No kiln or bake needed with air dry clay and you don’t need expensive tools or you don’t need to be high skillful to use it. But trust me, you can make amazing and beautiful masterpieces with air dry clay, which is great for your mental health.

I started my air dry clay journey recently as a complete noob. I didn’t know how to handle the clay, how to attach pieces and I made many mistakes along the way, from cracked trays to pieces falling apart. But I was able to learn and practice things as I make new projects every single week. And now I wanna help you guys out.

As a beginner myself, I know what are the burning questions beginners have about air dry clay and I’m gonna answer them all.

I’ll share with you guys everything you need to know about air dry clay, including basics, projects that can be made easily, steps you need to follow and most importantly, mistakes that can be made along the way and how you can easily avoid and fix them from my firsthand experience. You won’t get those from expert guides because they rarely make mistakes.

Ok, enough talking, let’s jump in!

What is air dry clay (and should beginners start with it?)

Air dry clay is made of tiny paper fibers and has a mesh-like internal structure, which can get messy pretty quickly. It is water soluble and easy to shape and bend.

Air dry clay contains a lot of moisture and air bubbles inside and it shrinks as it dries due to the evaporation of water. Shrinking is uncontrollable but can be handled well by kneading the clay, which helps to spread the moisture evenly across all the layers of the clay and release the air.

Sealing air dry clay is a must because it is not waterproof. Water softens and weakens the clay, causing uneven shrinkage and surface cracking.

I know many people are so worried about the cracking of air dry clay and they even avoid using it because of it. 

If you used too much water when kneading and shaping which causes rapid evaporation and uneven shrinkage which leads to surface cracking. 

Air dry clay dries in the air and it depends on the outside humidity levels and thickness of the clay.

You need to smooth out air dry clay regularly because tiny bumps, micro cracks and imperfections are hard to avoid. 

Why you should start with air dry clay?

If you’re a beginner, it is one of the best because no kiln or baking is needed and you can easily shape to an any shape you want, only with a drop of water.

Since the clay is cheap, you have enough room to experiment and have fun with it which helps you learn new clay skills.

As beginners, we waste a lot of clay when learning things and that’s ok. But if the clay is expensive, we are afraid to do that because we are mostly tight on budget. But, you don’t have to worry about that when working with air dry clay since it’s cheap and beginner friendly.

You can easily clean up the working mat, rolling tool and clay sculpting tools by washing and wiping with soapy water. It only takes 2-3 minutes.

Actually, that was the exact reason why I went with air dry clay too in a world of polymer clay, traditional pottery clay and others.

Once you become good at handling clay and making beautiful things out of it, you can select whether you stick with it or switch to advanced polymer clay or some other type of clay.

Step 1: Gather tools and setup your workspace

Air dry clay is beginner- and budget friendly. You don’t need to spend $100 in the craft store to gather tools. I started with what I had and came all the way here with no issues. Let me tell you.

First, select the right air dry clay brand

DAS, Jovi, Mont Marte, Creative Paperclay, Sculpey (Model Air), Amaco, FIMO Air, Activa, La Doll, Craft Smart, and Crayola are considered as the top contenders when it comes to air dry clay brands.

All the above brands are great but come with only a few differences. DAS is the most popular air dry clay brand which is Italian made, made with natural fibers, dries so hard and handles structural stress excellently.

Whatever brand you select make sure it is reputable, has positive reviews and customer feedback. 

Never ever use an unbranded air dry clay product, even if they are cheap and highly available, because your whole project might get ruined as my pineapple trinket tray project did.

👉🏾 Read: Mont Marte vs. Unbranded Air Dry Clay: Is the Cheap Stuff Worth It?

Prepare your workspace

Choosing the right working surface is a must when working with air dry clay especially when rolling the clay.

Air dry clay contains a lot of moisture, which comes out as you roll the clay. So the working surface should be non porous.

So trust me on this, never use plain wood boards or cardboard boxes for your main workspace. As you roll and flatten the clay, these porous surfaces absorb all the inner moisture right out of it, which makes your piece stick like crazy. Then, the moment you attempt to peel it off, your clay slab rips into pieces and leaves terrible cracks and splits along every edge.

Because of the above reason, use a non-sticky and non-porous surface as your workspace, such as a PVC mat or silicone mat, so the clay releases cleanly. Both are great to work with air dry clay. I use a PVC mat.

Use an acrylic rolling pin instead of the bare wooden one because clay won’t stick to it as you roll.

👉🏾 Having trouble with your clay clinging to your roller? Here is How to Stop Air Dry Clay From Sticking to Your Rolling Pin.

Clay sculpting tools

Easy clay sculpting tool has its own specific task. X-acto knife for cutting air dry clay with precision, Carving tool for hollowing out the clay which is useful when you’re making trays and dishes, damp sponge for smoothing out the clay.

Honestly, your hands are the best tools to work with air dry clay because shaping, bending and smoothing can be easily done with your fingers after dipping in a cup of water.

If you couldn’t find any of the tools to work with air dry clay, I highly recommend you to check your unopened kitchen drawers because you might find many tools that can be used instead of professional tools that do the same task.

For example, toothpicks can be used to map out clay, tracing, detailing and texturing, a small knife can be used instead of X-acto knife and smal spoons can be used for carving the clay.

Once you become good at handling and sculpting clay, I highly recommend you to invest on professional tools, which are also not expensive.

Clay finishing tools

So invest in an acrylic paint set and a budget friendly flat and round paint brush set for painting your ary clay piece.

For sealing, there are several options you can try. Gloss varnish, UV resin, polyurethane varnish, Mod Podge or Epoxy resin are great to seal air dry clay, which helps to protect your air dry clay piece from water by making a water resistant or waterproofing coating.

I use gloss varnish because it provides a glossy and ceramic look with long term protection.

👉🏾 Want my exact product links? Check out my Complete Clay Supplies & Resources Page for every brand and tool I use.

Step 2: Conditioning, kneading & keeping your clay soft

Once you’ve got a branded clay product and prepared the workspace with all the tools, its time to start the first step of your sculpting process.

First, unpack the clay and cut a piece out of it and start conditioning it by tapping the surface with a little bit of water.

Air dry clay already comes with a lot of moisture inside, but tapping the surface with a little bit of water makes the clay softer and easier to knead.

But make sure not to use too much water for conditioning and kneading the clay because too much water significantly increases the moisture evaporation speed as the clay dries which can cause uneven shrinkage by drying the outer layers of air dry clay much faster than the clay inside. Due to that, tension will start to build up as the clay dries and microcracks will start to form on the surface.

As the clay dries, these micro cracks will become wider and deeper, forming larger cracks which completely ruin and destroy your beautiful project.

Most of the beginners, including myself in the beginning, loved to dip all fingers in a cup of water as soon as we felt the clay was dry. But that’s not good because it causes uneven shrinkage and you should only damp the dried areas of air dry clay barely with a sponge or your index finger.

Make sure to use only drops of water when conditioning and kneading the clay and don’t forget to knead the clay well like you’re making a pizza dough to spread the moisture evenly across all the layers of air dry clay inside and release the trapped air bubbles inside.

Well kneaded air dry clay is soft and shrinks evenly as it dries, forming no cracks.

👉🏾 Working on a detailed piece that takes a while or seems to take more time than you thought? Read How to Keep Air Dry Clay Soft While Working so it doesn’t dry out mid project.

While you’re kneading, shaping and sculpting the taken air dry clay piece from the big piece, make sure to wrap that unused piece with a damp cloth or plastic wrap to avoid forming a dry skin on your working desk. 

The outside area of air dry clay piece dries quickly and you need to keep its moisture level steady without letting it crumble due to the dry skin.

👉🏾 If your clay starts flaking apart at the edges while you knead it, follow my guide on How to Stop Air Dry Clay From Crumbling.

Step 3: Rolling clay slab

Rolling clay slab is needed when you’re making trinket trays, jewelry dishes, and home decor items with a base.

In order to roll the clay slab evenly, use wooden or acrylic guide rails which should be placed on either side of the clay slab while rolling. Guide rails come in different thicknesses and you can select a pair greater than ¼ inch(6 mm) or thicker for a strong clay slab for high structural strength that can avoid warping as the clay dries.

If you roll the clay slab too thin it’ll likely warp and curl as the clay dries, like a potato chip and because it lacks structural integrity and snaps so easily. But if you roll the clay slab too thick, I mean above ½ inch (12 mm), it may take 4-5 days or even weeks to dry fully and the outside of the clay dries fast while the inside stays wet, leading to deep cracks.

Therefore, always try to maintain the thickness within ¼ inch (6 mm) to ½ inch (12 mm) range.

If you don’t have guide rails to keep the thickness even, use silicone or rubber rings. They are attachable and most of the time they come with the rolling pins as you purchase them. They also come in different sizes, including 3mm and 5mm.

In order to roll evenly, you need to start rolling from the center of the clay outward. Rotate the clay around 90 degrees every few rolls so it stretches evenly in all directions.

Rolling the clay in one spot creates a vacuum seal with the work surface as moisture releases, which can cause the clay to tear when you try to lift it. To avoid this, continuously reposition the clay as you roll.

Step 4: Cutting clean shapes

After rolling the clay slab, it’s time to cut the shape you like.

For cutting, you can use molds, cookie cutters, templates, stencils, or cut freehand. According to me, I strongly believe that freehand cutting develops our drawing skills and clay handling skills. Therefore, if you want to cut an organic shape, always use freehand.

But if you really need an exact, precise shape, with no errors, use a cookie cutter or mold.

If you don’t have molds but still want an exact shape, try using a paper template. Simply print a 2D outline of your desired design, cut it out, place it onto the clay slab, and slice along the edges.

👉🏾 Learn more about this paper template method by reading: How to Cut Perfect Shapes in Air Dry Clay Without Cutters (Easy Template Method)

Before you start cutting, trace the shape along the edges using a clay tracing tool or a toothpick. Tracing before cutting minimizes errors.

After tracing the shape, remove the mold or template you used (if you used one) and cut along the traced lines using the X-Acto knife.

When cutting, make sure not to drag the knife horizontally, which can form split and torn edges. Lift the knife frequently and clean the stuck clay and again continue cutting, holding your X-Acto knife straight up and down (90-degree angle). This way you can get nice, clean, smooth, and sharp edges.

👉🏾 Struggling with jagged or split edges when cutting shapes? Read: How to Cut Clean, Sharp Edges in Air Dry Clay (Without Tearing)

After cutting the shape you want, make sure to smooth out the clay slab and around its rim by dipping your index finger in a cup of water and gliding over the clay slab and around its rim repeatedly until tiny bumps, lumps, micro cracks and tiny imperfections completely vanish.

Smoothing is must after each step from now onwards for a nice and clean finish, but only with a little bit of water. You already know what happens when you use too much water.

Step 5: Attaching clay pieces together (the slip & score method)

Let me tell you a quick story that happened during my first air dry clay project which can be happened for any beginner.

For my first air dry clay project, I made a cute rabbit. I kneaded and shaped small clay pieces to create the head, belly, legs, arms, and ears. While the clay was still wet, I attached the parts simply by pressing them together. I attached arms and legs onto the belly, ears onto the head, and finally the head onto the body and left it to dry.

