Cold Porcelain
September 19, 2008
Cold Porcelain Recipe
There are many cold porcelain recipes available, this is the one I prefer because it gives good result and is non-toxic. Please supervise children while making or using this clay, non-toxic doesn’t mean edible.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup pva glue (white glue like elmer’s glue all)
- 1 cup cornstarch
- tablespoon mineral oil (babyoil)
- tablespoon lemon juice, witchhazel, or clove oil (these are natural preservative that help prevent mold, optional but reccomended)
Directions:
- Combine ingredients in pot. Don’t use your good cookware for this because it can be hard to clean off.
- Cook on low heat stiring constantly for 10 minutes or until doughs forms and begins to come away from the sides.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool until you can handle it.
- Knead to a smooth clay consistency.
- Store wrapped in plastic and refridgerated.
- Color is translucent cream but can be tinted with acrylic or oil paint. White paint gives a true porcelain look. If you are using this clay with children make sure the paints are also non-toxic, some paint pigments contain toxic chemicals so check the label.
Model as you would any other clay, metal and smooth plastic work best for me as does keeping my fingers lubricated with a little mineral oil. Keep any clay you are not using either wrapped in plastic or covered by a damp cloth to keep it from drying out while waiting to be used. If the clay it too sticky dust with a little more cornstarch and if it is a bit crumbly add a few more drops of mineral oil. Dries in about 24 hours, expect 20-30% shrinkage.
For more about Cold Porcelain check out this Squidoo lens I put together: Creating with Cold Porcelain
Posted in Tutorial
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September 22nd, 2008 at 10:17 am
hai… how are you. have u ever known clay from thailand? when it dried, its not hard. it is flexible even u an bend it. lets say if we want to make miniature leek or spring onions… u can bend the leaves without cracking it. i’m looking for the recipe for the clay which flexible when it dried…. can you help me??
thank a lot
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
This recipe is fairly flexible and is used a lot for miniature flowers and leaves but I’m not sure if it’s the the one you are looking for.
March 20th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I am begining to work eith the cold porcelain. I want to know if I can use lemon extract I found at the groceries that has alchohol and water?
March 20th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
The lemon juice in the recipe is a preservative to prevent mold. You could also use white vinegar instead as it’s about the same acidity as lemon juice (it just won’t smell as nice). Alcohol is a preservative so it would protect the wet clay but it evaporates away so once your cold porcelain dried it might mold in high humidity if not coated with a sealer.
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:36 pm
I think Ariana is talking about Luna clay from Japan. It’s used for making delicate flowers and such. I don’t think it’s here in the United States yet. I met a woman who uses it at an art fair. Her website is: http://suphattra.com/
October 4th, 2009 at 11:15 am
It’s Terra clay or pimmy clay, I have tried it, and it dries hard but not so hard, more like rubber but not as flexible as rubber
October 4th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Oh, yes, I wonder, why should it all be cooked?
I’ve tried on making some my own homemade clay without cooked and it turns out pretty nice.
Do you know why it should be cooked?
Thanks
cheers,
Mari
October 4th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
It needs to be cooked because of the cornstarch, it thickens and combines more thoroughly with the other ingredients when it’s brought to a boil. If it’s not heated thoroughly the clay will not get to a nice smooth consistency.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Hello,
I was wondering, can the mineral oil be replaced with a different kind of oil? Maybe something like olive, canola, walnut, or vegetable oil?
Thanks,
Saki
October 5th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Mineral oil is inert, it doesn’t go rancid like an oil like olive or canola will which is why it’s used. You could try other oils but I’m worried the clay would go bad even after drying if you used a plant based oil.
November 26th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Hi,
Thanks for your recipe, I”ve been having problems with the paste,it cracks, do you know how to prevent it? And also want to what can I use to glaze it. Thanks
Caty
November 26th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
If it’s cracking either you have cold porcelain that’s too dry or you’re trying to sculpt it too thick. You can use acrylic gloss to glaze it or a polyurethane spray finish like Krylon crystal clear.
