Three Liquid Polymer Clay Brands Compared
Video #374: Kato Liquid Polyclay; Translucent Liquid Sculpey (TLS); Sculpey Bake & Bond.c
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IN THIS POST: — liquid polymer clay — kato — sculpey — bake and bond — translucent liquid sculpey — (Topics marked with an asterisk* are discussed in the Comments Section below).
Topics Covered In This Video:
- How Sculpey Bake and Bond differs from the other two liquid polymer clays.
- Comparison criteria for each of the liquid clays included: Clarity; Thickness; Strength; Sheen.
- All samples were baked for 1 hour at 275F on a glass tile.
Have you tried any of the liquid polymer clay? If so, what’s your opinion on them and which one is your favorite?
I look forward to hearing from you.
00:00:03 –> 00:00:07 Hi guys, its Cindy Lietz, your Polymer Clay Tutor, and today in the PCT Test Lab, we are
00:00:08 –> 00:00:12 looking at 3 different brands of Liquid Polymer Clay.
00:00:12 –> 00:00:21 Now, I wanted to do some testing on it to see the comparable differences between Kato
00:00:21 –> 00:00:38 PolyClay Liquid Polymer Clay and Translucent Liquid Sculpey also known as TLS, and pretend
00:00:38 –> 00:00:43 this isn’t Studio by Sculpey, pretend this is the new Sculpey Bake & Bond, they’re
00:00:43 –> 00:00:47 the same product; this is just old packaging.
00:00:47 –> 00:00:55 Now, I put some samples out on a piece of glass tile just to bake it, and I’m gonna
00:00:55 –> 00:01:01 peel them off in a second, but I wanted to show you, I just marked out which brand each
00:01:01 –> 00:01:12 one of these are, and you can see on this sample that the Kato Liquid PolyClay is actually
00:01:12 –> 00:01:21 the clearest of the 3, TLS would be the second clearest and then the Bake & Bond, to be a
00:01:21 –> 00:01:27 little bit fair, the Bake & Bond is very, very thick, it actually…I think it might
00:01:27 –> 00:01:34 even have some little fibers in it, it’s kind of a cross between a liquid Polymer Clay and
00:01:34 –> 00:01:35 a glue.
00:01:35 –> 00:01:43 And what you use it for is gluing together either 2 pieces of raw Polymer Clay or 2 pieces
00:01:43 –> 00:01:49 of…or a baked piece and you’re gluing it to a raw piece, and you wanna re-bake it.
00:01:49 –> 00:01:53 There’s lots of neat uses you can use for the Bake & Bond, and in fact sometimes, I
00:01:53 –> 00:02:00 like to use it as a Translucent Clay because it sands up really nicely, and will buff up
00:02:00 –> 00:02:02 quite well.
00:02:02 –> 00:02:09 Now…so it’s thicker here, so it may be looking less clear than it would if it was able to
00:02:09 –> 00:02:14 run out like this…the Kato one does.
00:02:14 –> 00:02:24 But the Kato one is very smooth, it’s just watery smooth and it also is very shiny, so
00:02:24 –> 00:02:30 a lot of people will use it as a coating on…as a glaze on their Polymer Clay.
00:02:30 –> 00:02:37 Now these pieces here are just some cane slices from the Easter Lily Cane tutorial, and what
00:02:37 –> 00:02:42 I did was I put a little bit…I cut them raw and set them right onto the tile, and
00:02:42 –> 00:02:46 then put a little…just painted with a little paintbrush, each of the different brands of
00:02:46 –> 00:02:49 the liquid clay on top.
00:02:49 –> 00:02:56 Now, hopefully the camera will pick it up, but the Kato one has the most sheen to it,
00:02:56 –> 00:03:04 the TLS has kind of a matte finish to it, and the Bake & Bond is about the same, in
00:03:04 –> 00:03:11 fact, there are some brush strokes showing a little bit more on the Bake & Bond.
00:03:11 –> 00:03:18 I’m going to pop these off now so that we can take a look and see what they’re like,
00:03:18 –> 00:03:24 whether they stay nice and clear, ooh, this one comes out really clear, look at this,
00:03:24 –> 00:03:29 so this is the Kato Liquid PolyClay and it is very clear, you can read right through
00:03:29 –> 00:03:37 it very nicely, and let’s see about the flexibility here…I mean, obviously it’s quite flexible,
00:03:37 –> 00:03:45 I wanna see if it’s really strong, it appears to be really strong and…really strong.
00:03:45 –> 00:03:51 Now, what I was gonna say is that they bake at…
00:03:51 –> 00:03:55 I bake them all at the same temperature obviously, if they were all going into the oven at the
00:03:55 –> 00:04:04 same time, and I felt good about that because the Kato lists its temperature at 275F, so
00:04:04 –> 00:04:11 does the…so does the Sculpey and the Bake & Bond, so it was a fair trial to bake them
00:04:11 –> 00:04:14 all side by side, I just wanted to say that, just because sometimes the different brands
00:04:14 –> 00:04:18 bake at different temperatures, and so baking them at the same time wouldn’t be quite fair.
