Thread: Can you sand cellu clay?

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I am currently using celluclay to help define features on mywitches hands. To say it's one of the hardest materials to manipulate, is just too kind. It is HORRIBLE!!!! (atleast for me). It takes forever to dry, it's clumpy, it sticks to your hands when it gwets a little dry and then when you wet your hands it starts to fall apart.
But getting back to my original question can you actually sand cellu clay when it dries?

I just bought some today. The instructions say you can sand it. I saw adding a few drops of dish soap to it makes it work better. What you are describing is the same thing I found when using the insulation mixed with glue and water. I found for that it was easier to add a little then smooth it out with the glue water mixture. But It is truly messy no matter what I have tried.

Why, thank you...I forgot the value in reading instructions... lol. But I am really happy to know I can sand it... I made one to many errors.

HallowYves, yes it can be sanded when dry but it can indeed, be difficult. I use this product extensively as a base for my sculptures. It adheres beautifully to the styrofoam armatures and accepts other products applied on top of it. The best advice I can offer is to keep your hands or fingers wet when manipulating this product. I put the dry Celluclay in a plastic container such as a cottage cheese or sour creme container, then add water until the dried product starts to float, then stir using a paint stirrer and mix really well scraping the sides. If it's too mushy, add a bit more dried material. If it's too dry, add a bit more water until the sides scrape clean. Then I moisten my hand and pick up a handful and apply it to the styrofoam, usually a wighead smoothing it out until it's about 1/4" thick. Just keep moistening your fingers and keep smoothing. To help with the drying time, I usually set the piece either in the sun or at least add a fan or two and let it blow air on it overnight. I really love this product but it does take a bit of getting used to. You can see my how-to on "The Bride" in six parts which explains a bit more. Here are the links and don't give up!

http://halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=62175
http://halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=62177
http://halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=62179
http://halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=63288
http://halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=63289
http://halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=63291

Thanks Lauriebeast.

Celluclay can be hard to work with, but worth it ! I like to mix it in a blender myself. You can also put it in between two sheets of wax paper and roll it out into "sheets" with a rolling pin. ( make sure you wet both sides of the wax paper with a spray bottle before you roll it out so it doesn't stick to the wax paper ) This way you can "lay"a full sheet over a large project and smooth it out with out having to handle a big ball of goo. Or "cut" the sheet into the shape you want for a smaller project ( like the hand on your project ) and put it directly on your project and just smooth it out. I've sanded it and even used a dremel tool on it ! Have you ever used paperclay ? It works really good too ! I use it over the celluclay for details and to get a project really smooth ! Good luck http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...26tbs%3Disch:1

Thanks bobzilla...I actually do have paperclay...but was intimidated by it so it never been unwrapped...I guess once I conquer cellu clay I can think about using paper clay. I like the rolling metod, I might use it.

In addition to what LaurieBeast said I found the quickest way to 'sand' dried Celluclay was to use the stone grinder bit on the Dremel. Still not the easiest and so I would try to avoid this step if you can. Here's a picture of the grinding I had to do on Terra:



My lesson: Use the Celluclay to be the understructure only. Use Paperclay for the real sculpting.

Good advice from both Bobzilla and Terra. When I first started sculpting, I only used Celluclay and didn't even know about Paperclay. Consequently, my sculpts had a rough texture to them which is really just fine depending on the look you're trying to achieve. The first witch I made is entirely Celluclay and styrofoam with absolutely no sanding done, just smoothing out with my wet fingers. It also helps to let the Celluclay dry for a few hours to remove the excesss moisture and them smooth over with a moist hand. Here's a couple of pics of that witch and you can see the rough texture on her.

You guys were not kidding...Sanding cellu clay is very difficult. But it help get rid of most of the bumps and grooves. If interested you can see the development of my project in my album.