Smoothing out your clay

Here's a tip for smoothing out your clay. This has worked for years on my sculptures. A long time ago I had read some where someone said they used veg. oil. Of course I had to try it and I didn' t care for it. But I stumbled across this. I did two experiments with veg. oil. I had some oil olive and it acted somewhat different. Then I thought to heat the olive oil . I only heated it to be l...uke warm and it made a huge difference. I went back and tried the same thing with just reg. veg. oil and it didn't preform for me as the olive oil did. I have been doing this for years now and love it. Only use a tiny bit with a soft paint brush. It is great around the eye's. Then I will use my thumbs to smooth the cheeks, forehead, chin after I have oiled it down. Before you cook it let it set for a few mins.. Then I will pre-heat my oven with the baking soda in its container. When temp. reached I lay my raw clay on top of the baking soda. Then I will take a spoon and scoop up enough of the warm baking soda to cover the clay. If you haven't tried this please try it on scrap clay to see if it works for you as it does for me. Somethings may work for me and others may not. I don't use baby powder or corn starch anymore. For me I found powder sometimes went into my raw clay and when cooked I had a white mark. Also last nite I put up some more information and pic. on my fan page. If you haven't checked it out please do and as always your welcome to share with all your friends. Everyone have a great day.!!!! hugs