I'm in the Philippines and I was wondering what brand of gloss is good for polymer clays ?

Question

since the sculpey gloss here is imported and is too expensive

Answer 1

There are a lot of *types* of gloss finishes that can be used on polymer clay --when one is needed or just wanted, since it's not required on polymer clay-- some of which are less scratchable than others, if that matters).  And there will often be many *brands* of each type as well.  

(Some types work better than others, and some brands of each type may work better than others.)

First, you don't have to use a gloss sealer *made for* polymer clay... in fact most clayers don't use those because either they are too expensive, though excellent (Fimo's alcohol-based gloss sealer, e.g.), or because they are too thick and gloppy (Sculpey's Glaze).  

Most clayers use either a "polyurethane" --which is intended for sealing bare wood (water-washup gloss Varathane is preferred since it has UV protection and also something called IPN which means it gets way down into a surface, but most any gloss polyurethane will work),

or they use a polish sold for vinyl floors called Future (Plege/Future) in the U.S. --in the Phillipines, it's called "Johnson's Wipe and Shine" and can be purchased, I hear, at Ace Hardware, Home Hardware, the DIY Store, and grocery stores like SM Super/Hypermart and Rustans.  That's a *fairly thin* gloss acrylic so sometimes it's applied in more than one coat to make it thicker and cover up more unevenness, fingerprints, etc.

Other types of clear finishes can be used on polymer clay, but most are more easily scratchable or more fiddly to use.  Clear acrylic fingernail polish is fairly good too but it costs a lot more by volume than the main two I mentioned.

You can read about all the options above for polymer clay gloss finishes, as well as possibilities for applying them, etc., on this page of my polymer clay "encyclopedia" if you're interested:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/finishes.h...



P.S. A high gloss can also be achieved on polymer clay by simply wet-sanding then buffing the baked clay with something that's electric (so it's fast enough).

And sometimes clayers will use both techniques, alternating liquid finishes with sanding and buffing.

http://glassattic.com/polymer/sanding_tu...

http://glassattic.com/polymer/buffing.ht...

HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

Hi, instead of spending a lot of money on fancy glazes for polymer clay, why not just use Future Floor Finish.   It comes in a large bottle. Can be found in most grocery stores, or hardware stores.  It gives your clay a nice shiny acrylic finish which will also help protect your piece.

This is what I use in my studio, especially for Christmas ornaments.  

Answer 3

Try clear nail polish , but I personally would use the Sculpey brand gloss ;)))