To Quench or Not To Quench – Is It A Wives Tale?
Video #640: I used Premo translucent polymer clay to test for strength and clarity… watch the video to see my results.
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IN THIS POST: — quenching — ice water — strength — clarity — translucency — translucent polymer clay — wives tale — premo polymer clay — clearer polymer clay — stronger polymer clay — (Topics marked with an asterisk* are discussed in the Comments Section below).
Topics Covered In This Video:
- Quenching Polymer Clay right out of the oven… into ice water… is this something you should do… or not?
- I used to think (because people had told me), that plunging hot polymer clay into a bath of ice water would give it strength and improve clarity, as with translucent clays.
- Today’s test will show whether that is actually the case, and whether it makes a difference at all.
- There has been some discussion around this topic that claims the quenching process is just a wife’s tale. Let’s find out.
- I have two sets of test samples… one was left to cool naturally, and the other is plunged into ice water while it was still hot.
- Each sample set has two different chips of Premo White Translucent rolled to an 8 playing cards thickness, and the other to a 1 playing card thickness.
- All the samples were baked at 275F for 1 hour.
- I tested both sets of baked samples (the quenched set and the non-quenched set), to see if there is any difference between the two… in regard to clarity and strength.
- Visually, both look identical. Both of the thicker pieces have an identical yellowish hue with low translucency… and the thin samples, both have an identical whitish shade with my translucency test. I would say that these results are typical for translucent polymer clay, in general.
- Next, I tested for clarity by placing thin samples against a text background, to see how well you could see through the translucent clay. The quenched clay and the non-quenched clay were identical. No improvement there… with quenching.
- Hmm… starting to think this quenching thing really is a wives' tale!
- Then I tested the thicker pieces for improved clarity… no difference there either.
- The samples were then tested for strength. All the samples were bent, folded and torn (well... I tried to tear them), to see if quenching improved the strength… there was no discernible difference in strength between any of the samples tested.
- My conclusion… save your ice for Iced Tea or Iced Coffee, because it doesn’t make a difference… except I suppose if you need your clay cool in a hurry
00:00:03 –> 00:00:07 Hi guys, its Cindy Lietz, your Polymer Clay Tutor, and today in the PcT Test Lab, we’re
00:00:07 –> 00:00:09 talking about quenching Polymer Clay.
00:00:09 –> 00:00:16 And what that means is taking it right out of the oven and throwing it into a bath of
00:00:16 –> 00:00:23 ice water to cool it down, so I’m doing a quick test to see if it actually works, if
00:00:23 –> 00:00:29 it makes any difference in clarity or strength and stuff like that.
00:00:29 –> 00:00:34 I used to think it does, but I don’t know if it does, I haven’t been doing it lately,
00:00:34 –> 00:00:37 so I just wanted to test it to prove either way.
00:00:37 –> 00:00:44 Okay, so I’m gonna throw these in here… in the ice water right away so that they can
00:00:44 –> 00:00:48 cool off, and then I’ll tell you about them.
00:00:48 –> 00:00:58 Okay, so I have 2 samples here…actually I did 4 samples total, I put…I took some
00:00:58 –> 00:01:00 White Translucent Premo!
00:01:00 –> 00:01:07 Clay… this is it in its raw form, I rolled it out at 2 different thicknesses, and this
00:01:07 –> 00:01:14 one here was at, oh let’s see, about a 1 playing card thick and this one here was at
00:01:14 –> 00:01:22 8 playing cards thick, and I baked them at 275F for 1 hour, then I pulled these ones
00:01:22 –> 00:01:27 out of the oven to just cool on the counter, and then you just saw me throw these ones
00:01:27 –> 00:01:29 into the ice water.
00:01:29 –> 00:01:33 Now years ago…I mean it’s always been said within our community that if you throw it
00:01:33 –> 00:01:41 in the ice water, especially Translucent Clay it will become more Translucent, and it will
00:01:41 –> 00:01:44 become stronger.
00:01:44 –> 00:01:50 Over the years, I have just let it cool on its own ‘cause you didn’t have ice water
00:01:50 –> 00:01:54 or whatever, and I didn’t notice much of a difference, so this test will prove whether
00:01:54 –> 00:01:56 there really is a difference or not.
