It has been very interesting lately to watch a lot of people redo or remodel their polymer clay studios.
What I have noticed is that a lot of polymer clay artists have their ovens right in the studio where they work and am wondering if they have ever given it much thought.
Some clayers may enjoy that smell when baking those projects, and I can't believe those that say they think it smells 'good', ugh!....but if you smell it, my friend, you are ingesting it. Some clayers may say "oh shut up already, I know all about it!"
For years now I've been keeping my oven where it belongs....outside. My polymer chemist husband is the one that made me do it, lol. He said: "It may be alright to open a window while you are baking, but that's no different than smoking a cigarette indoors and trying to blow the smoke outside." Yeah, true (except I quit smoking, lol). By now we all have heard that second hand smoke is bad, right? So, just wondering...is inhaling polymer clay fumes on a daily, or even weekly basis, any better...? Did you know that 3rd hand smoke is just as toxic as 2nd hand smoke? Smoke that is on clothing, drapes, furniture.....dumda dum, you touch it, you ingest it. Yep, those polymer clay fumes are covering all your furniture and drapes etc. if you bake indoors....I didn't even think about that, did you? I guess we could say ALL our indoor stuff is now polymer clay 'dedicated'!
So... a question....do you bake indoors or outdoors and why or why not?