How to cook the Fimo paste?

Firing Fimo clay is the essential step for making jewelry, small decorative objects or trendy accessories. Why bake Fimo clay? It's the only way to harden your molded objects.
Firing time and temperature are the two essential elements for successful polymer clay firing!

How to bake fimo?

• Preheat oven to 110°C. Work your fimo on a tiled plate or silicone mat.
• Place your creations on the baking sheet, protected by parchment paper. Be sure to space your creations well apart so they don't stick together during baking. Be careful not to put the baking sheet in contact with food.
  If you're working with beads and you don't have a Dremel, don't forget to pierce them with a toothpick, and stick the toothpick into a ball of aluminum foil to prevent them from flattening during baking. You can also arrange them in a baking rack.
• When the oven is at 110°C (thermostat 3), place your models in the oven for 30 minutes. It's imperative to respect the cooking time and temperature. If in doubt, refer to the Fimo polymer clay sachets for instructions.
• When the baking time is up, remove the tray from the oven.
• Remove your creations from the baking tray to prevent further cooking and allow to cool.
• Leave the oven door and window open for ventilation.
• Once your creations have cooled completely, you can sand, polish, buff or varnish them.

Good to know:

• When you take your creations out of the oven, they haven't hardened, but are still malleable? This is normal! Fimo will be perfectly hard after it has dried completely, not before. Patience, patience!
• It's important to take certain precautions: work in a well-ventilated or aerated room to avoid any toxic fumes.
• If the firing temperature is too high, your creations may turn brown, blister or even melt.
  If the temperature is too low, your Fimo polymer clay may be soft even after it has cooled completely. To check the temperature of your oven, you can use a suitable thermometer.

What is Fimo clay?

It's one of the best-known brands of polymer clay in France, created by Staedtler, but there are many others: Cernit, Sculpey, Kato Polyclay...
This type of clay can be used to make DIY costume jewelry and decorative objects, such as pendants, earrings, cabochons, key rings, figurines, decorations...
There's a wide range of Fimo clay such as Fimo soft, Fimo effect, Fimo Kids clay... There's also liquid Fimo and Fimo air, which hardens in the open air!
Fimo also offers a wide choice of shades and effects that won't be altered after firing. What's more, they are perfectly miscible with each other.
Fimo is baked in a conventional household oven or electric oven (but never in a microwave, gas oven or pot of hot water).

What can I do with Fimo clay? No creative ideas? Get inspired by our free tutorials for making polymer clay jewelry or decorative objects. Get started!
If you're new to Fimo clay, take a look at our list of essential tools to get you started. Our tips and step-by-step instructions will help you learn how to use Fimo clay. Then it's easy to create beautiful jewelry and animal models.