00:01:56 –> 00:02:01 Alright, so they’re nice and cold, they’re definitely firmer right now than these ones,
00:02:01 –> 00:02:07 because they’re cold, that’s the way Polymer Clay works… let me grab something, I’ll
00:02:07 –> 00:02:18 just dry them with my little mitt here, side by side, they look pretty much identical,
00:02:18 –> 00:02:23 color wise and clarity wise.
00:02:23 –> 00:02:28 Now let’s grab something, this bottle here would be good to see if there is a difference
00:02:28 –> 00:02:34 in clarity, so this one without the writing on it, is the one that went in the ice and
00:02:34 –> 00:02:40 this is the one that just cooled on its own and from what I can see, they look pretty
00:02:40 –> 00:02:43 much identical.
00:02:43 –> 00:02:53 Alright, we’ll check this one as well, the one without the writing is the one that was
00:02:53 –> 00:03:00 quenched, and the one without wasn’t quenched and they look identical, I mean they’re…
00:03:00 –> 00:03:04 at that thickness, they’re really not that Translucent, and as you can see, they actually
00:03:04 –> 00:03:08 get fairly Yellow at that thickness.
00:03:08 –> 00:03:19 Alright, so let’s try some strength tests, this is the 8 card setting, this is the quenched
00:03:19 –> 00:03:31 one, it seems pretty strong it’s quite flexible, but, you know, it’s not gonna break terribly
00:03:31 –> 00:03:36 easy it would take a lot of bends back and forth to get it to break, that’s the quenched
00:03:36 –> 00:03:37 one.
00:03:37 –> 00:03:48 Let’s try it with this one, looks kinda the same, I kinda suspected, because you know
00:03:48 –> 00:03:54 on the times when I didn’t…when I’d forgotten to quench it, I hadn’t really noticed
00:03:54 –> 00:04:00 a great big difference in clarity and then over the years I’ve been hearing it’s a wives’
00:04:00 –> 00:04:05 tale, and then some people have been asking me, does it make a difference, should we do
00:04:05 –> 00:04:06 it?
00:04:06 –> 00:04:12 So I thought I’d better just do a test to prove it, and they look pretty much the same,
00:04:12 –> 00:04:18 okay let’s just quickly try the thinner ones, the one card thickness, okay, obviously
00:04:18 –> 00:04:31 it’s not gonna break easily here, that was the quenched one, let’s see if I can tear
00:04:31 –> 00:04:41 it, nope, so you know, quenching, you might as well forget it, just put the ice in your
00:04:41 –> 00:04:46 ice tea or your coffee and go with it from there.
00:04:46 –> 00:04:51 Alright, so I hope that helped, if it did, do let us know if you like this video.
00:04:51 –> 00:04:56 And if you have questions that you need answers to, there is a pretty good chance we’ve already
00:04:56 –> 00:04:58 done a video on it.
00:04:58 –> 00:05:03 And if we haven’t, make sure to leave your suggestions in the comment section below and
00:05:03 –> 00:05:05 we can put it on the list.
00:05:05 –> 00:05:06 We’ll see you next time and bye for now.
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Resource Links:
- Related Video: Comparing Translucent Polymer Clay Brands
- Related Article: Translucent Sculpey Clay, Fimo Clay, Premo, Cernit, Kato
- Related Video: Pardo Professional Art Clay Translucent Review
- Related Video: Strength Test Sculpey Souffle Polymer Clay
- Amazon: Translucent Polymer Clay **
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Sorry I have one last question when baking a bangle bracelet I have read to use a soda can, well that seems small for some people can you suggest something else to use? thanks again your the best….
Before you recycle your glass jars, test for one that’s a good fit and use that as your bracelet mold. Most jars are tapered at the bottom, so if you place the bracelet 3/4’s down, you should have no problems slipping it off when warm after baking. If you want to be extra safe, wrap the jar with parchment paper.
If you use glass, always start in a cold oven and allow it to cool in the oven. Most taco jars are great, and last forever.
Just wanted to link to this Facebook post that Binky Melnick initiated regarding this quenching topic… and in particlular… there was a few comments posted by Susan Wener that are worth noting…
Susan said… “This is per my son (the Materials engineer)… In the lab, ice water baths are used to slow down polymer reactions. It does not strengthen the bonds nor make them weaker. Unless there are air bubbles trapped with the clay, it should not cause the clay to crack/break. Otherwise, the process of rapid cooling is neither helpful nor detrimental as long as the clay has cured/heated to the proper temp for the proper length of time. I personally prefer to let items cool naturally.”
