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Keeping Clay Clean

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These were two little glow-in-the-dark charms I had made for Geek Fest. I took the photos to illustrate to a friend how much dust, lint and fluff you can clean off your clay after sculpting and before baking. I know when I started sculpting I grew grey hairs trying to keep lighter colours dust free to the point of hacking at the lil guys where after they wouldn't be nice and smooth.

So after some research and trial and error I think I have a good method for cleaning up lighter colours. The best is that you can sculpt, relatively carefree of the lil fluffy buggers and only worry about them at the end. (Here I'm referring to tiny little strands, not pet hair or such, that should be avoided as far as possible, or removed while sculpting).

To avoid anyone else going grey prematurely, here's my method:

You will need the following:
Rubbing alcohol, or isopropyl alcohol as it can be referred to here in South Africa.
A soft bristle brush - I use a no. 2 round bristle white brush. I prefer the white as it shows if the brush is dirty/discoloured and the fluff culprit. I also prefer a brush to an ear bud as it is much softer and won't affect the sculpt even if you push a little too hard.
Completed sculpture - it's important that your sculpture is as complete as possible before baking, the alcohol doesn't harm the clay, but it does prevent any additional clay from adhering to it. If you have made a mistake and wish to sculpt, just wait for the alcohol to evaporate completely and your clay is back to normal.


My method:
• Pour a tiny bit of alcohol into a clean container, make sure you close the lid after pouring as it can evaporate quite easily.
• Dip the brush in the alcohol, press it against the side of the container to remove excess.
• Hold the sculpture lightly, if it can stand on its own, set it on your clean working surface.
• Brush the area with fluff lightly at first. Once the area is lightly covered, brush in tiny circles over the fluff. You should see it start to come loose. If the brush at this point starts to make lines or streaks in the clay you need to add more alcohol. Keep brushing, changing direction over the fluff until it pulls loose. It usually then attaches to the brush.
• Clean your brush after every fluff it cleans up. It can be tedious, but it's really worth it! :)
• Finally make sure that once you're done, the alcohol is completely evaporated before baking.

I've found this method usually helps clean up my work to a point that I can work in yellow, white and pastels without stress while sculpting, I used to get very annoyed with any and all light colours.

A final tip, if you are working with a combination of glittery or shimmery clay and standard clay, be sure to clean up the standard one before the shimmery one, as the shimmer can transfer through the alcohol on the brush.

Hope this has helped in some way :D

Side note: Apologies for my absence, I'm very busy with the final stretch of my degree so I'm manically busy until next week when assignment submissions and design reviews are done for the month. After which I hope to make a (valiant) return as I am going to be at a Medieval themed market end October for which I am planning a few dragon knights! Hehe, can't wait to get back to my clay.

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Comments18
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shadeon13's avatar
Thanks for the tutorial! I never thought of using rubbing alcohol and a brush to remove dust; I've had to use a little needle to pry all that dust off my clay. Needless to say, it's not terribly effective, and I usually end up getting more dust on the piece when I smooth out the divets I've made through prying. 
I'll give your technique a go next time I have to deal with dust again!