Home Forums Explore Media Clay Can anyone recommend a good matte varnish for polymer clay?

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  • #994830
    Potatocake
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        Hi. :) I’ve started doing some sculpting with polymer clay, and I paint some areas with acrylics; I’d like to seal them with a varnish but it’s proving tricky to find one that works! I’m looking for something matte rather than glossy, I tried a good quality matte spray I have (testors dullcoate) but it left small white marks all over the place. It was a bit strange, I patch tested it on a experiment-sculpture and no problems, and I only used a thin coat. Anyway, I was able to rub some of the marks off but it still looks disappointing. I need to find something that works!

        I’m using Premo sculpey and Super sculpey polymer clay. Has anyone found a suitable matte varnish?

        #1264753
        honey hatter
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            hi potatocake, i’ve used varathane polyurethane made by rust-oleum (water based) before, it was gloss finish i believe, i’ve used this product many times and it’s always come out very nicely. I have not used the matte finish version of this product line, but i looked up on amazon Varathane Polyurethane Clear Interior Matte Finish (not sure if i can post links to amazon so i wont)some reviews there with pictures of there finished product, the post that caught my eye was 3 reviews down with a very nice finished piece of wood they used this on it looked very good. but there you go, rule of thumb any sealer has to be water based if your going to use it with polymer clay, i could be wrong but, this is the only brand i use or will ever use unless somone recommends me something better. Water based varathane polyurethane is a very good product, i would not recommend any sealer that comes from a spray can. Miniatures that i worked on and sprayed with a sealer from a spray can came out sticky/tacky later on. hope this helps.

            "Oh look a white rabbit!"

            #1264754
            Potatocake
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                Thank you so much, that helps :)

                #1264755
                Mia227
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                    I know this is an older thread, but Ginger from Blue Bottle Tree has addressed this on her blog. I wanted to update in case anyone else has this question. There are multiple issues using varnishes on polymer clay due to the plasticizers leaching through the clay and making varnishes and sealers tacky (yes, they are present and active even after the clay has been baked.) Ginger did an extensive test with many products to come up with the best solutions for both glossy and matte varnishes for polymer clay. See her reviews here:

                    https://thebluebottletree.com/understanding-polymer-clay-glaze-sealer-varnish/
                    https://thebluebottletree.com/testing-polymer-clay-sealers/#premo

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