Unfortunately, as the clay dried, the joints gave way and the ears, limbs, and head separated and fell apart. 

Hours of hard work were ruined, but it taught me a valuable lesson: you can’t join air dry clay pieces just by pressing them together. Air dry clay shrinks as it dries and joints will loosen.

There’s a specific technique you need to follow. That’s called the score and slip method.

Let me tell you what the score and slip method is,

In order to attach two air dry clay pieces together, first you need to score the surfaces that attach using a clay scoring tool or a toothpick. Score the surfaces like a texture. The main reason for scoring before attaching is to create good adhesion between the two surfaces with high grip.

Then you need to apply a paste called “slip”. Slip is made by mixing tiny pieces of air dry clay with an equal amount of water thoroughly and letting it sit for hours. This will make a creamy paste which is known as the “slip”. You can use it to attach two air dry clay pieces. It basically works as a glue for air dry clay. 

Next, apply this slip paste over the scored clay surfaces and attach them gently by pressing the two pieces firmly together with a slight wiggle so the wet grooves lock into each other. That’s how you should attach two air dry clay pieces properly. The score and slip method.

If you don’t have the slip, don’t worry. Tap the scored surfaces with a little bit of water and attach. Water also works just fine as the slip because I tried and it works every single time with no issues.

👉🏾 Having pieces detach after drying? Read my full troubleshooting breakdown on Why Is My Air Dry Clay Not Sticking Together?

Step 6: Drying your clay without cracks or warping

After making your beautiful air dry clay project, you need to let it dry. As I told you earlier, air dry clay dries in the air.

Place the clay piece you made in a cool, well ventilated area with good air circulation.

Let the project dry slowly because rushing the drying process causes uneven shrinkage and eventually you’ll end up with a cracked surface.

Do not place your air dry clay piece outside, under direct sunlight, inside an oven or apply a heat source, or blast it with a hairdryer to rush the drying process. All of them cause surface cracks. All you need to do is make the area as ventilated as possible.

👉🏾 Read: How to Prevent Air Dry Clay Trays from Cracking While Drying

Generally air dry clay project takes about 48-72 hours to dry which means 2-3 days. But this can depend on the thickness of the clay and humidity in your area. 

If you live in a wet climate with high humidity the water evaporation speed of your project will be much slower and it may take 5-6 days to dry your project completely.

To keep your air dry clay project from warping,

• Flip the project upside down periodically (After the first 12–24 hours) so all sides dry at an even rate.
• Do not place air dry clay piece under direct sunlight or near radiators or AC vents.

👉🏾 Making dishes or raised rims? Don’t miss How to Prevent Warping When Drying Curved Air Dry Clay Trays

However, you cannot paint or seal the project until it is completely dry. Painting the wet clay project weakens the clay inside and causes paint to bubble, peel, or grow mold later.

Step 7: Sanding for a smooth finish

This step is optional, but great for a nice and smooth finish. Wear a mask first because tiny air dry clay particles can make you cough.

Once the clay piece is fully dry, sand the whole clay surface with fine grit sandpaper (220-grit sandpaper or finer) in one direction to remove tiny bumps, micro scratches, micro cracks and tiny imperfections. Finally, finish it by sanding the whole surface again with 400-grit for a silky smooth surface.

Careful when sanding complex angles and joints because air dry clay can be brittle and snap easily because of your single mistake.

Once you’re done with sanding, clean the whole surface with a fluffy brush or barely damp cloth to remove the fine dust.

Step 8: Painting your air dry clay

As I mentioned earlier, you need to wait till the air dry clay project dries fully before painting to avoid forming tacky spots, molds and peel-offs.

👉🏾 Find out: Can You Paint Air Dry Clay Before It Dries? (And What Happens If You Do).

Acrylics are considered the best paint for air dry clay since it is easy to use and make a plastic like layer over your clay project that offers protection as well.

Don’t use watercolors on air dry clay because they require water and water weakens the clay and cause surface cracks as it dries.

Never apply another coat of acrylic while the previous one is still wet because that can form a mushy core, a cloud like thing on the surface.

If it’s possible, I recommend applying a Gesso like primer before applying the first acrylic coat over your air dry clay project because raw air dry clay is thirsty and absorbs your first paint coat fast. 

Gesso helps to fill the porous structure of air dry clay and make the surface ready for acrylic paints that come next.

For brush techniques and clean lines, read How to Paint Crisp Details and Layer Colors on Air Dry Clay.

👉🏾 Painting a piece with lots of grooves? Check out, How to Manage Acrylic Paint Drying Time on Deeply Carved Clay Textures.

Step 9: Sealing & protecting your finished project

Some beginners think Isn’t it enough after I paint my air dry clay project with acrylics. It offers a water resistant sealing and protection, so why should I even worry about sealing? I’m sorry to say you are completely wrong. 

Sealing air dry clay is a must. Yes, even after painting is done, because air dry clay is still vulnerable to humidity, scratches, and water splashes.

Air dry clay cannot withstand harsh weather conditions if you skipped the sealing part. Sealing is all about protection. 

For example, gloss varnish protects your air dry clay projects from outside humidity because water always try to find a way to sneak into your clay project and weaken it and sealer stops it.

👉🏾 Read: Here is How to Get a Glossy, Ceramic-Like Finish on Air Dry Clay.

Apply 2-3 thin and even coats in one direction and let each coat of sealer dry and cure for 24 hours before applying another.

Applying a sealer over a wet surface can form tacky spots, therefore, wait till the previous surface is fully dry.

Gloss varnish and polyurethane varnish are beginner friendly. UV resin and epoxy resin are great to get a more glossy, glassy like finish.

👉🏾 Read my step-by-step protection walkthrough in How to Seal and Waterproof Air Dry Clay Trinket Tray.

Congratulations, you have successfully made your first air dry clay project. I’m so happy for you.

Step 10: Store your leftover air dry clay

Generally, 1.1 lbs (500g) or 2.2 lbs(1kg) of block air dry clay can be used to make around 2-3 palm-size trinket trays and jewelry dishes. This can vary depending on your palm size. Lol.

But the point I need to tell you is definitely that there will be leftover clay air dry clay after your first project.

So what are you gonna do with it? Wrap it around with the same package and leave it on your desk? Yes, that’s also a way, but that method is risky and has a high tendency to turn your clay block into a brick because air dry clay dries as soon as it comes into contact with the air.

Here’s how to store your leftover air dry clay,

1. First, wrap the leftover clay with a plastic clog wrap or a polythene bag or with a damp paper towel if you gonna store it for a long time.
2. Then place the wrapped air dry clay package inside of a airtight plastic Tupperware type container, zip top bag.
3. Place it inside of a cool, drawer that has minimal air circulation around.

Make sure not to place any heat source around because heat can make the moisture of the clay evaporate.

👉🏾 Follow my exact wrapping method in How to Store Air Dry Clay Once Opened (Keep It Soft for Months).

Ready to make?

Awesome, my friend! You have completed the beginner air dry clay guide. Now you know the whole start-to-finish process. I know now you’re eagerly waiting to try out your first air dry clay project. 

You got this! Air dry caly is made for beginners. Follow the methods I taught and you have all the freedom to try new things, make mistakes and learn from them. Ultimately, I want you to achieve the goals you want and to be a better crafter than I am.

My suggestion is for you to start making a trinket tray. Trinket trays are easy to make and you’ll eb able to learn lots of basics and practical knowledge of air dry clay along the way, such as how to knead, roll, attach, smooth and finish air dry clay pieces.

According to my experiences, the best way to learn air dry clay is by getting your hands dirty with a simple flat slab project before trying complex 3D sculptures.

Below I have included several beginner type air dry clay projects you can try out. 

After trying the above projects, I need your feedback. So please leave your feedback in the comment section so others can learn from them. We should grow as a community and become good clay artists.

Be sure to tag @clayandmestudios in your first air dry clay tray project. I sure love to see them when you do. I’ll see you next time with awesome air dry clay tutorials, tips and tricks! Cheers! 🤟🏾

Trust me, it’s one of the best clay types for beginners and offers plenty of benefits, especially if you are just starting out.

I know there are many options on the market: polymer clay, foam clay, and cold porcelain clay. Most of these are actually variants of air dry clay, with the exception of polymer clay. 🏺

I’m going to share my perspective on air dry clay based on my personal experience as a beginner. 

If you’re just starting out as well, I hope my insights will help you understand what air-dry clay is truly like. 

Unlike reviews written by experts who may no longer recall the beginner experience, I haven’t tried any other type of clay yet (I might in the future). So, as a result, my perspective is focused entirely on the honest pros and cons I’ve experienced firsthand.

Ok! Enough chit chat. Let’s dive in! 🚀

What is air dry clay?

Air dry clay is an earth based clay that dries in the air. No kiln or baking needed. It is a highly porous material with lots of moisture and air pockets inside. It is available in white, terracotta, and grey colors. 🧱

It can be made soft and shaped with a little bit of water, which also can be its worst enemy sometimes. 💧

Popular air dry clay products are DAS, Jovi, Mont Marte (which I use), Sclpd, Crayola, Activa and more.

Before we start out, I want to let you know that all the pros and cons I talk about here apply to general air dry clay types like DAS, Jovi, Mont Marte, Sclpd, Crayola, Activa, and other brands we find mostly. 

The article is not about epoxy air dry clay (Apoxie Sculpt), paper based clay (Creative Paperclay, LA Doll Premier), wood fiber clay, stone, or nylon based clay because I haven’t tried them yet. 

Pros and cons of air dry clay

Before we explain everything in detail. I’ve made a list of benefits and drawbacks you might face when working with air dry clay. This helps you to get a better overall idea of what type of clay we’re working with.

But still, it is too soon to judge. Don’t come to a conclusion until you read the in depth analysis of the clay. Let me show you everything one by one. 🧐

Ok buckle up, we’re gonna dive deep! 🪂

Pros of air dry clay

Air dry clay is one of the best materials for anybody because the learning curve is easy and you don’t have to read a long tutorial or follow 394 safety guidelines (Remember? Harry Potter? Snape? Turn to page number?) before starting out. 📖

It is just plug and play. Grab a piece of clay, start making the thing you like and let it rest on a table until it dries. That’s it.

Let me show you all the benefits I gained by using air dry clay over any other. Love of my life lol. ❤️

Easy to sculpt

Air dry clay is not as sticky as traditional clay we use for pottery and you don’t need to know difficult pottery sculpting skills; simply just use your hands and brain and shape it. 🖐️

You can simply give air dry clay any shape you want by kneading with a little bit of water. 

If you feel the clay is a bit stiff at first, condition it and knead until it’s soft enough for shaping. Then shape it into a tray, dish, home decor item, or anything.

Currently, I have made a series of fruit inspired trinket trays with air dry clay, a natural koi fish pond, and a jewelry holder for my wife, and it has never gone wrong (Only during my first project, but that was on me, not because of the clay. As beginners, we do make mistakes, right? That’s fine. Let’s normalize that). 🍓

Budget friendly

This is one of the main reasons why I went for air dry clay compared to other clay types like polymer clay. 2.2 lbs of DAS air dry clay costs less than $10, which is so inexpensive.

