Grace Whip Cream Clay Discovery

There are so many different clay products out there to explore. I love playing, and discovering, the wonders of each. Today, I'll be writing more about the Grace Whip Cream Clay.

This is definitely not a new product. The one that I'm currently using has been with me for years - and I am not surprised if it's 2 years or more. I only use a bit each time, so one tube of this lasts a very long time.

It's not difficult to guess what this clay is used for, as the picture on the box would have given you an idea. Basically this has a whip cream texture, so you can use it to create highly realistic fake whip cream effect for cakes, desserts, ice cream, etc.

You can mix acrylic paints or oil paints into it to create different whip cream "flavors". It air dries naturally and no baking is required.

HOW TO USE:
This clay is extremely sticky to touch when it is just freshly opened. To use this, simply prepare a ziplock bag, or piping cream bag, or your self made piping bag ready when you are about to open a fresh tube. Once you cut open the tube, simply squeeze the cream into your piping bag. It is ready to use!

HOW TO STORE:
Once the tube is opened, use a firm paper clip like below to secure the package opening. Then, put it in a ziplock bag, and store into an air tight container.

I will say this though: The above way described to store the clay will prevent it from drying out, but it doesn't mean it won't dry out forever. It will still dry up, just more slowly. 

So what happens when it dries up?

From its fresh sticky state to drying up does take a long while. My 2 year old or more whip cream clay is possibly a good example. The current state is soft but non-sticky - AND definitely still usable. Think hearty, but a bit more elastic. :)

This is how my 2 year old whip cream clay feels like and looks like now. I purposely pull and stretch the clay a bit more just so that you can observe its texture. The fresh clay out from the tube obviously doesn't look like this - it's way more sticky and wispy when you try to pull the tails of the whip cream clay.

I just have to use it differently now which I am totally fine with.

I also tried to re-warm or re-heat the clay just to see if it can go back to its original texture.

HOW TO RE-HEAT:
I put some whipped cream clay into a ziplock bag. Meanwhile, I boiled some hot water. When the water is boiled, I pour some into a container and put that ziplock bag into it. Please note that due to the hot water, your ziplock bag may melt a little. After a few minutes you may check the texture of the whipped clay.

So, below is the comparison of the re-heated whipped cream and the old whip cream clay. On the left is the re-heated whip cream clay, and on the right is the older whip cream clay.

After re-heating, I touched and feel the texture with my fingers. It feels 90% similar to its original texture. Also, please note that the reason why the re-heated whip cream clay looks "ugly" is because, it was so sticky and stuck to my fingers a lot. Removing it from my fingers was a bit of work. If one wants to do any piping work, they should work immediately right after the whip cream clay is re-heated, as that is the best time to do it. 

To summarize this though, although the whip cream clay may dry out during your time of owning it, knowing its different texture change during its "life span" does help you to decide how best to use it during its different drying stage. Re-heating it will help to soften its texture significantly, if you wish to do piping work, but reheating won't bring it back to its original texture a hundred percent.

On the other hand, one may never even encounter such issues, because it all depends on how large your projects are. If you are purely making life size items, then you should be using the clay more quicker than those who are making purely dollhouse miniatures.