And she followed up with a response to Ed Street by saying… “my son is a metallurgist but has had extensive experience with polymers prior to choosing metals. While polymers can appear to be ceramics and some metals react like ceramics, metals and polymers are two distinct substances at the molecular level so how they react to cold is also quite different.”
You can see the entire conversation here.
Great info, Doug. Appreciate the share.
If you leave it as is yes it will flatten out but if you fill it and put a back on it it should be fine. You have to re bake it of course. The video is on MO CLAY YouTube. Mine was pretty enough but I need lots of practice.
Thanks Cindy. Since I’m new to polymer clay I had wondered about this. So glad you clarified it so that I’m not wasting my time with ice water.
Thanks Cindy! This was an issue of some debate in my Guild back in CO. As for myself, sometimes I did quench (or dunk) and sometimes I didn’t. I don’t think I really noticed any difference either.
Cindy
Thank you so much for this testing… I was always wondering if it did or did not matter if I used the bath… I always tried to digit with the translucent but sometimes I could not remember if the item had some translucent clay or not.. Now I can stop worry about that thanks to you!!
You are very welcome Natalie!
YES! Thank you so much! We can finally put this one to rest. I’ll be sharing this video every time the subject comes up, and now we’ve got proof, as you’ve..um…CLEARLY shown! ;)
Thanks Ginger! The subject has come up many times and I don’t want to just blindly believe something unless I know it to be true. There are a few more of these kinds of practices that I need to test in the future. If you’ve got anything that you’d like me to test in a video, make sure to give me a shout!
Cindy, bless you for thoroughly researching this technique. To be honest, I have run tests for years, keeping translucent based mokume gane made bottle/jar caps samples. Out of each batch, some I keep unquenched, and some of the exact same caps from the same day, I immediately quench is ice water. My humble results prove there is a difference, and I have done hundreds of sample tests.
Yes, I am obsessed with bottle and jar caps. ROFL.
First, the quenched jar tops, whether plastic or metal based, never pop the veneer off the cap. Suction? Second, there is a positive difference in the level of clarity and depth of the mokume gane veneers when quenched.
I expect to see this more pronounced, and possibly provable in pictures, once I obtain the JoolTool and your training.
My hand sanding and buffing efforts are pitiful, lol.
Hi Jocelyn, I was wondering if the examples you speak of are from the old formula translucents with the Phlalates in them? Unless you have a much more decerning eye than me, I honestly have not been able to tell the difference between my pieces where I threw them in the ice water right away, and the ones now where I don’t bother. This test sure didn’t show a difference.
Now the other thing you mentioned about the jar tops not popping off after being quenched, I have not tested that one myself and have no idea whether there is a reason for that. I would love to see those pieces you have done and see what you are seeing.
Cindy many are from old era clays, many from mixed types of clays, and many are from straight recent Premo or Kato clay. Did I date and note specifics on each one, no way. But I did keep them separate, quenched and unquenched.
Unfortunately, until I train on the JoolTool with your tutes, no one is going to see anything. ROFL.
But once I do, I promise I will send you proof. If I win the Lottery, there might be photographic proof.
I will admit that Multiple Sclerosis can play some whacko tricks with your vision….but I just went and looked again under grow lites with a magnifier even, and I swear, I can see the difference.
I do agree that your tests prove what you say based on the examples and samples you used.
I will continue to quench half of the output.
Dear Professor Cindy,
Thanks as always for your great research projects! It is so difficult to compare different peoples’ opinions and experiences without knowing exactly what they did so we can know if we are comparing water and oranges. This is a great service you provide for the PC community, and for our little community in particular.
I have been intrigued by this issue for a while (but did I test it myself? unh unh). Easier to depend on Frau Professor Doktor Lietz.
One question about your process here. When I have heard people say to quench the translucent in ice water, they usually say drop it immediately in the water bath as soon as it comes out of the oven. Your examples were sitting out of the oven for at least a minute, I would guess. Do you think that would make a difference, since the clay actually cools pretty quickly? Am I being picky here?
thanks again,
Fran
Hi Fran, it was a little tricky to get them into the water without first doing the intro, but they did come straight from the oven, and Doug started filming, and they sat on the hot steel rack until I popped them into the ice water. I have thrown them straight into the water right at the oven, but to be honest I never noticed any difference… hence the reason for this test. You should try the test yourself… you probably won’t notice much difference either.