atspam (Sjpolyclay) wrote in
:

I would say that it is currently more like Fimo Soft
than Classic Fimo, as it can be used straight from the package.

No matter how nice and soft, clay should still be conditioned before
use. This aligns the molecules (you can actually see it with the mica
bearing clays like premo gold--its part of the basis of the mica shift
techniques). When the molecules are aligned, the clay is much stronger
after baking than it would otherwise be. You can test this by making
two strips, band-aid sized, about 1/8 inch thick. Make one from
conditioned clay, one straight out of the block, bake and flex when
cooled. Sarajane

Well, I do "mush" it around, to redistribute the softener, until I get a
soft and even clay (10 sec to 1 min, depending on the amount of clay). By
"straight from the package" I mean that it doesn't need any major
conditioning, like Fimo Classic needs.

But are you sure conditioning actually aligns the molecules, and that the
clay needs this alignment to be strong? Mica is waaay bigger than molecules
(in general), so they are much more easily aligned by running the clay
through a pasta machine, but are polymers big enough for this? The reason I
ask is, that if the molecules would have to be aligned, then the
conditioning would need to be in a way that aligns it, and the clay used in
a way that doesn't un-align them. I usually do use a pasta machine,
especially if I'm mixing colors, but for me conditioning and using the clay
does generally include a lot of "mushing". I had understood that just
redistributing the softener and other "stuff" in the clay until it feels
soft and even would be enough.

--
//Christina Hellström http://www.geocities.com/chellstr/
(Remove stuffing to reply)