Handmade Soap Dish Out of Polymer Clay

Winter is so harsh on the skin so I've been trying handmade soaps as they're supposedly contain more moisturizer than commercial detergent soaps. The problem was my bathroom had no soap dish (we used liquid soaps). So there, I handmade one for myself out of polymer clay! :D

Polymer clay is so versatile and strong material if baked correctly. Last night I made my first handmade soap dish out of polymer clay. I used Kato polymer clay. Why I chose Kato? Because according to many polymer clay experts, Kato is one of top polymer clay brands out there. I was just taking their advice. I like the fact that Kato clay colors stay true after baked. Not darkened like other brands. I'm still green in polymer clay, so don't take my word, try for yourself :)

This soap dish is a blend of 4 colors, red, turquoise, white, and magenta. This blend created a muted yet somewhat vibrant maroon-ish purple. I ran it through pasta machine probably 50 times if not more. One of the downside of Kato clay is that they sometimes really hard to condition although I did ran across a few that were quite "soft" out of the wrapper. But the end result is well worth it. So after the clay is well conditioned, supple, and pliable, I cut it into shape and starts adding designs to it. You can see one of my little birdies is standing next to a couple of flowers.

The center of this polymer clay soap dish has holes for drainage. I made a mistake by not giving it a little lift underneath the drainage while baking. The heat from the oven made it changed shape a bit and the middle touched the ground, which means it wouldn't drain well. Luckily Kato clay is still quite flexible when warm. Carefully, I put a stack of paper underneath the drainage and yay! It had a little raise after it cooled down and hard like intended. Glad it was quite forgiving!

I'm quite satisfied by the end result! One tiny annoyance though, It had a tiny ball stuck underneath. That sneaky little bugger! Oh yeah, I dusted mica powders to antiqued it prior baking. It looks tons better!

Click the picture to expand.

PS: I dropped this soap dish by accident off my sink and it's still in one piece :) w00t!