Sculpting with Salt Dough

Drying your Project: After you have sculpted your creation, you need to let it dry.  There are two ways:  air drying or drying in an oven on very, very low heat.  Of course, it will take much longer to let your project air dry.  A small object will take a minimum of 24 hours to air dry.

Baking in an electric oven:  Pay special attention to the thickness of your object.  The thicker your object is, the longer it will take to bake it.  For each 1/2 inch of thickness, bake your object for 1 hour at your oven's lowest temperature.  Do not be tempted to increase the heat to rush the baking time.  Note:  A gas oven will bake your objects twice as fast as an electric oven.  To adjust, in a gas oven, bake the object for 1 hour with the door opened half way, then bake it for 1 hour with the door opened a quarter of the way, and then bake it for one more hour with the door completely closed.  Kids - be sure to get help from your folks before trying to use any oven!

To tell whether your project is dry, tap lightly on the back with your finger or with a spoon and hear if it sounds hollow.  The piece is completely dry if you can tap anywhere on your object and it sounds the same.

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