossy from sanding and buffing, I would say that or something like, a natural sheen from sanding and buffing. If it was sealed with acrylic I would say that too because they're two different kinds of glossy and some people don't like the acrylic look.
I haven't heard from any of you Polymer artists as yet... do you think it makes any difference how a piece is finished? I was thinking that going into obtuse detail about finishing is like telling how many times you hammered and pickled a piece of silver - too much information!
Some finishes will wear off after a period of time. Some finishes would wear off if they weren't baked into the clay. Some will even ruin the clay over time. Some people use dry pigments on the surface. Even after baking a lot of that will rub off.
Sometimes people paint varnish or paint over their clay without actually sanding off that "skin" that forms on the clay after baking. That's fine for some things, but it makes it harder for the paint to stick well unless it's baked again (again, I'm talking about high durability, lots of handling).
And sanding isn't just for shine, it's also for reshaping and fixing errors. If I knew that a polymer piece was shiny because someone had put Future Floor Wax on it or whatever, I probably wouldn't want to use it for jewelry. Now, the same stuff put inside a vase or bowl where it was too difficult to sand, that would be fine and would probably last a long time.
But mainly, the fine shine produced by sanding and buffing is permanent -- it won't go away.
I don't think we need to overwhelm the buyer who is looking for pretties. However, if somebody has a question I'll usually answer it because nothing I'm doing is at all revolutionary or a trade secret. ;-) It sounds like your questioner knew a lot about working with polymer clay. Not everyone cares, I dont' think, lol.
Hi there everybody! I'm back home and this question caught my eye, of course.
Sanding and buffing give a great finish. There's tricks to it--you go through the various grits of sandpaper fairly quickly and up to the 1000-2000 levels. These are done under water--a drop of Dawn detergent makes it much easier and faster. There are packages of the multiple grits sold at Polymer Clay Central along with excellent sanding tips by Leigh Ross.
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the applied finishes, my favorite is Flecto Varathane. See my page for moreinfo on it--
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use it for a very glassy shine, but also as a carrier agent--it makes up intoa great stain for antiquing and also to seal on things like gold leaf or micapowders, which will otherwise come off. Flecto Varathane actually goes INTO andbonds with the PC, other gloss finishes like Future, Sculpey Glaze andFimolaquer do not. These other products wear off/rub off very quickly, Flecto'dbeads that I wear are still glossy after ten years of heavy wearing at outdoorshows, etc. Sarajane
This is designed as a wood finish/sealer, no? I think I have seen it in the home improvement store among products with that purpose.
Do you have any experience using it as a sealer for anything other than polyclay? For example, I have an experimental batch of printer-sheets designed to create waterslide decals. I thought I would experiment using them in the microscope slide pendants folks have been trying out. If you are using an inkjet printer, the instructions call for a sealer to be applied to the finished decals before immersing them and adhering them to their destination surfaces.
Does Flecto come as a spray as well as a brush-on liquid?
Deirdre, it is indeed a wood floor finish, and comes in water based, oil based, and an aerosol spray. For polymer clay purposes, the waterbased is the ONLY one to use. The aerosol propellants and the mineral esters in the oil based make it so that it is NOT chemically compatable with the clay.
I have used the waterbased Flecto Varathane on polymer clay, wood, paper and fabric, and its great on all of them. There's more info about it on my web page that I put together; hit the "Flecto" button on my site. Sarajane
Deidre: I have tried all types of Krylon and other brands to seal water decals and have been unsuccessful at keeping them usable. In some instances, I have waited more than a week before attempting to use them, and they still washed right off .
Ohhh! Thank you for sparing me the expense and frustration of falling into the same pit. This is very useful info. I -will- try the Flecto, for sure, and share the results with the group.
actually, LOTS of polymer clay artists use Future floor finish. including me. a recent poll at PolymerClayJewelry showed that 42% of the members preferred Future, compared to 40% preferring Varathane. it depends on how it is applied whether it is wear off or not. if you just slap on some of it, and think it is going to last forever, it won't. but you can turn it into a hard durable surface by heat curing it.
I recently accidently tested some beads I had made that had Future applied to them (and heat set). I had the set of beads stranded up on some wire, and had taken them into work to match with some seed beads. I forgot the beads were in the pocket of my jeans. I did a load of jeans in the washing machine, washed on the warm cycle. these beads must have really taken alot of abuse being washed with heavy jeans. when I discovered the beads at the bottom of the machine I just knew they were ruined. but they were not. they were in perfect shape.
now, why didn't my future come off in the wash? because after applying the future to an object, and allowing it to dry completely, we put the items in the oven to heat cure them. this creates an incredible hard shine.
I do also use varathan satin finish on some items, but I really love and prefer my future.
also, you may find it interesting to note that not everyone agrees that a sanded and buffed item will keep it's shine forever. I myself prefer the look of sanded and buffed. and yes, I think the HIGH shine I get right after buffing probably does tone down a bit with time, but it retains it's beautiful sheen. just can't beat the look of sanding of buffing, IMHO.
I do have to wonder though...I see some folks say they sand, and then they hand buff, and then they machine buff and then they apply a finish over that, and it just seems to me like they are making too much work for themselves. I either buff, or I apply a finish after sanding, but I would never do both. maybe that gets them more bids or something. I couldn't say, I am obviously not very good at auctioning my beads. LOL
it matters a great deal, although the average bead buyer probably doesn't know that.
I can't tell you how many times I have seen someone come to PCC and say they put something on their pc beads, and now they are all sticky and gummy. that is because they are new to the clay, and don't understand that not everything is safe to use with pc. and more and more lately, now that pc is gaining in popularity, I see people just getting into clay work to make a quick buck, so they don't have years of experience before they put items up for sale. for this reason, it would be very important to me what was on the beads I was thinking about buying. I certainly don't want to buy some pretty beads, to have them turn all ooey and gooey on me down the road.
kellie
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My question to you is: what difference does it make? Isn't polymer clay permanent after it is baked, no matter how it is finished? Why would a certain type of finish be desired for a particular use, other than just a preference for shiny, matte, textured, smooth, etc.?
Gee I guess I spoke too soon about the floor wax... didn't know you could cure it with heat! I was envisioning really slippery smelly beads! LOL Of course I'm not the one who makes the beads either. I forwarded this to hubby for his info. Of course he might know already... LOL He's a pretty smart guy. Thanks for the info.
I see what you mean. I know that my hubby has several books - including the one by our Sara Jane! - and that he reads them constantly, so he probably knows more about it than I give him credit for. I know that he has always been an exacting artisan - he used to carve wood - and he brings the same careful attention to what he does with polymer. Since I have MCS, he is extremely careful with methods and materials so he doesn't compromise my health. So I KNOW that what he does is good, and I need to remember that my customers don't know him like I do!
oh, a good husband! kudos to him for taking such good care of you. I have developed a sensitivity of my own, due to FM, to strong smelling stuff. in particular certain glues like E600 will kick my butt. maybe that is one reason why I am so partial to the Future. it smells good! :o)
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