00:04:18 –> 00:04:28 Okay, so let’s take a look at the TLS, it is not quite as clear, here let’s put it against
00:04:28 –> 00:04:35 its own label at least, but it’s quite clear, see how nice it does work very well as a top
00:04:35 –> 00:04:42 clear layer for things, but it has… it is slightly foggier, if the camera will hopefully
00:04:42 –> 00:04:50 pick that up, foggier than the Kato that’s for sure, but if you’ve got it on a very thin
00:04:50 –> 00:04:55 layer and you sand it, it comes out so clear that you don’t even usually notice it.
00:04:55 –> 00:05:03 Well let’s see this is stuck here, alright and then here is the Bake & Bond and it is
00:05:03 –> 00:05:14 thicker, like I said, and it is let’s see…not as clear but still translucent, but not as
00:05:14 –> 00:05:17 clear, okay?
00:05:17 –> 00:05:26 Now I didn’t check the…the strength, I should be fair, it looks really strong, and same
00:05:26 –> 00:05:30 with, let’s try the TLS ‘cause I didn’t try that one, okay, it looks really strong
00:05:30 –> 00:05:31 as well.
00:05:31 –> 00:05:37 Now they’ll all have a rubbery feel, you’re not gonna get a hard feel to these Liquid
00:05:37 –> 00:05:41 Polymer Clays at all, at least not with these 3 brands.
00:05:41 –> 00:05:47 I haven’t tried the Fimo Gel yet, and I would like to try that, the Deco Gel, it’s a clear
00:05:47 –> 00:05:51 one, I’ve got to get a hold of some somewhere, I’ve got to look online I guess and take a
00:05:51 –> 00:05:54 look at that, and maybe we can compare that some time.
00:05:54 –> 00:06:01 So I hope you found this interesting, let me know if you’ve worked with these products
00:06:01 –> 00:06:06 before and if you’ve got any favorites, and what you think.
00:06:06 –> 00:06:10 Make sure to press that like button if you found this helpful, and leave me a comment
00:06:10 –> 00:06:11 below.
00:06:11 –> 00:06:18 My question today is have you ever tried any of the Liquid Polymer Clays and what’s your
00:06:18 –> 00:06:19 opinion?
00:06:19 –> 00:06:21 We will see you another time.
00:06:21 –> 00:06:22 Bye for now.
Our goal is to translate these videos into as many languages as possible. If you are interested in helping with this initiative, then please do contact us and we will figure out a way to make it worth your while :)
Resource Links:
- Related Video: Comparing Sculpey Kato and Fimo Liquid Polymer Clay
- Related Video: How NOT To Store Liquid Polymer Clay or TLS
- Related Video: Gold And Silver Tinted Liquid Sculpey Polymer Clay
- Amazon: Kato Liquid Polyclay **
- Amazon: Sculpey Translucent Liquid (2 Oz) **
- Amazon: Sculpey Bake and Bond (2 Oz) **
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Thanks for these video’s. I have only just found them and they are so thorough and useful. Keep going they’re great. I live in England and it is really hard to get hold of anything polymer clay related that isn’t from the Fimo brand in the shops. I will look forward to seeing what you make of the fimo deco gel in comparison. Obviously I can still get some non-fimo stuff off the net so this is still useful!
Sue F, I must apologize. For a thread or two, I just come in after watching the video and/or reading the blog and post away. I do not scroll down to look at comments first, but, I will promise to do so in the future. You and I are twinsies, posting the same questions and comments, ahahaha. I so beg your forgiveness, and same to the rest of you. Doh!
Hey Jocelyn, we are twinsies sometimes, aren’t we? LOL
No apologies necessary, and in any case from checking timestamps here you mentioned Kato Poly Paste before I did, so if anything I should be apologising to you! ;)
With me, it’s usually because I open a zillion browser tabs at once and don’t necessarily read them immediately. I open them when I see something interesting or know there’s something I want to check out, but I only get to read and close them when I have time. Right now I have 98 browser tabs open (counted ’em!) which will give you the general idea. I normally don’t refresh a tab before reading it either — I *hate* it when news sites in particular “update” a well-written article and ruin it, which happens so frequently that my normal behaviour is to *not* refresh — so often the page I’m viewing doesn’t show the latest comments, just those that were visible whenever I opened the tab. (So when I *do* get around to posting my own comment and subsequently see what other people have posted in the meantime, there’s definitely the odd “D’oh!” moment or three. LOL)
This was really interesting. I’ve used Kato Liquid Clay and Fimo Deco Gel. As Hermine said Fimo is a little harder and that’s why I prefer it. I only use KLC with my Kato clay because I bake it hotter. The FLG works with both Premo and Fimo because I bake them at the same temperature.
Very informative video! This is the kind of thing that helps you choose the best product for the application. Now we can decide. Thank you so much for all of your videos. Little tips and info to help you thru the “what to use” times.
