Are hot drinks dangerous for glazed clay?

[Jess V]

Hi, I am a VERY amateur artist but I like to experiment with clay and sculpting. I recently used Sculpey oven-bake clay to create a bowl (flat at the bottom, more like a mug without handles haha). I applied 2 coats of Sculpey gloss glaze all over. It was pretty successful so I’m now inspired to make some mini teacups! My bowl is waterproof due to the glaze, but would hot water ruin the teacups/glaze in any way? Thank you so much!

[liambesaw]

Sculpey is a PVC polymer, according to the Safety Data Sheet the glaze is a water based acrylic paint: https://www.sculpey.com/create/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Gloss-Glaze-SDS-Sept-2015.pdf

So I would probably not recommend eating or drinking from it at all.

 

[Denice]

Since you have found out that you like making functional pieces such a tea cups you might want to sign up for some pottery classes and work with some real clay.    If you aren't comfortable with doing that you could buy a bag of clay and starting playing with it.  Pinching,  coiling and slab rolling can give you many different shapes and forms, you don't need very many tools.  Plastic Sculpey tools can be used with clay.   The ceramic supply I shop at will fire customers work for a price per pound.   Denice

[LeeU]

On 1/2/2020 at 9:06 PM, Jess V said:

bowl is waterproof due to the glaze

Your bowl may hold water but it is not food/beverage safe. Sculpy is not clay, and the "glaze" is not glaze. You can make decorative items, but if you are actually getting interested in clay there is much to learn about making food/beverage safe tableware (even "just" for personal home use) . Not all clays and glazes are right for that specific type of functional ware. , As Denice suggested,  a local pottery class may really spark your creativity and even the basic education will be very useful.