Is Your Polymer Clay Oven Making Your Beads All Dirty & Discolored?
Now There Is Simple Solution. Martha Aleo of Ornamento Says To Use Bleach:
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This morning while surfing (blog’s that is, not waves), I came across a simple polymer clay technique that I’ve never seen before. So simple in fact that it falls under the “Why-didn’t-I-think-of-that” category. The basic idea is to use a bleach bath to brighten up clay beads and pendants that have darkened or become discolored during the baking process. Credit goes to the clever and talented Martha Aleo of Ornamento for this idea.
When I read Martha’s post, it made me think… What beginner to polymer clay hasn’t had the problem of light colored clays getting dark or discolored during baking?! This is something we all should know, and it must be passed on to you!
So if you end up with a polymer clay bead or project where the color has darkened or gone funny, you can plop it into a container of bleach. Put the lid on and let it sit! After a while, the piece will be restored to its original glory!
Since I just found out about this technique today, I have not had a chance to try it out myself. So the photo above displays the before and after pics from Martha Aleo’s polymer clay bleaching experiment.
The cool thing is that the bleach doesn’t actually remove or change any of the actual polymer clay colors. What I mean is, after bleaching, black is still black and red is still red. Which leads me to believe the bleach is only affecting the ‘film’ that has come from the dirty air in the oven.
That is probably why a cleaner oven causes less discoloration on light colored clays. As well as tenting your beads with a sheet of parchment paper or completely burying them in a layer of cornstarch keeps them brighter. Additional Resource: How to Bake Polymer Clay so that Your Whites Stay White
So if you have some polymer clay beads, pendants or other small projects that came out of the oven darker than they went in, give Martha Aleo’s idea a try and soak them in some bleach!
Just one more reason why you should never throw out your polymer clay mistakes. Cause you never know when a new idea will come along on how you can fix them! Thank you, Martha!
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do you have any results for this over time? bleach will eventually ruin plastic so i’m curious to know how the pieces stand up over time and if there is any residual effect on the sealers used on the clay. it sounds like a great rescue. to be sure you stop the bleaching action maybe use a peroxide wash.
Hi Ruth, good question! I haven’t seen any adverse affects to using bleach on polymer clay myself. The exposure to the bleach is not really a long term thing and then once it is removed I don’t believe that there is any residual bleach to effect the clay over a long period of time. From my understanding, the chlorine in bleach ‘gases’ off very quickly. This is not ‘Scientific Evidence’ however, since I haven’t done an official ‘in the test lab’ study on the subject. So you may want to do some testing yourself to be sure.
In regards to it wrecking sealers on the clay, I generally wouldn’t use bleach on a bead with a coating. The only time I have bleached any piece, is when it came out of a dirty oven and had some darkening and discoloration on it. (Which hasn’t been a problem for years since I now use a separate oven for baking my clay.)
If there was a finish on it and I still wanted to try bleaching it, I would remove the finish first using rubbing alcohol. Then I would bleach.
Your idea to neutralize the bleach with a peroxide wash sounds interesting. I haven’t heard of that before. Will have to test that sometime and see how it works!
Thanks for your comment! If you do some testing in this area, do come back and let us know your results… it is always best when we can learn from each other!
Oxi-Clean
Tried peroxide, baking soda, vinegar, and that new stuff…
Also tried muriatic acid, lemon juice, and sunshine. Oh, and one nite, mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. Cleans grease off great, love the shine.
Conclusion? Depends on the effect you want. The etching that occurs in the foaming vinegar and baking soda bath is great if you like a satin finish buffed.
Bleach, regular store bought, works the best on all types of clay…even the transparent stuff. Just let it go, and check it occasionally.
I need Bill Nye and a white lab coat….lol!
@Jocelyn: I know, it’s cool how well it works, isn’t it?! The thought just popped into my head… I wonder if Peroxide would work for bleaching beads too? It works for clothes. It might work here too.
@sarahwww: You’re welcome! Let us know how it works for you.
@Kim C: Yeah me too! I haven’t done it in awhile and it’s looking pretty grungy!
Ahh!!! Something else I need to do! Thanks for the tip Cindy!
Great hint! I just had a batch that I forgot was still in my “cooker” when I turned it on for a new batch. They got a little toasty. I’ll definitely try this.
Well, go figure, it works. Just dusting off a bunch of my old stuff and read somewhere that if you soak your polymer clay pieces containing white or transparent, in bleach, it will whiten the colors and increase transparency.
Threw a couple of pieces in the bottom of a bucket, added 1/4 c. bleach and about 2 gallons of water, and let it soak last nite.
Wish I had a digital camera so I could show the results. Amazing!!! It really did work.
Would try it first with old stuff, and save a companion piece for comparison. Let me know if you have similar results!
@Lupe: I’ve been meaning to dig through my unsanded beads to see if there are any dark ones to try this on. Ever since I’ve been tenting my beads I haven’t had problem with them darkening!
@Diana: Thanks! Do let us know how it works for you!
@Iris: I know what you mean about it sounding weird! Let us know how it works for you.
i have to try this one, it sounds so wierd but i have to give it a try! :) thanks!
What a wonderful easy tip. I am going to try it out tonight on a piece and see what it does. Thanks so much for passing this info on. I really appreciate your site and wish I had time to try everything out.
Thanks for the tip Cindy. Who would have thought…next time I will have to try it on some of my dull old pieces.
You are so welcome Betsy! I am crazy about your jewelry… You have the coolest style! Glad you you popped by!
Hi Cindy!
Thanks so much for your sweet comment on the Modish blog. I am so new to this blog world, it’s really neat to see all the amazing talent circulating the net!
All the best,
betsy
You’re welcome Cindy E. I think it is cool too!
Thanks for the cool tip! I’ll have to remember this one!