Hi Cindy, I have not used Kato’s liquid clay but am very happy with the Poly Paste for holding pieces together for baking. I also use the bake and bond for some applications and liquid TLS in others. I think depending on what you are creating, all three of these products have their place. The video allowed me to see the relationship between the three and now just out of curiosity will probably try the Kato Liquid clay for my own satisfaction. Thanks so much for the video, these are so informative. :)
Thanks for this video! I’ve used all three product as well as the Kato Poly Paste. I would say that the bake and bond and the poly paste are similar in consistency and I mostly use these to adhere a raw layer to a baked layer. If I am glazing, I prefer the Kato liquid clay over the TLS because the Kato bakes up very clear as you showed in your video. I have also used a heat gun to make it shiny. This works, but I must watch the piece VERY closely so as not to scorch it. When I am using the Kato liquid clay as a glaze on top of a darker piece, I will often bump up the curing temp to 325F. The piece comes out very shiny and doesn’t require buffing, or just a light buff. But, I found if I bump up the heat on lighter colored pieces they get a yellow or brown tint (scorched). So, I cure them with the liquid clay at the lower temp 275F and then buff them to a high shine. If I want a really shiny, high gloss finish, and my piece is flat, I will use the UV resin. I believe that resin is still the shiniest, but the liquid clay is more forgiving if the piece is curved or rounded. Multiple thin layers of the liquid clay (curing in between) seems to work best to get a clear, strong finish similar to resin. But, this is time consuming. So, I mostly use the resin as my glaze of choice.
Great video Cindy! I use mostly TLS but would like to try the Kato (or FIMO) as a glaze sometime. I like the TLS as after you let it sit on a shelf (or leave it open) for a while it thickens up and I use it to add dimension to my clay pieces. Not sure if the others do as they seem thinner to me. I sure appreciate you free videos…keep ’em comin!
Shirley
I think you should try also the fimo gel.Very good clear allmost as much as the kato but not as plasticky.( I hate kato clay smell, that is the only thing I have agains their products)
A little harder. Very good for faux sea glass effect.
The tsl tends to thickens and even went through my container.It was old but should not have done that. I had the bid container. I have now switched to glass containers for tsl. I still have the old very old black, gold and silver liquid clay. Have used them to make sheets and they are not very resistant.
I noticed that tsl can rip if used alone as a sheet after a year of being cured. I wanted to do pages for a book that is why I made them . I have not used them( the old clays) on some clay as decoration on clay or as grout between tiles yet. Maybe one day.
I thought the bake and bond would be like the thicker kato but it’s not the same.Still more experiencing to do with that one.
Thank you for your comments they are allways helpful.
If you hit Kato Clear Medium with a heat gun after oven curing it will go almost completely clear, very much like resin in appearance, although it’s a bit rubbery as demonstrated rather than being rock hard like resin is. (This is actually what I did before I had a chance to play with resin, and I still do it where I want a resin-like effect but resin itself is not practical. [Resin discolours ranging from golden-yellow to amber-brown when you bake it, for example.])
I do the heat gun thing straight after taking the Kato Clear Medium-ed items out of the oven; with the residual heat it goes fully clear very quickly.
I also use Fimo Deko Gel if the liquid clay will be used very thickly in a single application (like a filler) and heat gun treatment of thinner layers is not possible. I’ve found it a bit clearer than non-heat-gunned Kato Clear Medium (although nowhere near as clear as Kato after the heat gun treatment).
I haven’t tried either of the Sculpey branded products, although I bought a bottle of Bake and Bond last week for experimenting with along a different line. (I just haven’t had time to actually do those experiments yet!)
And talking of adhesion (only), another interesting product is Kato Poly Paste. This is thick so you can position pieces without risking them sliding around. It doesn’t seem to be as widely available as the other Kato products, however. (I got mine from Prairie Craft.)
Sue:
I want to thank you for turning me on to Kato Liquid a few months ago. I’d been using TLS, and within two days of the Kato Liquid arriving, the TLS went into the wastebasket, and I haven’t missed it for a moment. The Kato is *terrific*, and I use it for sooo many more things, too, like mixing it with some clay and patching little air bubble holes with the mixture and for glazing some beads. Thanks very much for making a significant impact on the way I work; I appreciate your help a lot. It really made a difference not only in the way I do things, but in the quality of the finished product! I’m really grateful you jumped in when you did and helped me out! You’re a doll!
Binky
Hi Binky!
It’s great to hear that you found it useful, and I’m glad that I could help. It’s nice to be able to share information about the different products we’ve all tried.
Did you end up trying the PYM II as well?
My next liquid clay foray will probably be into the pre-coloured Kato Clear Medium varieties. I haven’t tried those yet, and figure there are probably a bunch of neat — or at least “interesting” — effects possible there. (So many things to play with… *sigh* LOL)
Happy claying :)
Sue
Great idea Julia! Cindy, love this comparison. If you take it a step further would like to request you also test the adhesion strength of Kato Poly Paste. It’s a great product, and if you use it to stick something at an odd angle, it stays stuck.
Did you compare adhesion strength?
No Julia I did not, but that would make a great PcT Test Lab segment! Thanks for the suggestion!