Does anyone use polymer clay?

[politicat]

I have a sculpture in mind that I don't want to do in either plaster or earth clay, and I was thinking that polymer clay (like fimo) might be the ticket. Can anyone extoll the virtues or define the hazards of this stuff? I understand that it is PVC, so I think it is safe to handle, but I just can't find much data on it. Wikipedia is for once not useful.

[unhappycamper]

1. Here's a few resources on the subject:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22polymer+clay%22&btnG=Google+Search

[eleny]

2. I've used it to make small face molds

In gathering details on how to handle it, I learned that it's important for health safety to use an oven dedicated to polymer clay. So I got an inexpensive toaster oven at Target. And I put an oven thermometer inside so I could monitor the heat and make corrections if necessary. Polymer is touchy about the right temps. I didn't find that my oven was inaccurate but at least I had peace of mind and the polymer hardened perfectly.

Perhaps polymer is now safe to heat in the home oven where food is prepared. But I haven't read anything about that.

[FloridaPat]

3. There are tons of web sites with what you can do with polymer clay.

Small and big sculptures. I've heard about the oven being just for polymer clay. Other than that, I never heard anything else bad about it. It's used in a lot of classes with kids.