Friday, March 20, 2009

My science experiment

Hi All,

Last week I started my official claying science experiment that I wrote about as an accidental science experiment in an earlier blog here. I took three different types of clay (Kato, Fimo Soft, and either Sculpey or Premo, not sure which) and cut out somewhat similar sizes and put them on the plastic bottle at the same height last Sunday. The clay pieces are about 1 cm tall and 2 cm wide. Might have been a couple of steps below on thickest pasta machine setting.

Here is the photo five days later. The Fimo Soft (the blue clay) is definitely on the move and the other two haven't budged. If you look closely you can see what look like bubbles above the Fimo Soft. They're not actually bubbles, but they are melted spots in the clear plastic.

What does all this mean? I dunno. Am I willing to say that Fimo Soft is more dangerous than the other clays? Absolutely not. I'm not a toxicologist nor an expert on clay formulations. But it's obviously got something in it that the other clays don't. For now it's just a cool experiment. I'm actually surprised at how quickly it's moving.

The Sculpey/Premo is softer to the touch than the Kato and is slightly more difficult to pull away from the clear plastic but both the Kato and Sculpey/Premo have left a mark on the plastic and have started to eat at it a bit. I don't think they'll catch up to the Fimo though.

I'll keep you posted.

Sandy

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is so cool Sandy! I love this kind of stuff! I'm thinking it may be possible there is more mineral oil in the Fimo Soft, to keep it soft in the package and that is why it is sliding.

Also since you are not sure if one of the pieces is Sculpey or Premo it could be the old Premo which was quite firm like the Kato and is possibly acting the same way because they both have less oil in them. Lost yet? :-)

Anyways, it's fun to watch. Keep us updated with your results. You've got me very curious now!