Air dry clay is 2x or sometimes 3x cheaper than polymer clay, and if you’re a beginner, let me tell you why that’s significant. 💡

As beginners, we do waste a lot of clay while making something. We like to experiment with clay to make new things and follow different techniques, and that’s totally ok. I mean, that’s great because without trying something new, you never learn new things. ✨

Also, we make a lot of mistakes while shaping, sculpting, and finishing our clay projects, and sometimes we even have to completely throw the clay piece away and start again with a fresh piece of clay. That’s also ok because mistakes are what teach us to do better in the future. Without making mistakes, we never learn how to fix those mistakes in the first place. 🛠️

But when you’re experimenting and making mistakes, one thing works as a barrier, which is the cost of the clay you use. This is why it is important to use a budget friendly clay, obviously air dry clay, as a beginner. 💵

Air dry clay is cheap and you can have all your fun with it and progress with it until you become a pro. Then you can move to an expensive clay type like polymer clay. 🏆

No baking or kiln needed

You don’t need to place your air dry clay projects in an oven or kiln to let them dry and cure because air does the job for you. 

After making the project, simply just place it at room temperature for a couple of days until it dries completely before painting or sealing. This is not possible with polymer clay because you need to put it in the oven for drying and curing.

Read: Can You Paint Air Dry Clay Before It Dries? (And What Happens If You Do)

Air dry clay is convenient and safe because even kids can make things with air dry clay and let them dry without using an oven or any other heat source. 👧

Non-toxic

Air dry clay is completely safe for regular handling by both adults and children, so you don’t have to worry about its safety.

DAS, Crayola, Jovi, Activa, Mont Marte, and many other reputable brands certify that their air dry clay products are non toxic and made without using any harsh chemicals. 🌿

They are made of natural earth or paper based materials, but make sure to check ingredients before use, especially with children. 🔍

Don’t let children put clay inside their mouths because non toxic means not food safe. 🛑

For example, some Crayola air dry clay contains gluten, which can cause allergic reactions in some people, so you need to be careful. Other than that, all air dry clays are non toxic and safe to use for any age group. ✅

No expensive tools needed

Anyone can be a clay artist with air dry clay. Yes, I say it because if I did that, you can too. Then what about tools? Forget tools. All the tools you ever need for your next air dry clay project are sitting inside one of your unopened kitchen drawers. 🍴

Most of the air dry clay sculpting tools can be replaced by toothpicks. Yes, the tiny ones.

Then what about the mat? You can literally use your wooden cooking board as the mat for air dry clay. You simply just have to place parchment or wax paper over it before placing the clay and start rolling to avoid clay from sticking to the board.

Ok, then what about smoothing the clay? You can simply use your index finger after dipping it in a cup of water and glide on the clay slab to remove tiny cracks, scratches and bumps.

But we don’t have molds or templates? Actually, you don’t need them. Use cookie cutters if you have them or use jar lids, bottle caps, or use the paper template method for crafting complex shapes. 

Read: How to Shape Organic Air Dry Clay Forms Without Molds or Cookie Cutters

So what about cutting? No need for expensive cutting knives. Use an X-acto knife if you have one or you can simply just use any small pocket knife. Simple as that!

I wanted to show you that every task that seems to require expensive tools for work with air dry clay can be done with things found in your kitchen drawers. Air dry clay is soft and you don’t need heavy or expensive tools. Your hands are the best tools to get the right shape. 👐

Read: How to Cut Perfectly Round Air Dry Clay Bases Using Household Templates

Great for all age groups

As I mentioned earlier, air dry clay is a non toxic clay type that can be easily shaped as you want with a small amount of water. 💧

You don’t need to be an expert to handle air dry clay because once you shape it as you want, just let it dry. Your kids can have fun with it because no oven, kiln, or harsh materials are involved from start to end.

Kids, adults and elders can make beautiful home decor items, bowls, trays, incense holders, shapes, picture frames, and keychains with air dry clay. 

It helps to stay focused and keeps you mentally balanced by relaxing and reducing your stress levels. I highly recommend air dry clay crafting workshops for elderly homes and childcare centers because it is a great way to spend time and improve brain function. 🧠

Just don’t let children put the clay into their mouths because it is not a food safe material. ⚠️

Even if you make bowls with it, make sure not to use it as fruit, vegetable, or cereal bowls. They are only for decoration.

Easy to fix mistakes

What if I told you it is ok to make mistakes in air dry clay? Yes, trust me, I know from experience. I have made a lot of mistakes when working with air dry clay. 😅

I have accidentally scratched it while shaping and sculpting wet clay due to my nails and torn apart tiny pieces by accidentally hitting them while I was moving my hands. 🤦‍♂️

But most of the time, fixing those mistakes was so much easier. 

You can fix tiny bumps, imperfections, scratches and micro cracks on wet air dry clay using your fingers. Simply dip your fingers in a cup of water and wet them. Then glide over the cracked, scratched and bumpy areas on the clay slab repeatedly until they vanish. You can do the same to vanish seams that occur when joining two air dry clay pieces together. For example, when attaching the tray rim to the tray base, you can remove the seam by gliding your fingers carefully over the joint.

If you break a piece but the clay is still wet, you can score both surfaces that attach of the two pieces and apply a paste called slip as an adhesive glue.

Slip is an air dry clay and water mixture. You can make it by mixing tiny pieces of air dry clay thoroughly with the same amount of water. Then let the paste sit for hours before using. This creamy looking paste can be used to attach two air dry clay pieces together, regardless of whether they are fully dried or in a wet condition. 🥣

If the clay pieces are wet, you can use water as well. Simply tap the scored areas with a little bit of water and press the pieces together for a few seconds until they attach. I use water when I don’t have “slip”.

Easy to paint

Air dry clay is so easy to paint because it absorbs the moisture of the paint and sticks with the paint so well. Therefore, the paint does not peel off easily unless the clay is wet. Thus, it is a must to wait until your air dry clay is fully dried before starting to paint. 🖌️

Acrylic paint is considered the best paint for air dry clay because it comes in vivid colors, needs no water, gives a glossy finish, and makes a water resistant coating. 🎨

Read: How to Paint Crisp Details and Layer Colors on Air Dry Clay

Most importantly, it dries within 2 hours after application because air dry clays are compatible with acrylic paints. Fast and efficient. ⏱️

You just have to apply thin and even coats of paint in one direction to get a beautiful and smooth finish.

Easy to seal

You can seal air dry clay projects with any sealer you like, but make sure they are water resistant or waterproof because moisture is the worst enemy of air dry clay, which can weaken the clay. 🛡️

Gloss varnish, UV resin, Polyurethane varnish, and epoxy resin are great for air dry clay. I mostly use gloss varnish and it is able to provide a glossy ceramic like look to my air dry clay projects with a water resistant coating. ✨

For my natural koi fish pond project, I used epoxy resin. It gave a water like glassy effect, which is super cool, and the water texture makes the pond look more realistic. 🐟

Same as paint, you need to apply 2-3 thin and even coats of sealer over your air dry clay project once it is fully dried to get the best result. It is not hard because, for example, gloss varnish dries and cures within 24 hours. ⌛

Easy to add textures

You can easily add textures to your air dry clay project using the clay tools you have. For example, a ribbon tool is great for hollowing out the clay. I used that for my orange trinket tray project. 🍊

For many projects, I’ve added textures not by using expensive tools, but just with the things I have. ⚙️

Toothpicks are great for detailing like leaf textures, flower textures and for making shapes.

Clay carving tools are great for shaping the edges and digging the clay for making tray bases.

If you condition it well with a little bit of water to keep the wetness of the clay, you can add any texture you like with the right tools. 🧰

Mixed media friendly

Sometimes you’ll have to combine air dry clay with other materials like aluminum foil, wire mesh, cardboard, or plastic containers to make things with higher structural integrity. 🏗️

For example, when you’re making a figure, you can make the skeleton using the wire and then cover each wire with air dry clay. By doing this, the figure won’t break apart as the clay dries because wires inside act like the core strength.

My first air dry clay project, which is a cute rabbit, failed and the parts broke apart as the clay dried because I didn’t mix air dry clay with other materials to make it strong. 🐰

You can use air dry clay with other media I mentioned when you’re crafting flowers, birds, small figures, and home decor items. 🌸

High availability

Air dry clay is popular among clay artists and other crafters. I think it’s the most popular one. So you don’t have to worry about its availability. There are so many reputable brands of air dry clay that give you great results, so you can never go wrong if one brand of clay is out of stock and you have to go with another. 🛍️

Manufacturers work their tails off to keep them widely available both online and in local stores because air dry clay sells like hot cakes. 🥞

But don’t select unreputed cheap air dry clay products because they can completely ruin your entire work. I learned this the hard way, ruining my first pineapple trinket tray project because I used a cheap product. Later, I made the same project with Mont Marte air dry clay and the result was so good. I did a comparison between the two clay types as well.

Great for projects of various sizes

Air dry clay is great for making small trinket trays, as I did, and also for medium size projects such as figures. 🗿

When you’re making medium or bigger size projects with air dry clay, make sure to use a sturdy internal armature (like aluminum foil or wire mesh).

Easy to sell or give as gifts

You can sell air dry clay crafts in online stores like Etsy, local shops, and on your own website. I’ve seen many clay artists do that; they even ship overseas without any issues. Air dry clay is a fine material when you make things right and finish with a proper water resistant sealer. 📦

Also, you can give air dry clay keychains, bowls, dishes, trays, and other home decor items as gifts for your loved ones. They are not like regular gifts. They will stay as memories because no other person can make one exactly like yours. It makes you special and they will love you even more. 🎁

Make things for your mother, father, siblings, and partner, and gift them on their birthdays and special occasions to make them memorable. ❤️

Cons of air dry clay

Everything has good and bad sides, and air dry clay is the same. After working with air dry clay for making trays, jewelry dishes, and home decor items, I have found several annoying and frustrating things about air dry clay. ⚠️

Some of these reasons are why many clay artists have switched from air dry clay to polymer clay or another type. 🔄

Most of the drawbacks I mention below can be fixed with simple tricks, and you’ll get used to them with practice.

Poor durability

This is the main thing people hate about air dry clay. Air dry clay is so brittle and prone to snapping once it dries fully, which can break pieces of your project and ruin hours of work.

This is why many clay artists who sell their products market polymer clay or items made with traditional kiln fired ceramics, because they have a better shelf life than air dry clay. 🏺

Even the slightest shake during shipping or handling can damage the air dry clay pieces, especially the fine particles and sharp edges.

Air dry clay dries as the water evaporates, which makes the material inside contract, leaving tiny gaps that become fragile even under little stress or pressure.

