Salt dough question?

Question

I want to make a sculpture out of salt dough. I'm not sure how big it'll be but it won't be flat. I'll probably hollow it out though. Will it still cook ok if I put it into the oven?

Answer 1

I dunno maybe not.......

Answer 2

Generally items made from salt dough aren't "cooked"... they just dry in the air (the drying can be speeded up in the oven, but sometimes the items can crack from being dried too quickly and unevenly too).  Another way to speed up drying is to put them in front of a fan (and turn occasionally perhaps), or at least in a place that's not cold or damp.

Other "clays" won't ever dry to harden ... they either have a chemical reaction which is caused by heating (usually in a low-temperature home oven) like polymer clays, or caused by mixing two parts together like epoxy clays.  "Modeling clays" like ClayToons, Plastalina and some others (often in long sticks) won't ever dry either, but they'll never harden because they also can't be heated.

As for making it hollow, will you be doing that as part of the design, or just to make it lightweight, or to keep the clay from being too thick so it will dry sooner?  

You can also use a permanent or temporary "armature" under the clay for those reasons, but keep in mind that air-dry clays usually shrink to some degree as they lose their moisture when drying, so if they have hard armatures inside which won't give, the clay can crack as it shrinks around them too.

Diane B.