My baked clay is still bendable. Shouldn't they be hard when I take them out of the oven?

Question

I made several small "charms" and baked them at 250 degrees for an hour. They are still a little soft and bendable. Was the clay too old, or did I not condition the clay enough? I'm new at this so I'm not sure what happened.

Answer 1

If you're using "polymer" clay (sometimes referred to as oven-bake clay), that kind of clay will never get rock hard like ceramic or pottery clay (after baking *and after cooling*).



And if polymer clay is thin (or thin and projecting), it's normal for it to bend after baking when it's intentionally curved, stressed, etc.

If it's thick however, it won't do that.



Polymer clay is actually plastic so that makes sense for plastics, but a few of the brands/lines of polymer clay will be weak after baking if thin or projecting, and will break if stressed. (That's just one reason why it's good to use the "better-quality" brands/lines of polymer clay because the others will sacrifice strength for hardness in those thin areas. More here:

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20120505080320AAJyCe8



.

Answer 2

Which clay? Some clays are supposed to be soft and most harder baking clays are to be cooked at 275F for 20 minutes per 1/4" inch of thickness. How thick are the "small charms" And did you use an oven thermometer? If you just used the knob setting and don't know it was good, you may have under cooked, as the knob settings are often off by 25F. So you may have baked a 1/2" thick charm at 225F and an hour just didn't make it.

Fortunately, no major harm is done, you can put them back in the oven, double check the temp and cook for a reasonable time based on thickness and see how they come out.