I have identified 3 main reasons that accelerate the poor durability of air dry clay, which are:

• Using an excess amount of water: Make sure not to use too much water when kneading, smoothing, and shaping the clay because excess water weakens the clay and causes uneven shrinkage and structural brittleness as the clay dries.
• Drying too fast: Let your air dry clay project dry slowly in a cool, well ventilated space for at least 48-72 hours. Rushing the drying process by placing the piece in sunlight outside, or using heat or a hair dryer forces it, leading to surface cracks.
• Making the parts too thin: The best thickness for air dry clay is ¼ inch to ½ inch. Don’t go below ¼ inch thickness because the clay will warp as it dries and become brittle and snappy due to poor structural strength.

Not food safe

Use it only for making trays, trinket dishes that are only for decoration, sculptures, jewelry dishes, and non food contact decor items. 🖼️

You can use kiln fired traditional ceramic, glass, or metal to make the list of things I mentioned above because they are food safe when combined with food grade finishes. But not air dry clay. Here’s why. 🍽️

As we know, air dry clay is a highly porous material with lots of moisture and air inside. As the clay dries, the moisture inside will evaporate, leaving porous gaps inside. 🧽

Food oils, liquids, and tiny food particles can get inside those tiny pores and become breeding habitats for bacteria and molds, which can’t be washed out because of the microscopic structures. 🦠

Also, air dry clay is a water soluble material even after it has dried completely. It absorbs the water from our food, and as soon as you wash a plate made with air dry clay, the clay becomes weaker and turns into a mushy, creamy look. This is not good for coming into contact with food. 💦

Materials that are used to make air dry clay, which are binders and preservatives, are not certified for ingestion. ⚠️

Plus, paints and sealers you use to finish air dry clay, which are epoxy resin, varnish, or polyurethane, are totally not food safe due to the harsh chemicals inside. They scratch or chip off into your meals and leak chemicals when exposed to heat, oil, and other liquids. 🧪

Easily mess up

Air dry clay is great for crafting and sculpting, but you need to keep in mind it can get messed up easily with a few errors. ⚠️

Once you mess up the project, it is almost impossible to get a nice and smooth finish. You may probably end up with torn edges, no sharp corners, and a cracked surface. 📉

Here are the different ways air dry clay gets messed up. Some are uncontrollable:

• Mess up your workplace with fine dust: Mostly it is impossible to keep your workplace nice and clean while working with air dry clay because fine particles spread everywhere, including your hands as you knead and shape the clay. Have a look at my YouTube videos to see how messy it gets. I have to stand up and wash my hands after each step to avoid it getting messier and wipe up the mat with paper towels and tissues.
• Using less amount of water when kneading the clay: Air dry clay crumbles as it lacks water. Use the ideal amount of water when kneading and smoothing the clay to avoid tiny air dry clay particles from falling off sharp edges and breaking joint pieces of your projects.
• Don’t use too much water: Too much water forces your air dry clay to crack when drying due to uneven shrinkage.
• Don’t make pieces too thin: Thin pieces crack and warp easily because they lack structural integrity.
• Don’t paint or seal until the clay is completely dry: Painting wet air dry clay makes a cloudy, mushy core which is hard to fix. Look for grey patches before you paint the project. Bone dry air dry clay has a pure white color. Usually air dry clay takes around 48-72 hours to dry completely and you should not rush the drying process.
• Score and slip before attaching: You cannot join two air dry clay pieces just by pressing them together. First, you need to score the surface to get a better grip between the surfaces and apply an air dry clay water mixture called slip as the adhesive glue, or you can tap a little bit of water onto the scored surfaces. Then press the surfaces together for a few seconds until they attach well.

Prone to cracking

That air dry clay cracks as it dries is one of the main misconceptions in the industry. Actually, people who say this have never worked with air dry clay in the correct way. Honestly, air dry clay cracks as it dries only when you use an excess amount of water when conditioning, kneading, and smoothing the clay, or when you skip the kneading part. ⚡

You just need to tap a little bit of water when conditioning and kneading the clay which is essential before you start making anything with air dry clay. 

Air dry clay is filled with moisture and air bubbles. By kneading, you can spread out moisture evenly across all the layers of the air dry clay and release the air bubbles out.

If you skipped the kneading process, the moisture spreads out randomly and evaporates at different rates in different places on your clay as it dries. The clay will start to shrink as the water evaporates when drying. But due to the uneven evaporation of water, the clay will start to shrink unevenly. This uneven shrinkage builds up tension between the air dry clay layers, resulting in micro cracks forming on the surfaces. These cracks become larger, deeper, and increase in quantity as the clay dries. 🧩

The same happens when you use too much water, because more water inside means faster and more rapid evaporation. The outer area of air dry clay dries significantly faster than inner layers due to air circulation, and again triggers the uneven shrinkage scenario. This also causes cracks to form on the surface. ☀️

This is what is known as air dry clay cracks as it dries. Actually, it happens only when you skip the kneading part or when you use too much water when kneading or smoothing. 

If you end up with a cracked surface after the clay has fully dried, you can patch it using the “slip” paste which I described earlier. Slip works as a glue. Make sure to let it dry again for 24 hours and then fine sand the patched areas to make the seam unnoticed. 🪵

Prone to crumbling

You may have noticed air dry clay breaks down into tiny pieces, flakes, or dust. 🍂

As I told you earlier, excess water cracks the clay as it dries, but a lack of water can cause the clay to crumble. You need to use an ideal amount.

When kneading and rolling air dry clay, it is exposed more to the air and starts to dry out quickly. If you don’t tap the surface with a little bit of water while kneading and sculpting, tiny air dry clay pieces may start to fall off. 💧

Using air dry clay from a reputable brand, adding a little water when kneading, and avoiding over working the clay can help prevent crumbling. 👍

Clay slabs need to be wet enough to get sharp edges, round corners and a smooth surface. Otherwise, the edges of your project will tear apart due to crumbling and the pieces you attach will fall off as the clay dries.

Prone to warping

Air dry clay shrinks as it dries and your projects need to have ¼ inch or more thickness to bear the pressure that focuses towards the middle area, or the clay will start to warp. 📐

When the clay dries, the outside area dries and shrinks faster due to more air exposure than the inside. When the water is gone, clay binders try to fill the gaps by shrinking and the clay will start to curl upward or downward due to the forces. 💨

By having a good thickness, it won’t lose its structural integrity as the clay shrinks.

Also, make sure to flip the air dry clay piece or place it on a wire rack while drying to let both the upside and downside dry at the same rate. This causes no uneven shrinkage and no warping.

Shrinks as it dries

I’m not gonna keep repeating this. Air dry clay shrinks as it dries due to water evaporation, and it’s not in your control. But you can use only a small amount of water when kneading and smoothing the clay to avoid it from shrinking even more. 🔍

You can reduce the shrinkage by using less water and avoid uneven shrinkage, which leads the clay surface to crack, by letting the project dry slowly for 2-3 days. So plan accordingly. 🗓️

Not water resistant

Air dry clay does not have water resistance or waterproofing abilities. It is a porous material that can absorb moisture as soon as it comes into contact with it. 🌊

When the clay is fully dried, you must finish it with a proper sealer like gloss varnish, polyurethane, UV resin, or epoxy resin to protect the project long term from air moisture. 🛡️

Otherwise, moisture will go inside through tiny pores and weaken the clay.

When water gets inside of your dried air dry clay project, it not only weakens the clay but also loosens joints by breaking it into pieces. Your hours of work are completely gone. 💔

Not suitable for outdoors

Air dry clay can get easily damaged by outside moisture and harsh weather elements. Only make things with air dry clay that you wish to keep inside. 🏠

Let me tell you why you should not place an air dry clay piece outside even after sealing with a waterproofing sealer. ⛈️

Due to harsh weather elements, the outer coating can get damaged over time during extreme rain and winter seasons and moisture will find a way to go inside and damage the clay.

Even before you keep air dry clay project inside, make sure to seal it with a proper sealer. For example, I use gloss varnish, which makes a water resistant coating and gives a glossy ceramic look.

Direct sunlight also accelerates cracks on the air dry clay surface, especially when the clay is still drying. Therefore, it is better to keep it where it has no direct contact with environmental elements. ☀️

Requires working quickly

Air dry clay starts to dry as soon as it comes out of the package. This is why I told you to tap with a little bit of water while kneading and shaping the clay to keep its moisture level. ⏱️

Plus, you need to knead, condition, roll, and shape your air dry clay slab relatively quickly compared to other clay types because once it gets dry, it will start to crumble, and adding water little by little to keep its moisture does more damage, leading to cracks on the surface as the clay dries. 🏃‍♂️

So think fast, act fast, but do it right. Don’t panic. I’m just saying don’t take phone calls or go for an office or family meeting while you are kneading the clay. Do the project without taking breaks in the middle of the process. That’s it. 📞

Not great for miniature pieces

Air dry clay is great for small and mid size projects, but not for miniature projects because it’s so hard to make sharp edges, smooth surfaces, and round corners when your project is too small, and you need water to do that, so there is a high chance you’ll end up with a mushy core. 🔍

Plus, miniature pieces have low structural integrity and are prone to cracking as it dries and parts of your miniature projects may fall off. Detailing miniature air dry clay projects is also so hard compared to polymer clay.

This happened during my rabbit project because its head, hands, and legs were too tiny and I had a hard time joining them up. But eventually, all the pieces fell off when it was drying and the ears snapped due to high brittleness. 🐰

I have found that polymer clay is undoubtedly the winner when it comes to making miniature projects. You can detail polymer clay so well because it does not incorporate water and no evaporation happens as it dries. 🏆

I know you have seen miniature projects made entirely with air dry clay, but I have to say there are better options for that. There is a high chance of everything going wrong.

Hard to make sharp corners

Air dry clay is made with fibers which help to reinforce the clay, but at the same time they are the reason for fuzzy, frayed, or slightly rounded edges rather than sharp edges. ✂️

Air dry clay changes its shape a little bit due to shrinkage as it dries, which does not happen with polymer clay and ceramic clay. 📐

The paper fibers and binders of air dry clay give a slightly spongy, soft texture when wet. When you try to make sharp edges or corners with it, you’ll notice air dry clay does not have that structural rigidity to hold a sharp and perfect geometric line on its own. Instead, the clay around the edges will stick to your cutting knife and tear apart when dragging. To avoid that, stop your knife or blade from dragging horizontally when cutting the clay. Lift it up continuously as you cut and remove stuck clay pieces to get smooth and nice corners and edges. 🔪

Smoothing is a must after cutting to get rid of fuzzy edges.

Flammable

Air dry clay does not ignite when in contact with fire, but it will char and turn into ash. Therefore, it is better not to make ashtrays and candle holders with air dry clay. You obviously can make them, but only for decoration. 🔥

Plus, when making incense holders with air dry clay, make sure to use incense with long sticks so that the fire does not contact the holder.

When making a candle holder, use candles that work with batteries for more safety.

Causes skin dryness

As I told you earlier, air dry clay absorbs moisture not only from air but also from your hands and palms and causes skin dryness. 🖐️

This may irritate and make your skin itchy and sometimes even turn into rashes.

Always make sure to wash your hands well after working with air dry clay and apply a moisturizing lotion to avoid skin from drying out. 🧴

Do that as a habit because causing skin dryness is inevitable when working with air dry clay.

