How To Make Beads | No More Bubbles In Your Polymer Clay Pendants
Disappointed with How Your Flat Pendants Look After Coming Out of the Oven?
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It can be very frustrating to put a perfect looking unbaked pendant into the oven, only to have it come out covered in bubbles on the front and weird gaps and shiny spots on the back! Figuring out what went wrong, or who to turn to for help, has been a challenge for many beginners… Up until now, that it is!
I've had terrible experiences with trapped air in my clay projects for the longest time. It took so much trial and error, searching through forums, asking questions and just plain old guessing until I finally figured it out!
Here are a few tips for keeping your flat polymer clay pendants, flat and bubble free:
- Avoid trapping air in your clay in the first place. Lots of people condition their clay wrong, and are actually adding air to the clay as they feed it through the pasta machine. Click on the following link for some instructions and tips on how to condition polymer clay properly.
- Pop any bubbles you see in your clay before it goes into the oven.
- Bake your pieces upside down. Warm air rises, so if there are any air bubbles in the clay when you bake it face down, at least they will “surface” on the backside.
- Don’t bake on metal. Metal cookie sheets conduct heat and leave shiny spots and gaps on the backs of your flat pieces of polymer clay. Instead, bake on a smooth ceramic tile.
- Bake flat pieces of polymer clay in a ceramic tile sandwich. If you have no idea what I am talking about, read this article: Baking Polymer Clay Pendants
Follow these tips, and you will definitely experience fewer frustrations when baking flat pieces of polymer clay for pendants or other jewelry projects.
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Hi Cindy,
That is great tip. But along with the tile sandwich ..what if i want to use baking soda/cornstarch..how do i use that? Will that not make the surface of the bottom uneven?
Hi Suguna, don’t bother using a bed of cornstarch for flat pieces. Just use the tile sandwich. And don’t use the tile sandwich with pieces that aren’t flat, or you will squish them. It is best if you can avoid getting air into your clay in the first place, so that they won’t be a problem for you. For more info on avoiding bubbles in your polymer clay, just type ‘bubbles’ into the search box at the top of the page and a list of posts will pop up. Hope that helps!
Thank Cindy! This weekend i know the first thing to shop for is tiles !
Hi Kelly! Why don’t you try Home Depot. You can usually buy single tiles there.
Hi Cindy, love your site. Any suggestions/ideas on a good place to buy a ceramic tile?
The best ceramic tile is one with a very smooth surface. Doesn’t matter if it’s bathroom, kitchen or floor tile as long as it is smooth. As far as size goes, it depends on your oven. I have several 6″ x 8″ tiles that fit nicely in my toaster oven. They are large enough for all my biggest pendants yet small enough to fit.
Thank you Linda for your comments!
What is the best ceramic tile to buy? I know it should be flat. How big should it be? Will a “bathroon” tile work?
Thanks! I’m learning so much from you.
Linda