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:

1. Combine ingredients in pot. Don’t use your good cookware for this because it can be hard to clean off.
2. Cook on low heat stiring constantly for 10 minutes or until doughs forms and begins to come away from the sides.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool until you can handle it.
4. Knead to a smooth clay consistency.
5. Store wrapped in plastic and refridgerated.
6. 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