Final thoughts

Now you have a clear idea about all the good and bad things you’re about to face when working with air dry clay. 💭

After completing many successful projects with air dry clay, trust me, all the above drawbacks are negligible compared to its advantages. Many drawbacks can be avoided or fixed by following the right steps. So, don’t be afraid. I was also afraid in the beginning, and now here I am writing a complete guide for you after completing many projects with air dry clay. It is so good. You must give it a try! 🎉

Once you become so good at air dry clay, I suggest you try other ones as well. Then you’ll know the real difference. Everything comes with good and bad. It’s our duty to take the good and face the odds strongly. Cheers! 🤟🏾

But we are not him. Storing unused air dry clay is a must after you open the package because air dry clay naturally dries in the air and cannot be left outside or in an open environment because air exposure is an enemy of air dry clay. 🌬️

As a beginner, I have tried different ways to store unused air dry clay after making the first few of my trinket trays. 

For example, after making the natural koi fish pond project, which is one of my early projects, I relied on the original packaging and my unused clay chunk was bone dry and crumbled because it was not enough. 🐟

After that incident, I researched this and found a great way to store my air dry clay pieces once I opened the package to keep them soft until I use them again for another project.

Let me tell you how:

Best way to store air dry clay (step-by-step)

I have listed the step-by-step method I follow to store air dry clay safely without losing its moisture level. 📝

Step 1: Mist the clay (optional but recommended)

This step is optional but worth trying to keep the moisture level the same for air dry clay.

After taking enough air dry clay from the package for your project, take the rest and moisten it with a little bit of water by spraying a little bit onto the surface of the clay. 💦

Do the same for the leftover clay after you make the project.

The reason for adding water is that air dry clay dries and loses a little bit of its moisture when handled, and it can be regained by misting the clay before storing.

To keep the clay’s moisture level nearly the same, we mist it so it stays moist for a long time.

Step 2: Wrap tightly in plastic wrap

This step is a must. Take the leftover or unused air dry clay and place it in a polythene bag, plastic bag, ziplock bag, or cling film, get rid of the excess air inside by pushing or blowing air out using your hands, and seal it by wrapping it as tightly as possible against the clay’s surface. 🛍️

Make sure there are no holes in your plastic wrap and it is not dusty, smelly or contaminated with other elements. The plastic wrap should be clean and have nothing inside. It is only for air dry clay.

Step 3: Seal in an airtight plastic container

We’re going to add two layers of protection for air dry clay. One is the plastic wrap, and here we add a plastic container as well. 🛡️

After you wrap the air dry clay tightly in plastic wrap, keep it in an airtight plastic container. I use an ice cream container with no ice cream inside, lol. 🍦

Or you can purchase a dedicated Tupperware airtight container. It completely prevents air from touching your unused air dry clay and keeps it soft for months without harming the clay. 📦

Step 4: Store in a cool dark place

Don’t expose the air dry clay container to sunlight or any other heat source, which can accelerate moisture evaporation and dry the clay. ☀️

It is best to store it in a drawer that is dark and cool inside. 🌙

This is the exact method I follow to store my unused air dry clay.

Common clay storage mistakes to avoid

• Don’t do the following when you’re storing the clay: ⚠️
• Relying on the original packaging: Actually folding over the original foil or plastic wrapper is never enough because it is cracked and air can go inside and react with the clay. It can never be airtight.
• Using containers that are too large: After wrapping the air dry clay with a plastic film, place it in a container that is not too much larger than our clay package because air inside the container can react with the clay, contribute to water evaporation, and dry the clay.

How to revive slightly dried out clay

If your air dry clay is slightly dried after keeping it for a long time after you opened the package, I have a quick fix for you. But it only works if your clay is only slightly dried. Won’t work when it is bone dry. 💡

Tap the clay surface with a little bit of water and knead well using the punch, pull, and press technique for about 3 to 5 minutes. Eventually, the clay will become soft and gain its moisture back. 👐

But make sure to follow the above procedure I told you about when storing the clay again after use.

FAQ

But I’m gonna tell you an easier method of cutting perfect shapes every single time with air dry clay without using cookie cutters, plastic cutters or any other expensive items. You just need an internet connection, a piece of paper and a printer.

Let’s dive in!

Why you don’t need expensive clay cutters

Air dry clay is a beginner friendly clay type. It is cheap, easy to use and you don’t need expensive tools as gurus suggest to make something beautiful with it.

The same goes with cutters. If you don’t have them, don’t even waste time searching for them, go to a store and purchase them. Probably you’ll end up getting the wrong size.

Yes, they are nice to have but you’re here because you don’t ahve them and even I don’t have them right now.

But I do follow a simple method to get perfect shape in air dry clay without those metal or plastic cutters.

Let me show you.

Video tutorial

I have made a dedicated video of how to use the paper template method to get the perfect shape you want in air dry clay. Feel free to watch,👇🏿

The paper template method

For the paper template method, you only need an active internet connection, a piece of paper, a printer and a X-acto knife or any other clay cutting tool or small knife.

Here’re the steps I follow,

Step 1: Find and print your shape

We all know how to use Google right? I know you do because otherwise you won’t end up here. Lol.

First of all, open your browser Chrome or  Safari or Microsoft Edge or Opera or Firefox or whatever and type “Google images” in the search bar and press Enter.

Next click or tap the first search result, which is obviously Google Images (https://images.google.com/).

Now, in the Google Images search bar, type the shape you want to cut in your air dry clay with the “outline” keyword at the end.

It can be for silhouettes, line art, or coloring pages. 

For example, if I want to make avocado shaped trinket tray, search “avocado outline” in Google Images.

Next, select the image you like to make from them and download it, and take a printout of that image on paper.

Sizing your image correctly

Air dry clay shrinks as it dries because of the evaporation of the moisture inside. Due to the shrinkage, your air dry clay piece will become smaller as it dries.

Therefore, when you’re printing out the image you selected, select slightly larger than the final desired size.

Take the image 10% larger than the actual size you want because generally air dry clay shrinks 5% to 12% as it dries.

Step 2: Cut out your paper template

Now cut around the outline of your printed image.

Cut the image carefully without moving the shape with sharp scissors because we need lines to be straight and curves to be curled properly to get a nice and clean final shape in air dry clay.

Read: How to Shape Organic Air Dry Clay Forms Without Molds or Cookie Cutters

Step 3: Knead and roll out your air dry clay

After making the paper template, take a fresh clay piece and knead it so well until it becomes soft using the push, pull and press technique, like making pizza dough.

After kneading, place the clay piece on your working mat and roll to an even thickness. If you are willing to hollow out the clay and make a tray out of it, aim for ½ inch thickness. Otherwise, aim for ⅓ inch thickness.

Don’t make the clay slab too thick because you’ll find it hard to cut around the outline of the shape because you’ll have to cut deep and some clay parts may not cut properly and you may end up with torn up edges.

Plus, don’t make the clay slab too thin because it may warp as it dries and be prone to cracks due to poor structural integrity.

Step 4: Place the template on the wet clay

Now place the paper template on the middle area of your wet clay and press it down gently without damaging the surrounding clay. But don’t sink it completely because clay may pop out and you’ll end up with cracked edges.

Make sure not to move it even the slightest amount while cutting to get the perfect shape you wanted.

Step 5: Cut around the edges

Now cut along the outline of your paper template on the clay slab using the X-acto knife.

Don’t drag the knife horizontally without lifting it up while cutting because pulling the knife horizontally through wet clay increases the friction and stretches the clay.

By doing this, micro cracks will be formed around the edges and the clay will tear apart when I try to lift it up after rolling.

When you’re cutting around the edges, plunge the blade straight down into the wet clay and take it out again, plunge and take the blade out for clean cuts. Dragging horizontally through sticky wet clay forms blunt and torn edges.

If you don’t have an X-acto knife, use a needle, a toothpick, or a thin craft blade for the cleanest drag-free cut. But make sure to follow the same cutting procedure I described above.

Step 6: Remove the paper and smooth the edges

Carefully lift and remove the paper template.

Now you can see how perfectly shaped your air dry clay slab is. But it may have unevenness, bumps, tiny scratches and micro cracks around the edges. Here’s how to fix them.

Dip your index finger in a cup of water and glide gently and repeatedly over the edges of the wet clay slab until those tiny imperfections vanish.

This way you can smooth out the cut lines and get nice, clean and shapr edges.

Alternative household items for cutting basic shapes

Here’re some other things you can use to make perfect shapes in air dry clay,

• Cups
• Glasses
• Bottle caps
• Rulers

Make sure to get the size you want and not to move it while cutting the clay slab.

Common mistakes when cutting clay without cutters

• Adding too much water when kneading and smoothing makes torn up and messy edges.
• Drag the knife along the clay horizontally without lifting causes torn up edges.
• Using unsharp scissors for cutting paper templates.
• Letting clay dry too much before cutting and edges will start to crumble and tear.

Final thoughts

Now you know exactly what to do when you want to make a perfect shape in air dry clay without seeking for cutters.

Paper template is easy. But I recommend you invest in proper cutters once you become good at it because your printer may run out of ink.

Whatever happens, just don’t stop making! Cheers! 🤟🏾

Have you struggled with this issue as I did? Don’t worry, I’ll help you with my experience.

I’m also a beginner like you and I’ll share with you friends what simple techniques I use while making my projects to keep the air dry clay as soft as possible.

Keeping the air dry clay moist and consistent is essential to shape it as we want. Moisture in the air dry clay helps prevent the clay from cracking and crumbling and maintain the flexibility.

Hold on! I’ll explain more in detail. Let’s dig in!

Why your air dry clay dries out so fast

Air dry clay is a highly porous material with lots of moisture and air pockets inside. When you take the clay out, it is exposed to the environmental elements outside starts water evaporation, which makes the clay dry out fast.

Let me show you why that happens.

Humidity

As soon as air dry clay is exposed to the air, the moisture inside will start to evaporate because wet air-dry clay contains a high amount of internal moisture compared to the surrounding air.

In order to balance the moisture difference, water evaporates, making the clay dry.

When the outside humidity is high, the moisture evaporation speed of air dry is slow and it won’t get dried quickly. But when the outside humidity is low, the moisture of air dry clay evaporates faster, making the clay dry quickly.

Airflow

Moving air increases the water evaporation speed of air dry clay. When you’re making air dry clay project under a fan or near an open window on a windy day, or directly facing in the path of an air conditioning vent, the air hits the outside clay layer continuously at high speeds. 

This makes the outside air dry clay layers dries faster while the inside remains soft. Actually, this is a huge issue because air dry clay outside shrinks faster than inside, causing uneven shrinkage. Uneven shrinkage is one of the main reasons for the structural cracks of air dry clay.

Temperature

Generally, a hot room or working under a high-watt hot bulb increases the moisture evaporation speed of air dry clay, making it dry faster than working in a cool environment.

So basically, the main reasons why your air dry clay becomes dry while working are low environmental humidity, high airflow and high temperature levels outside.

Best ways to keep air dry clay soft while working

Now let me show you how you can control the elements you can and delay the drying of air dry clay until you finish the project. Trust me, I know how annoying it is to work with dried air dry clay.

