Resurrecting Fimo. A question.

[charlieandwillow]

So, my other half was clearing out the basement and came across some packs of Fimo which he gave to our son to add to his crafting bins. However, when we took the Fimo out to use today, it's incredibly dry and crumbly and impossible even to knead without it disintegrating. I have no idea how long the stuff had been in the basement for, but we're talking years rather than months. Is there any way to revive the stuff? We've rescued air dry clay by mixing it in the KitchenAid stand mixer with a bit of water (VERY loud, trust me!), but the Fimo is plasticy so I dont think this would work. I was pondering whether mixing it with a tiny amount of vegetable oil would work? Any ideas crafty-minded folks?

[Lionne]

I don't know if you can get Mix Quick. It's something that softens Fimo. Or try mixing it well with a bit of Liquit Clay. (Forgot the name of it.)

[Diane B.]

You can definiely reconstitute it, but if it's gotten partly cured as well as just firm it may not be worth the trouble.

At any rate, check out these pages at my site for loads of info on softening polymer clay and even reconstituting old polymer clay (there are various oily-things you can use --don't use water!-- and various kinds of equipment that will speed up the process):
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/Conditioning.htm
You'll probaby want to read especially these categories there:
...Additives
...Stretching/Warming > Beating the clay
...Food Processors, Choppers, etc
...Old or Hard Clay

Btw, you can use MixQuick if you have any but it will be much more expensive than using some of the other additives.

P.S.  The "old Fimo" is the best!  None of the polymer clays made now (even FimoClassic) are as good, so it would be great if you can use it.

Diane B.

[PixieSkull]

Old (in age) Fimo sucks! It will burn very fast (at normal or even below-normal temp) if you do get it working.

I say it's definitely not worth it.

[Diane B.]

Old (in age) Fimo sucks! It will burn very fast (at normal or even below-normal temp) if you do get it working.

PixieSkull, I'm very surprised to hear this.

A number of my friends who are long-time polymer clayers and who sometimes make high-end stuff love their stash of old Fimo and reconstitute it all the time, since it's such a high quality clay (and also better than any of the newer formulations).  Some even buy up ancient lots of it when they see it on sale.  Polymer clay in general shouldn't ever get too old though if the clayer is willing to go to the work of softening it, or even doing more work if it's actually hardened. And just being old shouldn't affect the baking temp unless perhaps a bunch of translucent clay were added which would darken more easily (like all translucents).

So I'm wondering a few things:
...how old are you considering "old clay" to be? (that could also indicate which version of Fimo you had)
...which line of Fimo did you have, if you know (FimoClassic or FimoSoft?, or even original "Fimo"?)...none of the people above uses FimoSoft, but still shouldn't behave that way I don't think
...how did you recondition your clay?
...what temp did you use? ...and how long?
...and were you using the same oven, thermometer, baking surface, and sizes of clay items you'd used before?

[Crabcake]

If you'd said the attic and not the basement, it'd be almost a sure bet it was partially cured and therefore not worth it.  Original Fimo is strong once it's baked up (even, in my relatively limited experience, the old stuff), so if you've got a little time/ patience, it can be done.  Getting past that hard crumbly stage is a bear at first; try whizzing bitty chunks of it in a dedicated food processor (in small amounts at a time) with a few drops of mineral oil.  It'll still need warmth and massaging after that, also.  Good luck!

[haroldlovesmaude]

What about Sculpey Original? I have a block of it in plain white and have the same issue. My block is not as old, maybe two years tops (if that). It has constantly been in a cool, dry, dark place, but it also crumbles and feels hard. I saw Sculpey softener at Joann's today, but didn't buy it because I left my coupons at home - would this work, or is there something around my house I could use? Is there a method that doesn't involve a food processor?