How to Clean Your Studio in 15 Minutes

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A Guide on How to Clean Your Polymer Clay Studio in Less Than 15 Minutes on KatersAcres Blog

There are a lot of things that I love about having my own studio in a separate area from the everyday areas of my house.  One of which is that I can shut the door (and even lock it if I want to)…and come back whenever I want.  But here’s the neurotic part of me…I like my studio clean.  In fact on any given day, my studio can be cleaner than the rest of my house.  Why? Because that’s the way I like it! How? In less than 15 minutes I can clean the whole thing from top to bottom, even though the kitty lives in here with me.  Read how to clean you can learn to clean up your studio and to keep it clean in less than 15 minutes with just a small bit of patience and time commitment.

Polymer Clay Studio Cleaning Tutorial

Clay Work Station

Hi, my name is Katie and I am a clean studio-aholic!  Phew! There, I finally said it. Why am I like this? Because both my husband and I work very hard and we are highly motivated people. After a long day of work, we both enjoy a nice soft place to land. I extend this philosophy to many places in our world and that also includes my personal dual office and studio space. Here are the things I know about myself: I can’t work when there are lots of things on my desk or my studio table. I like my workspace clean, presentable, and everything in its proper place. I like it this way because I feel free to explore, play, create, and feel a more general peace. I like to feel the clay warm in my fingers and cool on the marble tile. I like a clear desk where it’s just me, my computer, my planner or iPad, and the current project. It’s just the way I am. And I do know that not every artist is like this and not every artist works this way. Some may thrive with their work surrounding them and lost tools everywhere. But that’s just not me.

Clay Desk

This being said, by the end of my clay time or my work day, I can have quite a mess made and scattered all about. 15 colors of blends going at one time, every tool I have out on my worktable, at least 2-3 stamps, mica powders, brushes, and so much more, and of course my coffee cup. Now let’s not even mention the clay that fell on the floor, the glitter that gently floats to the floor, and the mica powder dust covering a portion of the counter. Did I mention the acrylic paints & paint brushes?  I must have forgotten them…at any rate, you can tell that after a clay day my workspace screams “Clean Me” with the “Disaster Zone” hanging on the door.

MY THEORY:

My theory on having a clean studio is this… Not only do I like to start clean, but it takes me less time to clean it up if I do it every time I am finished creating for the day or week than if I don’t.  If I spend 4 days in the studio and don’t clean at the end of each day, on the 4th day, it takes me over an hour or more to clean up.  (Trust me, I’ve done it before).  So rather than do it the hard way, I’ll take it one day at a time … now if I could only do the same thing for my house. In fact, my husband often jokes with people that my studio and office space is cleaner than my house!

HOW TO CLEAN IT IN UNDER 20 MINUTES:

Here’s my cheat sheet on how to clean your polymer clay studio, in other words…my polymer clay studio cleaning tutorial!

Kater’s Acres Clay box & Ed Street's Colors Pasta Machine
  1. Put clay away (5 min)! Whether it’s to put them in sheets, roll them in balls, or keep them in dividers…whatever your system is, just take the time to put it away.
  2. Wipe off your tools (2 min). Use baby wipes, paper towels, warm water, whatever you have.  This might seem like a tedious task, but it’s easier to take the clay off now than later.  Also, if you have any plastic tools, the clay could eat through them if you leave them there.
  3. Put tools, books, stamps, & stamps away (3 min).  Once all your tools are clean, this step should take you no more than 2 minutes.  Just grab it and put it away where it belongs, don’t leave any of it sitting out.
  4. Clean your paintbrushes in soap & water and put your paints away (3 min).  If for whatever reason you can not clean your brushes, at minimum soak them in water so that they will not harden with paint in them.  And…take 30 seconds, close your paints, and put them away.
  5. Wipe it down (2 min)! Take a good 2-3 minutes and wipe down every surface of your clay studio.  This will help to keep particles, dirt, and extra clay bits off your future projects.
  6. Sweep it up (5 min).  One of my pet peeves is dragging glitter up the stairs and onto my carpet.  How do I prevent this? I take 2 minutes every time I close the studio to get out the broom and sweep.
  7. Smile & Leave Inspired.  Next time you venture to your clay table, your workspace will be clean and ready to be messed up.

Thank you for being a part of the Kater’s Acres Family, Sculpting Blessings,

KatieSignature

6 thoughts on “How to Clean Your Studio in 15 Minutes

  1. I’m very OCD, I clean and organize my my art station every day. It makes me feel good and I work better when I start every morning with everything in its place. Even if I work till midnight I still clean and organize everything thing.

    1. I’m SO GLAD to meet someone JUST LIKE ME! Many artists aren’t like that … but I sure am. I can’t work in chaos. It just doesn’t lead to calmness and productivity for me. I can’t do it. Good for you Gale!

  2. I would love to have a studio with a sink and countertops like this

  3. I like that your coffee machine is right there.lol

  4. Oh, if ONLY I were this dedicated!! I TRY restore order regularly, but more often than not, I’m left with a mess. You inspire me! I know it’s easier to do it every day, and it’s much nicer to work in a clean space, so I don’t know why I don’t just DO IT EVERY DAY!!

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