Work in small pieces

Don’t take the whole piece out and work with it. Take only the necessary and start working with it. You can’t even knead a big chunk of air dry clay at once. Go step by step and take little by little.

This way your wastage will also be reduced because you only take what is necessary.

In the early days, I completely unwrap the package and take out the whole chunk of air dry clay. I’d then cut off the piece I needed and leave the rest sitting on my desk while I worked, which caused it to dry out. I was a fool.

Use plastic wrap

Now I take only the necessary piece of air dry clay from the package and cover the unused clay with the remaining package and wrap the whole package with cling film or a polythene bag.

This avoids the unused clay from being exposed to the outside air and stops the inside moisture from evaporating.

Use a spray bottle

When you’re working with air dry clay, spray a little bit of water onto the clay surface time to time to keep its moisture level consistent.

Even though a big amount of moisture evaporates due to high airflow, temperature or low humidity outside, you can regain the lost moisture amount by spraying.

But make sure not to spray water too much onto the clay because too much water causes a difference in evaporation speed between the inside and outside layers of air dyr clay. Basically, the outside layers’ moisture level increases because of this and can cause uneven shrinkage when drying, leading to surface cracks.

Therefore, only spray a little bit of water. Remember! Too much water is the worst enemy of air dry clay.

Moisten your palms and fingers

I use this method when kneading air dry clay. Dip your fingers in a cup of water and make them wet and spread a little bit of water on your palms. This helps to keep the air dry clay soft while kneading and shaping your project.

Tuff and hard air dry clay is hard to knead and shape.

How to soften air dry clay that has already started to harden

If the air dry clay has already started to harden, you can fix that by reconditioning and kneading the clay after tapping the surface with a little bit of water. 

Water gives the lost moisture back to the clay and the temperature of our palms while kneading makes the clay soft again.

If the clay joints you made were started to loosen because of the clay hardening, you can try the “slip method”.

This slip works as a glue. You can use it to attach loose joints of your air dry clay projects and also to attach two air dry clay pieces together.

Common mistakes that lead to cracking and shrinkage

Air dry clay cracks and shrinks due to moisture imbalance. That happens due to the following mistakes,

• Adding too much water: never ever use too much water for kneading, shaping or smoothing out the clay. Too much water weakens the clay and increases the water evaporation speed when drying. This creates a tension between the air dyr clay layers and form cracks when drying.
• Uneven drying speeds across thick and thin pieces: Thin pieces dry and shrink faster than thick air dry clay pieces because the area that is exposed to the outside area is higher in thin pieces. But in thick pieces, the inside layers do not come into contact with air, and they dry and shrinks slower. When you attach two air dry clay pisces, one is thin and the other one is thick, the joint between them will break when drying due to the uneven shrinkage between the two pieces. Therefore, try to attach air dry clay pieces that are almost equal in thickness. 
• Rushing the drying time: Let your air dry clay project dry slowly in a cool well ventilated area. Fast drying (keeping it in the sun, outside or using a heat source) leads to cracks on the surface because the outside layers dry and shrink faster than the inside layers.

Final thoughts

Now you know how to keep your air dry clay soft until you finish the project. If you are able to do that, you can safely wrap the unused clay piece and use it even for your next project as well. If you followed the above techniques carefully, you will be able to save a lot of money and that you spend on air dry clay.

I’ll see ya again with more useful air dry clay tips. Cheers! 🤟🏾

At first I was just guessed the thickness and did without any plan or guidelines until I learned the lesson hard way.

My papaya trinket tray warped after drying, and one reason I identified was that the tray base was too thin and lacked the structural integrity to remain flat and stable. Hours of my hard work was ruined because I didn’t even know what thickness I should go with.

But you are more intelligent than me. That’s why you searched abut this and ended up here.

Don’t worry, I gotchu. 

Since I’m also a beginner like you and successfully completed trays, dishes and home decor items with air dry clay, I exactly know how thick your air dry clay should be to make it look nice and strong and how to achieve the thickness you want with simple, easy techniques.

Enough chit chat! Let’s dig in!

The ideal thickness for air dry clay

Generally for all the projects, the ideal thickness of air dry clay is between ¼ inch (5 mm) and ½ inch (12 mm) to have maximum structural integrity as the clay dries.

Making the clay too thin or too thick can cause trouble.

What happens if it’s too thin? (< ¼ inch or < 5 mm)

If you rolled out the air dry clay slab too thin, it will become brittle, snap easily, and warp as it dries.

If the clay piece you sculpt is too small, it can snap easily after drying. 

Another issue is that thin clay pieces are prone to warp when drying.

As I told you earlier, when I was rolling the papaya trinket tray base, I rolled it too thin, less than 14 inches thick. 

Air dry clay shrinks as it dries. Walls and the edges of the tray base dry faster than the clay in the middle because edges and walls are much more exposed to the air. Air circulation is high means that the area dries faster.

Therefore, the edges and walls of the trinket tray shrank faster and forced the clay in the middle from all sides.

The middle area is only exposed to air from the top and the bottom area has no opening for air to flow.

Now the walls around the edges work as a tightening belt little by little. The walls shrank faster and squeezed inward on the wet, full-sized center. The bottom area is blocked by the table, squeezing from all sides and the top middle area should release the pressure. It has only one escape, which is to pop upward in the middle. This creates a dome or “hump.”

This won’t happen if your clay thickness is above ¼ inch because the idle area has the strength to handle the forces that come from all the sides.

Sorry if that sounds complicated, basically, I wanted to tell you that making the clay too thin can cause warping.

Ok so let’s make it as thick as possible for the highest integrity right? That fixes the problem right? Nah, my friend. That’s not how clay works. Shut up and listen below 👇🏾.

What happens if it’s too thick? (> ½ inch or > 12mm)

If you make the clay too thick, it consists of too many layers.

The outer layer of air dry clay dries faster due to rapid water evaporation from high air circulation, while the inner layers dry much more slowly.

Air dry clay hardens as water evaporates and shrinks to fill the gaps left by the water. 

When the outside layer dries, hardens, and shrinks quickly, the inside remains wet. 

This causes uneven shrinkage between the clay layers, which builds tension and creates cracks. These start as micro-cracks and get deeper as the clay dries. 

The number of cracks increases depending on the thickness of the clay slab you roll.

So basically, if your rolled air dry clay piece is thicker than 1/2 inch, the outside layer dries and shrinks while the dense core remains wet.

How to keep your clay thickness consistent

Keeping your thickness consistent is important as the actual thickness. After you have rolled the clay, if one side is 3/4 inch thick and the other is 1/4 inch, the slab will likely warp and curl as it dries because the thin area dries faster compared to the thicker ones due to the uneven thickness.

Uneven thickness causes uneven shrinkage as water evaporates when drying, forming cracks and warping the surface.

Tools to get an even thickness

I roll my air dry clay slab using the following tools to get an even thickness everywhere,

• Thickness rings: Detachable, made of rubber or silicone and come in different sizes: 1/16″, 1/8″, 1/4″, and 1/2″.
• Wooden slats or guide rails: Come in different thicknesses, place two identical ones on either side of your clay slab and start rolling to get a perfectly flat slab.
• Clay slicers: Great for cutting thick clay blocks into uniform slices.

See, it’s easy to get the thickness you want with the above tools!

What if you really want to make thick clay pieces

If you want to make a chunky sculpture or thick figurine with a thick piece of clay slab which is more than ½ inch thick, you can follow below method,

1. Find an aluminum foil (yes, the one you use in your kitchen is fine)
2. Crumple it into a round ball shape
3. Make the crumpled aluminum foil the core of your project and wrap the air dry clay around it.
4. Make sure to keep the thickness of the air dry clay layer the same everywhere you wrap it.
5. Smooth the clay out by gliding your wet fingers over the clay to remove bumps and micro cracks.

FAQ

Final thoughts

Now you know exactly how thick your air dry clay should be to avoid cracks or clay warping.

Never too thin or too thick. Always follow the middle path for maximum benefits! Apply that to your life as well. Lol. Cheers! 🤟🏾

I have noticed that during my trinket tray projects. I’m a beginner air dry clay artist and made a few fruit-inspired trinket trays because I love to make them. 🍓

For instance, before making a strawberry trinket tray to use as a bangle holder for my wife, I measured her bangles and sized the base accordingly. However, after the clay dried, the tray was too small and had cracks on the surface.

I was surprised but soon learned that air dry clay naturally shrinks during the drying process. It is essential to account for this shrinkage when planning your projects.

From that onwards, I planned for it and didn’t let the shrinkage of air dry clay crack my beautiful projects.

Let me show you how I account for the shrinkage of air dry clay in detail and what simple actions I take to stop my projects from cracking due to the damn shrinkage. Because it is a headache! 😫

Let’s dive in!

Why air dry clay loses volume

Air dry clay is a highly porous material with many moisture filled air pockets. As it dries, moisture inside these pockets evaporates and pulls the clay particles closer together, causing the clay to shrink and lose volume.

That’s the basic explanation of why your air dry clay shrinks. 

You cannot stop air dry clay from shrinking as it dries. That’s its nature. But you can control and plan it while you’re making the project.

The shrinkage of air dry clay needs to be controlled and should be equal in all areas because, as soon as clay tends to shrink at different rates in different areas, it will start to form cracks because of the tension buildup between the layers of clay.

How losing water makes clay shrink

When you open the package, the air dry clay piece you take to your hand is filled with moisture. That water not only makes the clay soft but also takes up space between the air dry clay particles. It basically keeps everything attached, plump and stretched out.

After you make the project with air dry clay and let it dry in the air, the water inside will slowly evaporate into the air. 💨

When the water is gone, the empty spaces inside air dry clay start to close up. The remaining clay particles and binders which are paper fibers or glues holding the clay together, will start to pull against each other when closing the gaps that were once occupied by water.

Imagine a wet kitchen sponge. That’s exactly what happens here. When it is fully soaked, it’s large and thick. But as it dries out, it shrinks into a smaller, tiny thing.

Hope you understand now clearly why your clay shrinks as it dries.

How much does air dry clay actually shrink?

Generally air dry clay shrinks 5% to 12% as it dries, but that depends on the brand of air dry clay, the ingredients inside and how much water you have used to shape it when making something.

If you apply more water, the shrinkage amount can even be 5% to 30% as well.

Air dry clay shrinks across 3 dimensions, which are height, width and depth.

If we know exactly how much our air dry clay shrinks, it is easier to plan ahead before starting the project.

Average shrinkage rates by brand and type

Based on my experience and research I did, here’s how much air dry clay shrinks by brand and type: 📊

Thickness of the clay

Shrinkage amount also depends on the thickness of the clay. When your air dry clay project is too thick, that means more water inside, causing high shrinkage as it dries.

For example, my orange trinket tray had a thick and chunky tray base compared to my koi pond base which means orange trinket tray shrinks more than the koi fish pond one because it contains more water inside and loses more water inside as it dries.

Thickness also affects the drying time of your air dry clay piece. When it is too thick, it contains more water and water inside those thick layers takes a lot of time to evaporate because of low air exposure.

