Types of Polymer Clay
What are the different types of polymer clay? This is a guide regarding the different types and brands of polymer clay that you can use! If you wish to find out more regarding other aspects of polymer clay, check out our intro page here!
Being based in the UK though does limit the amount of different brands which can be used, but the brands which are available have a huge variety.
Note: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you I will earn a commission if purchases are made.
Sculpey
If you mention polymer clay to someone who uses it, one of the first brands they would probably mention is sculpey, they have a wide range of different products available which are outlined below. What makes this brand so successful is not only the wide variety of clay that they have but the quality of the clay is usually excellent!
Like all brands of polymer clay though, they may need to be conditioned a little bit depending on how long they’ve sat in a warehouse for.
Original Sculpey
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | 3 |
| Firmness | Medium / Soft |
| Used for | Ornaments, Small trinket bowls, decoration |
This clay is more designed to simulate traditional clay, rather than something which can be used for jewellery or sculpting, It’s a good beginners clay to make small pots from and is quite soft while working with it, It’s not designed to make thin or delicate pieces with. It comes in two colours, White and beige, and once it’s cured it can be quite weak.
If you have been modelling with plasticine it might be a good replacement as this can be cured to provide a level of hardness.
Available on Amazon
Sculpey Premo
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | 50+ |
| Firmness | Medium / Soft |
| Used for | Jewellery, Small Figures which don’t require high details |
This is where I started! And is a very popular type of polymer clay due to it being so versatile! The clay holds its shape and details well, it’s easily workable and can be mixed into other polymer clays with ease. One of the best beginner clays to start with and still used by professionals as well!
The range covers all the colours of the rainbow and several more! Mixing two of the clays to change the colour is really simple to do as well. In addition to the colours, they have released an “Accents” range which cover metallic, pearl and translucent.
Available on Amazon
Sculpey III
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | 40+ |
| Firmness | Soft |
| Used for | Ornaments, Embellishments, Decorative items |
Not as soft as soufflé, I find it similar to Premo and they can both be mixed together! Once again, this clay is in a huge range of colours but I find this works a lot better for ornaments and embellishments. Really good for decorative items due to the wide range of colours available. Excellent for beginners! Especially the kits with multiple different colours available like this one here
Available on Amazon
Sculpey Soufflé
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | 20+ |
| Firmness | Very Soft |
| Used for | Jewellery, Mokume gain |
Souffle is relatively new to the market and is quite a different style of clay! It’s very easy to work with but it’s also strong and flexible. It’s lighter in weight and in colour than Premo and provides a matte finish to the final product which does help hide fingerprints!
This will be a really good clay for users who wish to get into the craft but feel like they’re unable to due to health or personal issues. The clay is really soft to use but can still provide excellent results!
Available on Amazon
Liquid Clay
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | 3 Finishes (Matte, Metallic, Translucent) – Various colours |
| Firmness | Liquid |
| Used for | Moulds, Adherence between clays, Filling in gaps |
As the name suggests, it’s liquid clay! You can use this in moulds, use it as a glue between two pieces of clay to get them to adhere easier. You can go as far as mixing this into paints to provide a glaze to use on your projects as well.
Small range available on Amazon
Super Sculpey – Ultra Light
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | White |
| Firmness | Soft |
| Used for | Armatures, Ornaments, Large jewellery, Filler |
So light it floats! This can be used for larger jewellery which doesn’t require too much detail. It can also be used as a foundation for sculptures rather than using wire and foil armatures!
Available on Amazon
Super Sculpey – Beige / Medium / Firm / Living Doll
| Beginner Friendly? | No |
| Available Colours | Beige, Grey, Light, Baby |
| Firmness | Medium/Firm |
| Used for | Figures, Sculptures, Dolls, Fine details |
So I’ve grouped all of these together as I wouldn’t recommend these for absolute beginners. Unless you would like to begin making sculptures or dolls of course!
There are various basic colours available for these clays as they’re designed to be primed and painted after you have finished sculpting. The clay itself is excellent and while it harder to work with holds amazing details. As it holds all that detail though it can be very unforgiving!
Available on Amazon
FIMO
Along with Sculpey another well known brand is FIMO, This is the original Polymer Clay created in the late 1930s. It has quite a few similarities with the clays discussed above as you will see below though their range is a little more colourful!
FIMO is an good choice to use when starting out, especially with jewellery due to their effects range. They have a wide range of different effect clays and a lot of glittery ones as well if that’s your thing!
FIMO Kids
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | Various |
| Firmness | Very Soft |
| Used for | Children |
The FIMO Kids range is excellent for children who want to also be involved with Polymer Clay and to start making things from this medium. The clay itself is very soft and there are multiple packs with instructions in to create a variety of different designs!
If you would like to introduce your children to the world of Polymer clay then you can do so safely and easily with this brand!
Like other clays above this can be cured in an oven so they get to keep their creations once they have made them!
Available on Amazon
FIMO Soft
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | 24 (+6 Trend Colours) |
| Firmness | Soft |
| Used for | Large Jewellery, Ornaments, Decorations, Accessories |
Not as soft as FIMO Kids but still quite a soft clay, They have a wide range of colours available and they also have 10 Assorted colours in the large 350g blocks! This clay is a good starter for beginners, while it does hold some details it’s not great for high detailed work!
FIMO Professional
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | 24 |
| Firmness | Medium |
| Used for | Jewellery, Figures, Ornaments, Anything really… |
FIMO Professional can be used for… Well, what did you want to make? They have various sized blocks available from 85g to 454g, The 24 colours can be blended together to make whichever colour you desire.
The clay itself holds details really well, don’t let the name fool you though, it can still be used by beginners if you’re looking for something a little tougher to work with!
Available on Amazon
FIMO Effects
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | 36 |
| Firmness | Medium |
| Used for | Jewellery, Anything you want a bit of sparkle to! |
I actually really enjoy using this clay, Faux gemstones, glow in the dark, pastels, glitters, stones, pearls! They have it all! Well… Mostly!
Like FIMO Professional, the feel is very similar but the range of effects that they have are amazing! Definitely a good one to use if you’re bored of just regular colour or would just like to add some pizazz into your work!
Available on Amazon
Cernit
Cernit Polymer Clay
| Beginner Friendly? | Yes |
| Available Colours | Multiple |
| Firmness | Medium |
| Used for | Jewellery, Sculpting, ornaments |
I’ve not worked with much of this clay as it can be quite difficult to get a hold of, but when using it I’ve found it to hold up really well. Once baked it’s very durable and with it’s translucent base you can make objects which have a porcelain look to them.
One thing to be aware of when baking Cernit though is that the colour darkens, occasionally quite considerably. This seems to be due to the translucent base within the clay.
Available on Amazon
Other Clays Available
The above are the clays that I’ve worked with. Each one has it’s own unique qualities and can be used for a variety of different crafts. There have been other clays bought to the market in recent years for example; Monster Clay, Cosclay, Kato and your typical unbranded clays!
I’ve seen some work done with both Monster Clay and Cosclay and I have to say they look amazing to work with, They both seem to hold up details really well and CosClay has an extremely high flexibility to it once it’s baked. I hope to bring reviews on these as well in due time!
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