Oil on polymer

[Former_Member]

Hello all, I'm a new member to the group and it occurs to me you all would be just the people to ask. I have a collection of Shiva oil sticks, ooooh those irredescent colours I just can't pass them up! Anyways according to the package they can be used on plastics. So I've been testing them out on a few pieces. I wonder if any of you have tried? I'd love to hear of your sucesses and I guess if you did have failures I need to hear about those...

I shared the full story on my blog if you are interested. It's early days so mostly I'm talking to myself :)
http://apolymerpenchant.blogspot.ca/2012/05/from-my-work-table.html

[Former_Member]

I haven't heard of Shiva oil sticks, but there are a couple times I have gotten a little mineral oil on raw clay (I use it in bottles with my cooked clay items) and when the pieced cooked in the oven they expanded and got a ton of rips and cracks in them, so I'm thinking putting oil on raw clay won't work. But you'll never no unless you try. That's the great think about polymer clay - it's not too expensive so you can afford to experiment.

[Claybykim]

Ooooo! Those are beautiful! I love the print blocks you used and the oils look stunning!

I have used gilders paste but they don't stay as shimmery after baking.

[exZuberant]

Like Alia, I haven't heard of Shiva oil sticks, but from your blog post, I am intrigued. I am pretty sure that Sculpey clay softener is made of mineral oil, but I can see that if you get too much on the surface, it would cause cracks. I have read about people using a dab of Vaseline to smooth the surface of their beads before curing them. I don't think that oil products in and of themselves will damage your polymer clay pieces.

I was going to suggest scanning Glass Attic (http://glassattic.com/), but I see you're already familiar with that site full of nuggets of knowledge!

I checked a couple of my reference books. The Polymer Clay Techniques Book says that you should not use enamel paint on clay because it will never dry completely. However, the fact that you've got sticks makes me think they are more like oil pastels.

I think Alia has a good point - experiment and see what you think. You can always apply a glaze if you need to protect the finish.

Keep us posted!

[Former_Member]

Thanks for all the thoughts folks. It's great to have people to bounce ideas off. If you're not familiar with Shiva oil sticks, let me tell you they are just awesome! The paint is a buttery consistency , and the shimmer, it's fantastic! I can see how they can sound like oil pastels, and in use, actally not all that dissimilar. But there is a film that develops to close off the paint once you're done with it. Rub it on a paper toel and the film peels off and your ready to start again. I havent tried, but they advertise as being mixable with other oil paints. This one itself is lineseed oil based and it does indeen cure within 24hours.

I can see how mineral oil would be an issue since the room temperature state of mineral oil is a liquid. It's definately not enamel paint either... It's unique I guess.

Anyway, I work in distribution in my day job, and we sell all sorts of different plastics. The main producer, Nalgene, lists the chemical comparability of all sorts of chemicals with each of the plastics. To get an "excellent" rating, there has to be no damage/reaction for 30 days. Basically if it lasts that long then should be fine indefinitely. So that's what I'm basing my 30 day test period on. I'm almost there, I'll be sure to report back, but things are looking good

[Former_Member]

Oh and I forgot to mention, as Alia B. brought up, I should probably specify this was oil on cured clay

[exZuberant]

Please do report back. After I wrote my response, I looked up Shiva oil sticks and they do sound interesting.

It's good to know about the 30 day test period for future reference!!

[averilpam]

This does sound interesting, do post back after your 30 day test period!