Compared to that, the outside layers of air dry clay dry faster due to high air exposure. This creates a tension between the air dry clay layers. When this tension exceeds the force of binding agents, the clay starts to form cracks. Those cracks will become deeper and deeper as the clay dries.

Therefore, always try to aim for an even thickness about ¼ inch to ½ inch max when rolling. Making your clay too thick causes uneven shrinkage, and making it too thin causes clay to warp when drying.

Common shrinkage problems and how to avoid them

I’m sorry, friends. Three things can happen when you don’t identify or plan for the shrinkage of the air dry clay while you’re making the project. They are:

• Warping the clay on flat surfaces.
• Cracking the clay.
• Separation in multi-part pieces.

Warping on flat surfaces

Warping the clay means the top of your air dry clay dries and shrinks faster than the bottom, causing the clay to curl upward from the edges.

This happened during my papaya trinket tray project. The tray base was completely flat before I let it dry, but I noticed it wobbled on the table after it was completely dry. Came to know that this happened because the tray base was too thin and it warped when drying.

From that onwards, I make sure to make the tray base at least ¼ inch thick and flip it while drying upside up from time to time to make all the areas dry and shrink equally.

So if you made an air-dry clay project with a flat base, once the top part dried firmly, but not fully, gently flip it upside down so the bottom can breathe and dry equally as the top part.

This makes the overall shrinkage of the clay even and prevents warping when drying.

Cracking the clay

As I told you earlier air dry clay filled with moisture filled air pockets. But they are not organized. They spread randomly inside air dry clay. 

For example, more moisture content can be seen inside than outside because moisture outside evaporates quickly when exposed to the air.

Now imagine you’re starting to make something from an air dry clay piece.

As we know, kneading comes first because clay needs to be soft enough for shaping.

When you condition and knead the clay using push, pull and press techniques, the moisture inside will start to spread evenly across all the layers of air dry clay.

When the moisture concentration is same everywhere the clay dries evenly and shrinks evenly.

But what if you didn’t knead the clay well? That’s when the problem occurs.

When you don’t knead the clay well enough the moisture levels are different in every area. So, when you keep the project for drying, the moisture inside evaporate at different rates and the clay shrinks at different rates.

Because of this uneven shrinkage of air dry clay, cracks will start to form on the surface and between the layers can ruin your project.

First, they start as micro cracks and get deep as the clay dries. Therefore, always knead the clay well to avoid it from cracking when drying. 🔍

Separation in multi-part pieces

When I was making my first air dry clay project, which is a cute rabbit, its head, hands, belly, and legs fell apart when drying due to clay shrinkage. 🐰

When you’re attaching two air dry clay pieces, the surfaces need to be scored first and have a little bit of water or slip applied on them as an adhesive agent for better grip.

When you attach two air dry clay pieces together with no score-and-slip technique, as the clay dries, those clay pieces will separate and start to shrink and lose joint, forming multi-part pieces.

This usually happens when one piece is thicker or wetter than the other. This makes them to dry at completely different rates.

You can avoid parts separation by the score-and-slip method, by gluing them with super glue, or by joining them by inserting a toothpick or small wire in the middle as a skeleton. 🛠️

How to plan for shrinkage before and while you sculpt

Here are the things I plan before starting to make my projects, considering the shrinkage: 📝

1. Always make your air dry clay projects 10-15% larger than the desired final result.
2. Apply only a little bit of water when kneading. More water means high evaporation and high shrinkage.
3. Knead so well until the clay is soft and equally moisturized.
4. Let the air dry clay project dry slowly, because slow drying means the project shrinks evenly with no cracks and warp.
5. Make sure not to make walls or bases too thick. Thick bases form cracks due to uneven shrinkage when drying.
6. Make sure not to make bases too thin. Thin bases warp easily when drying.
7. Flip upside down when the project is drying.
8. Don’t leave your project outside or under sunlight for fast drying. Fast drying means uneven shrinkage. ☀️
9. Follow score and slip method when attaching pieces.

FAQ

Final thoughts

Now you know how you can easily avoid air dry clay from cracking and warping when drying due to uneven shrinkage. You simply have to plan and make. You can’t stop its shrinkage, but you can control how it happens without damaging your beautiful project. ✨

I’d love to know the tips you follow to handle shrinkage. Make sure to tell us about them in the comments. Cheers! 🤟🏾

Don’t worry, with proper techniques and guidelines, you can roll your air-dry clay well without letting it stick to the surface or warp as it dries.

I’m a beginner clay artist, so most of the time I make mistakes and I learn from them. I have made different shapes of fruit inspired trinket trays, dishes, natural ponds and some of the tray bases stuck to my mat and tore apart when I tried to lift them up and some ended up warped when drying. They all happened because the air dry clay was rolled out the wrong way. 🤦‍♀️

So, with the things I learnt from them, let me tell you the easiest method to roll out air dry clay perfectly. 

Don’t worry, I won’t give expert, difficult tips. They are not for us because we are beginners. Lol, I tried them and failed.

Enough talking! Let’s start rolling! 🛷

What you need to roll out clay evenly

Rolling out air dry clay evenly is essential to make your base flat, steady and not warped. Let me show you what you need for a flat base instead of a bumpy or sticky mess.

The best rolling tools you should go with

The best rolling tools for air dry clay are made of acrylic or stainless steel or PVC because they have non-stick, non-porous and perfectly smooth surfaces that glide over the clay without sticking or tearing the surface.

I use an acrylic rolling pin and it has never caused me issues while rolling. Easy to use and, most importantly, easy to clean after dealing with messy air dry clay for hours. ✨

Try not to use a wooden cooking rolling pin because

In some of my tutorials, I told you to use a cooking rolling pin only if you’re on a budget, but budget and quality outcome mostly don’t travel the same road. But let me tell you, it’s best to avoid that because most cooking rolling pins are made of raw wood.

Both air dry clay and wood are highly porous materials with lots of air pockets inside. 

Air dry clay contains a lot of moisture that releases when rolling the clay. 

This released moisture needs to be spread out evenly across all the layers of air dry clay itself rather than totally transferring to another surface. But sadly, wood draws out all the released moisture of air dry clay. 

On the other hand, wood grips the air dry clay. So what wood does is stick with the clay while sucking out all its moisture.

This makes the air dry clay dry while rolling, leading to sticking and cracking.

If you really need to use a wooden cooking rolling pin, first wrap it up with parchment paper or wax paper and use it. Then wood gets no chance to grip the clay or suck the moisture out of it.

The best rolling surfaces you should go with

• Silicone mat: Silicone mat is the best surface for rolling air dry clay because it grips your table so they don’t slide around. Plus, wet clay peels right off it effortlessly.
• PVC mat:  I use a PVC mat because it is smooth, texture free, non-stick, does not absorb moisture and is easy to clean. PVC mats have self-healing ability against small cuts that can occur when using an X-acto knife or other craft knives because it contains 5-layer PVC material.
• Parchment paper: Parchment paper is the budget-friendly non-stick option for rolling air dry clay. It does not suck out the moisture of air dry clay and you can basically roll the clay project you made directly on the paper and leave it there to dry. This prevents clay from warping when drying.

Don’t use wooden surfaces or wax paper as the rolling surfaces for air dry clay. 

Wooden surfaces grip the clay and suck out the moisture from air dry clay. This makes the clay so dry and tear apart when you try to lift it up after rolling because it is stuck.

Wax paper builds high friction against wet clay. The coating of wax paper may transfer to your clay while rolling on it. This ruins the finish of the clay and causes trouble when painting and sealing your project.

Thickness guides

To get a clay slab with even thickness, you need guides. They can be rubber or silicone rings or guide rails or wooden slats.

I use rubber rings around my acrylic rolling pin and they help me to aim for the thickness I want when rolling out an air dry clay slab. They are adjustable as well. Make sure to pick the right size of rings for your rolling pin. Mostly rings come with the rolling pin as a combo.

Wooden slats are also ideal as thickness guides. You just have to place two wooden slats of equal thickness on either side of your wet clay slab and start rolling.

Now you have everything you need for an even thickness clay slab. Now let’s see how it should be done!

Step-by-step: how to roll out air dry clay

Here are the steps I follow every single time to get an even thickness air dry clay slab perfectly,

Step 1: condition and knead the clay first

Kneading comes first before rolling. It is easy. Take a fresh piece of air dry clay and condition it by tapping a little bit of water on the surface and start kneading like bread dough.

Press, pull and fold the clay piece repeatedly while kneading to make it soft enough for rolling. Kneading is a must to spread out the moisture evenly across all the layers of air dry clay and release the trapped air. Otherwise, they will form cracks on the surface when the project is drying.

After kneading, place the clay on the surface and press it a few times with force using your palm to ready it for rolling. You can’t simply place the rolling pin and roll on a ball-shaped clay piece. You need to make it a bit flat to make the rolling easier. That can be done by pressing it with your palm as I described.

Step 2: Set up your non-stick surface

First of all, clean your rolling mat, your hands and rolling pin. They need to be dust and lint free because they stick to air dry clay easily and won’t come off. 

Dirt on the white paint is easily noticeable and they even cause issues when painting and sealing the project.

Now place your kneaded clay on the surface and move to the next step.

Step 3: Position your thickness guides

Before you start rolling, plan which thickness you are going to target. Attach adjustable rubber or silicone rings or place the wooden slats on either side of the clay before rolling.

Generally ¼ inch thickness is ideal for rolling an air dry clay slab because if the clay slab is too thin it tends to warp when drying due to the low weight of the middle.

If the clay is too thick it may take weeks to fully dry out after you finish the project before painting or sealing.

Step 4: Roll the clay using flip, turn and rotate technique

When you’re rolling the clay make sure to roll and flip it for non-stick rolling, which means you must flip, rotate and lift up the clay while rolling to avoid the clay from sticking.

You simply have to pick up the clay and flip it over after every two or three rolls. Plus, turn the clay piece 90 degrees each time you flip it to distribute pressure evenly.

Rolling continuously without changing the clay slab position will make your clay stick to the mat and you’ll have a hard time when lifting it up after rolling.

I didn’t follow this technique during my first air dry clay trinket tray project and it was torn apart when lifting after rolling the clay.

How to stop air dry clay from sticking to your surface

This is the most frustrating part of rolling. Sometimes even after you follow the correct rolling techniques like flip and turn your clay may still ended up sticking to the surface.

Don’t worry, there are ways to prevent clay from sticking completely.

Using a dusting agent

Have you used flour in the kitchen while baking as a releasing agent? Flour helps to prevent the dough you made from sticking to the surface. Just like that you can use dusting for air dry clay as well. Actually most of the time air dry clay behaves as dough.

• Cornstarch: Apply a little bit of cornstarch on your rolling mat and spread it out evenly across the surface with your fingers or large soft makeup brush. Cornstarch is cheap, non-toxic, and absorbs nicely into the clay. Don’t worry it doesn’t leave a stubborn residue. This works as a barrier between your wet air dry clay slab and your working mat. Apply it before you start rolling. You might feel how easy it is to roll out air dry clay with the surface cornstarch on.
• Talcum powder: I used talcum powder on the surface before rolling air dry clay and it works so well. It stopped clay from sticking to the surface. But later I knew the dust can cause breathing issues. So I advise you to only use cornstarch as the dusting agent even though talcum powder functions the same.

