Many beginner clay crafters prefer to make do with what they have. This often means rolling their polymer clay sheets by hand instead of using more sophisticated rolling tools. A clay conditioning machine makes rolling polymer clay sheets easier and faster. Professional clay crafters prefer these machines because of their multipurpose applications, which include conditioning, rolling and blending clay. It also creates smooth, flat sheets free of marks and bumps for various crafts, including layered earrings, bracelets, picture frames and ornaments. However, you can still roll even polymer clay sheets by hand before investing in a pasta machine, as we explain below.
How to Roll Polymer Clay Sheets
Polymer clay is a soft and easy medium used to create a variety of crafts. Sometimes, you need to start with a thin, flat sheet of polymer clay — here's how you roll it with your hands and a few simple tools.
Step 1. Choose an Appropriate Work Surface
Carefully choose a work surface for polymer clay crafts because uncured polymer clay tends to stain or damage unprotected surfaces, including plastic, furniture, flooring, carpeting and fabric. You can work on any surface, provided you cover it with wax paper, a metal baking sheet, disposable foil or the Sculpey® Oven-Safe Work Mat. The Sculpey oven-safe mat is a non-skid, reusable silicone surface that allows you to roll your clay on any work surface without moving.
Creating a layer between the clay and your work surface reduces the medium's stickiness and makes clean-up a breeze. You can also use a sheet of tempered glass or a large ceramic tile glazed with mineral oil to prevent sticking and damaging the work surface.
Step 2. Condition the Clay
Conditioning is the process of making polymer clay easier and softer to work with. It evenly distributes the clay's ingredients and removes air from the medium, making it smoother and more flexible. Conditioning clay involves kneading and stretching it by hand until it's soft and pliable.
When properly conditioned, polymer clay is easier to roll by hand and creates stronger finished pieces that are less susceptible to damage. Add some Oven-Bake Clay Softener or Clay Softener & Thinner when conditioning very stiff clay. Investing in high-quality Sculpey clays reduces the stress of using softeners and thinners because it is soft and conditions easily.
Step 3. Use an Acrylic Roller
The Sculpey Tools™ Acrylic Roller is a transparent and seamless roller that creates thin, smooth and level sheets free of marks. The lack of seams on the roller prevents the indentation of the clay and prevents the clay from sticking. The roller's transparency ensures you can observe the clay as you continue stretching it on a work surface.
To roll polymer clay using an acrylic roller, create a ball of clay with your fingers and press it down slightly with your hand or the roller. Use the roller to flatten the clay to your desired thickness while picking it up and rotating it. Rotating the clay prevents it from sticking to the protected work surface and disperses the roller's pressure to create a uniform thickness.
Acrylic rollers don't guarantee even thickness on the clay. This requires any of the following accessories:
- Wrap rubber bands evenly on either side of the acrylic roller.
- Place the clay between two stacks of playing cards. To prevent the cards from moving upwards as you roll, resulting in thinner edges, start with cards higher than the clay and keep rolling upward.
- Place popsicle sticks on either side of the clay. You can stack these to your desired thickness.
It's important that you prevent the clay from sticking on the roller, your hands or the work surfaces to achieve an even thickness and smooth surface. Here are some tips to help:
- Clean your hands: Cleaning your hands before you start working with polymer clay removes any dirt, oil and moisture that might aggravate sticking.
- Wear gloves: Wearing gloves creates a barrier between your skin and the polymer clay, minimizing stickiness.
- Corn starch: Dust corn starch or talcum powder on the work surface and the roller to create a thin barrier that prevents sticky situations. Avoid using too much corn starch or talcum powder, as it may get embedded into the clay, creating a filmy layer.
- Mineral oil: This helps condition and soften clay while preventing it from sticking and getting marks during rolling.
Mistakes to Avoid When Rolling Even Sheets of Clay
After working hard to roll an even polymer clay sheet, you don't want to ruin it by making any of the following mistakes:
- Incorrect lifting: Thin sheets of polymer clay must be carefully lifted off the work surface to avoid leaving uneven parts or fingerprints. Slide a long, fairly rigid blade under your polymer clay sheet to release it slowly from the work surface with both hands on the blade.
- Uneven baking: Thinner polymer clay sheets are more susceptible to deforming when baked on a metal sheet that gets too hot and lifts, causing air pockets that prevent even baking. To prevent this, place a piece of paper card stock on an oven-safe baking mat or ceramic tile to ensure even heat distribution during baking.
- Under baking: Very thin polymer clay sheets tend to be brittle and bend easily when underbaked or overbaked, resulting in breaking. Follow the manufacturer's instructions to ensure complete baking, which results in flexible clay sheets that don't easily break.
- Air bubbles and bumps: Thin polymer clay sheets may be susceptible to the formation of bumps and air bubbles after baking. This is especially true when the clay is not thoroughly conditioned to release the air pockets and smooth the clay before baking.
Roll Even Polymer Clay Sheets With Sculpey
While the technique you use to roll thin and even polymer clay sheets matters, choosing the right polymer clay brand is also a key factor. Sculpey is the leading polymer clay manufacturer that creates malleable, versatile and easy-to-work-with clays from a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) base. Our wide variety of clays have a soft consistency, which makes them ideal for use by seasoned clayers, eager beginners or crafty kids.
Some of our polymer clays suitable for rolling thin sheets include Sculpey III®, Sculpey Soufflé™, Sculpey Premo™ and Original Sculpey®. Our inventory also includes a variety of tools that make crafting easy and fun, including hand tools, molds, embellishing tools and conditioning machines.
