Polymer clay's oven?

Question

Is is possible to use an oven for cooking purposes once it is used to bake polymer clay?

Answer 1

Hi, I have been using my regular kitchen oven for over 10 years.  I regularly give it a thorough cleaning.  No problems.

However, if you are still leary, here is the solution.

Buy those large oven bags.  Place your unbaked clay pieces in the bag, seal it, and then put it on a cookie tray.  Bake as usual.   When the time is up, take the bag outside and realease all of the fumes.  No fuss, no muss.

Word of caution about 'toaster ovens'.   PLEASE DO NOT use an old toaster oven.  Chances are the temperature will 'spike' and ruin your clay creations.  The temperature MUST remain constant.   The toater ovens  are just too unreliable.

Answer 2

Yes, but if you bake _a lot_ of polymer clay (without enclosing it**), it wouldn't be advisable just on the chance that some of the plasticizer could eventually make its way into food ("fumes" and emissions from burning polymer clay are different things from this btw).  

There's a lot of disagreement about how likely that is both in the polymer community and in the scientific community too...you can read a lot about it though from this page at my polymer clay "encyclopedia" if you're interested:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/safety_hea...

If you do a lot of clay in an oven which will later be used for food, or if you want to be very careful even using a little clay, there are various things you can do:

...buy a small convection oven to use for clay (this is by far the best type of oven to use for successfully curing the clay without darkening, etc. if you have a few extra bucks)

...use a toaster oven (most clayers actually do use toaster ovens dedicated to clay use, and price or age don't often make a difference) but you'll need to be aware of a few things:

e.g., always preheat, don't buy a Self-Cleaning oven--Continuous Cleaning is okay though, and you'll want to test it to see if it has hot spots, etc.

...use your regular large oven, but use a completely enclosed** baking method for the clay item (one example of that method was mentioned above), or at least a partially enclosed method

You can find loads of info on all those types of ovens and baking methods, plus other stuff on successfully baking polymer clay in general, on the Baking page at my site if you're interested:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/baking.htm

HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 3

I wouldn't.  You really should use an old toaster over for your clay projects.  My mom never used her regular oven for any of her craft projects that required heat.  The clay may give off toxins that could go on to your food.  You can always contact the company that produces the clay to make sure.

Answer 4

I don't like the small Polymer clay ovens , they only bake small items under 3 inches. I use my regular oven and usually do it before I'm going to clean the oven . SO no worries about the Polymer clay fumes in my oven ;)))

Answer 5

Hi,

Of course you can if you have followed carefully  all instructions  from the clay company before baking ( oven's temperature and timing).

Answer 6

no

Answer 7

Sure you can. I have. But the best thing I bought was a plug in oven just for this. It looks like a Easy Bake oven. I got it at Micheal's and used a coupon to buy it.