Wrap the surface and clay with cling film

This method causes zero sticking because you wrap everything with plastic film.

Here’s how to do it,

1. First of all wrap the surface you are working on with plastic cling film.
2. Place the wet clay piece on the layer of plastic film.
3. Wrap and cover the wet clay piece with another plastic cling film.
4. Place the rolling pin over the layer of plastic film and start rolling.
5. After you finish rolling simply peel off the top plastic layer.

This method seems funny but it works. Here the clay never touches your working mat or rolling pin. The plastic cling film works as the middle man.

How to fix rolling mistakes

Even though you did everything fine, mistakes can happen and let me show you how you can avoid and fix them with ease.

Why is my clay cracking when I roll it?

Everything you do with wet air dry clay needs to be done quickly because as soon as clay is exposed to the air it starts drying.

When you keep rolling the clay for more than it actually needs the water inside will evaporate quickly and form micro cracks on the surface. They will become deeper and deeper due to the pressure of the rolling pin and your clay slab will start to tear from the edges. This happens due to the lack of moisture inside of the clay.

Here’s how you can give life to your clay again,

• If your clay is not rolled yet: Take a spray bottle of water and spray a little bit of water on to the clay and start kneading again to spread the moisture evenly across all the layers. Or you can dip your fingers into a cup of water and tap the clay surface with a little bit of water to condition it and knead. This makes the clay soft and regain moisture again. After kneading, quickly place it on the surface and roll to an even thickness.
• If your clay is already rolled: Dip your index finger in a cup of water and glide it on the clay slab until those micro cracks vanish. Don’t add too much water because that can lead to surface cracking when drying.

FAQ 

Final thoughts

Now you know the exact steps for rolling out air dry clay perfectly without sticking. All the above tips I described were tested and proved by myself, but I may be wrong.

That’s why I need your feedback. Make sure to leave the things you learnt when rolling air dry clay in the comments section. I’d love to know.

With the right techniques, you can achieve a smooth, flat and stable clay slab after rolling, which won’t crack or warp. Cheers! 🤟🏾

As a beginner, I have thought about and even tried it.

But damn the clay was too tough and my fingers hurt so badly trying to press it to get the shape I wanted when making a trinket tray.

Later I came to know kneading not only makes the air dry clay soft which is great for shaping but also avoids clay from cracking when drying. But how?

Don’t panic. I’ll tell you how and why kneading is the most important step before you sculpt anything with air dry clay.

Why kneading air dry clay is an essential first step

You need to knead air dry clay because it makes the clay soft enough for shaping, spreads the moisture evenly across all the layers of air dry clay and releases the air inside.

Air dry clay is a highly porous material with lots of moisture and air bubbles inside. They have spread randomly in different layers. 

If you make a project with air dry clay without kneading it first, the moisture inside will release from different areas of the clay at different evaporation rates, causing uneven shrinkage.

Due to this uneven shrinkage, tension builds up between the layers and it is released by cracking the clay surface.

When kneading, the moisture spreads evenly. When the moisture amount is almost equal in all the layers of air dry clay, they evaporate at the same rate when drying the project. Therefore, no uneven shrinkage happens and no tension builds up. So, the clay won’t crack when drying.

Simple as that! 🎨

Also, when you keep kneading the air dry clay, the air bubbles that are trapped inside release. This is good because those trapped air bubbles become a huge problem when your project is drying. Those air pockets expand and cause cracks as the clay dries.

As you can see, kneading plays a huge role when you’re making something with air dry clay. That’s why it matters the most.

What happens if you skip kneading?

I’m not gonna repeat what I said. If you forgot or skipped kneading, I’m sorry buddy it’s over. 

• The clay will become too stiff and make it hard to shape as you want.
• Clay will crack when it is drying due to uneven shrinkage.
• Clay will tear apart due to the expansion of air pockets inside when drying.

How to knead air dry clay properly

Don’t worry, it’s not hard. Just make sure to take an energy drink before kneading because it is not for the weaker ones. Lol. I’m kidding. 😜

1. Take a fresh piece of air dry clay to your hand.
2. Condition it by tapping a little bit of water on the surface.
3. Wet your palms with little bit of water.
4. Start kneading the clay by pulling, folding, and pressing technique like you’re making a dough for pizza
5. Stop kneading when the clay is soft enough for shaping and the texture is uniform.

I have mentioned the word “little bit” every time where the water comes. This is important because water is the worst enemy of air dry clay. Too much water weakens the clay and forms cracks on clay while drying due to rapid evaporation rates.

Common kneading problems

Sometimes kneading can cause problems. Not always, but sometimes. So, let’s talk about them.

What if the clay is too hard to knead?

If the clay is too stiff or hard to knead, tap it with more water and try to knead. 

If that doesn’t work out, wrap it with a damp towel and do the pull, fold and press technique repeatedly until the clay becomes soft.

What if the clay gets too sticky?

Add a little bit of cornstarch or powder onto your palm and your working mat and start kneading. 

Cornstarch works like a non-stick barrier and release agent for air dry clay to prevent it from sticking to your hands, rolling pins, work surfaces, and molds.

Read, How to Keep Air Dry Clay from Sticking to Your Table

Why is my clay crumbling while I knead?

There are several reasons for the crumbling of air dry clay while kneading.

1. Your air dry clay is too old.
2. Your air dry clay brand is not good.
3. It lacks moisture.

First, add a little bit of water and try to knead the air dry clay. If it still crumbles, I’m sorry, mate. Time to shift to a new air dry clay brand or try a fresh one.

Watch, Mont Marte vs. Unbranded Air Dry Clay: Is the Cheap Stuff Worth It?

Final thoughts

Now you know the importance of kneading before you sculpt anything with air dry clay. It seems like just another simple step, but it interlinks with many other parts of your project and helps to fix many issues.

Yes, kneading takes time but it’s totally worth it. Great things take time, right? Cheers! 🤟🏾

Don’t worry or panic. I’ll tell you why I think like that and why you should keep your air dry clay products indoors even after sealing with the world’s best waterproofing sealer. 🛡️

Keep your air dry clay indoors

Never ever keep your air dry clay projects, items, and decor outdoors because air dry clay absorbs moisture, weakens the clay, and forms a muddy-like texture. ⛈️

Air dry clay is a highly porous material that sucks out moisture as soon as it comes into contact with water. When you keep it in a dry environment with low environmental humidity, the water inside will evaporate and it dries in the air.

But have you thought about what happens when you keep it outside?

Moisture will always find a way to sneak into the clay through the sealant and damage it. 💧 When dried air dry clay gets contact with water, it will weaken, lose its joints, and form cracks due to uneven shrinkage. 💔 Therefore, I never recommend anyone make outdoor items with air dry clay. There are better clay types designed for that. ✅

Read: How Long Does Air Dry Clay Take to Dry? (And How to Speed It Up)

Why even the “Best” waterproof sealers fail outdoors

Some might say you can protect air dry clay both indoors and outdoors after applying that sealer. But that’s just a marketing gimmick. 🚫 Don’t fall for that.

Here’s how environmental elements attack the waterproof sealers and try to reach the air dry clay underneath: 👇

Temperature changes

The temperature fluctuates so rapidly outside compared to inside: hot daytime and cool nighttime. 🌡️ Yes, in the early days, your weatherproofing sealer may hold up, but when the days go on with those continuous temperature changes, it breaks at one point. 📉

When the sealer is exposed to extreme temperature levels and direct sunlight, it becomes rigid and inflexible. But as soon as the sun goes down, it becomes flexible again. When this happens over and over for days, weeks and months, the sealant develops cracks. 

As soon as this happens, the outside moisture will sneak into the air dry clay underneath through those cracked areas and damage the clay.

UV damage

When you keep air dry clay outside, it is exposed to direct sunlight. Direct sunlight contains harsh UV rays that can attack and damage the sealant of your air dry clay project.

It is ok if the sealant is exposed to UV rays for a little time, but when it gets exposed to UV rays for hours every single day at the same time, I’m sorry, my friend, it won’t hold.

UV rays damage the sealant and cause cracks, and eventually your air dry clay inside also gets cracked and damaged.

Also, if you sealed your air dry clay project with Mod Podge, polyurethane, or gloss varnish, as I do, they turn yellow over time due to UV degradation. 🟡 This will cause them to lose their shine, and you’ll no longer get that glossy finish.

Plus, they will turn brittle and permeable over time.

Micro-cracks and pinholes

When you apply sealer on your air dry clay project when it is dry after painting or without painting, brush strokes or uneven spray application leave micro gaps in the sealer.

When the outside humidity becomes high, moisture tends to sneak into the clay inside through those microscopic gaps.

Actually, it’s so hard to seal without leaving a single brush stroke. But you can reduce leaving brush strokes by applying 2–3 coats of sealer. 🖌️ I know because I seal all my air dry clay projects with 2–3 coats of gloss varnish, and every time, one or two brushmarks will be there. Those are the micro-gaps that help moisture to get inside, especially outdoors. 💧

As you see, because of the above reasons, keeping your air dry clay project outdoors is not the wisest thing to do, even after applying a quality sealer. ❌

What actually happens to air dry clay outside?

Below, I have broken down what happens when your air dry clay is exposed to different environmental conditions because we live in different climates and air dry clay behaves differently for each.

• In the rain: Upon raining for days, the water will eventually find a way to reach the air dry clay inside and cause it to melt and dissolve from the inside out. This weakens the clay, deforms it, and eventually ruins the project
• In direct sun: When air dry clay is exposed to direct sunlight for so long, its color starts fading and it becomes brittle with cracks. Due to UV rays, the waterproofing shell around become flexible and forms cracks.
• In winter: Due to the porous nature of air dry clay, it retains water. When winter comes, the water inside freezes and forms cracks. Because the volume of frozen water is higher than that of liquid water, as it expands by about 9% when it turns into ice. Due to this expansion of volume, the air dry clay cracks.

Best clay types for outdoors

Don’t use air dry clay for outdoors, use these instead,

1. Polymer clay: polymer clay is great for making miniature projects for outdoors. It dries by baking in a domestic oven at low temperatures. You can seal it with water based polyurethane, UV resin or polyurethane varnish before placing it outside. Polymer clay can hold up well again enevironemntal elemnts like rain, UV rays and winter.
2. Epoxy clay: Epoxy clay is durable and can withstand extreme outside temperature levels and moisture without breaking up like air dry clay.
3. Traditional kiln-fired ceramics: This is great for making pots, planters and bowls for outdoors. They can withstand rain, direct sunlight and other elements. They do not crack or absorb moisture from outside like air dry clay.

How to protect your outdoor air dry clay project right now

1. Immediately take it inside.
2. Let the project dry fully.
3. Take your time and identify all the cracked areas (even the micro cracks).
4. Reseal all the identified cracks using a proper sealer like gloss varnish, UV resin or epoxy resin or polyurethane.
5. Let the sealed piece dry and cure fully for 24-48 hours.
6. Keep it indoors.

Simple as that! No air dry clay for outdoors anymore!

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