December 8th, 2009 at 4:56 am
Thanks Sheryl for the answer
I’ll made my clay cooked for the best result
I’ve made it but sometimes the clay going too hard and like rubber, hard to handle, I think I cook them way too long lol
Mariana
January 11th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Hi!
I just want to know what I should do to cure a “dry” clay, the one that cracks when dries. Should I add more oil?
Nica
January 11th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
A little more oil will work or a small amount of water if you are using a particularly thick glue.
January 17th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Hellos! This is a very informative page, thanks a lot! I was wondering if you thought cold porcelain would be a good medium for Christmas ornaments? I’ve seen a lot of flowers done with this material and I’d love to see it used for Christmas angels. Thoughts?
Thanks a bunch!
Jamie
January 17th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Cold porcelain is best when used very thin, 1/4 inch or less, like for the angel’s wings or to create fabric draping. For the bodies you would be better off using polymer clay.
January 18th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Thanks! So the method there would be to bake the polymer clay and then add whatever pieces I was going to add with the cold porcelain and just allow it to air dry? Would I need to affix it with anything or will they hold together on their own?
Thanks again!
Jamie
January 18th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Yeah, bake the polymer clay, rough up the area you want to attach the clay to with some sandpaper, apply a thin layer of pva glue, allow itto dry until it’s just a little tacky and then add the cold porcelain. You’ll be able to paint it after it dries. Make sure you seal the ornament with a sealer that works on both polymer clay and cold porcelain, liquid polyurethane, clear acrylic sealers, and non-lacquer sprays like Krylon crystal clear all work fine on both.
May 17th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Hi
I know you posted this a long time ago but I’m hoping you’ll still reply to comments/questions.
I was wondering if there was a way to get the cold porcelain to have a liquid-like look/consistency, for example to make realistic icing for miniature cakes/cupcakes/donuts/etc. I wanted something that could replace the use translucent liquid sculpey (you know how you can use TLS with a bit of polymer clay to get a goo-ey consistency?)
I was thinking if I use less constarch or cook the mixture for less time I could get that consistency. What do you think? Will it still be able to dry with less constarch, or will it fall apart?
May 17th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
I would just use a thick white glue for this, mix in a little acrylic paint to tint it or make it translucent.
May 17th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Just the thick white glue by itself? Nothing else added? How durable would this be, I would still glaze it but would it last long?
May 17th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
It will be pretty strong as long as you use a decent quality white glue or if you want more waterproof Mod Podge is good and thick when mixed with a little paint.
May 17th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Oh, alright then. Thank you
May 24th, 2010 at 4:45 am
I wanted to leave a comment to say thank you for all of your specific answers here in the comments. It’s all answered a lot of very specific questions I’ve been looking for about cold porcelain and all in one spot. It’s been a real help.
Thanks so much. n..n
May 31st, 2010 at 7:32 am
Hello Mam,
I m a new member to this site. I live in India.Thankyou so much for providing such an elaborate procedure.
I m not familiar with pva glue,may i use fevicol instead of pva.
I read on some other sites that this glue is available in white and yellow color,which one is suggested.
Thanks in advance…
May 31st, 2010 at 8:58 am
Hello Mam,
some more doubts…..
1 cup means 1ooml or 250ml
some sites are suggesting to add glycerine,why?
some are suggesting to add water, but adding water results in shrinkage,in your recipe there is no water,even then u expected shrinkage why?
My sincere apology for so many doubts……
and tons of thanks in advance for clarifying them,THANK U
June 7th, 2010 at 4:31 am
Hi! I love your tutorial! I have even made a batch of clay. I just have one problem… How can I prevent cracks? Please answer as soon as possible. Thank you in advance. =)
August 12th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Hola!!
Mi pregunta es la siguiente, cuando los munecos que realizo se secan quedan con un olor fuerte a pegamento, hay alguna manera que el olor no sea tan fuerte?