DAS Stone Air Dry Clay – an In-Depth Review

Is DAS Stone air modeling clay good?

Air drying clay is such a wonderful and versatile craft medium. I’ve been using it a lot lately and experimenting with all kinds of clay projects. This is how I stumbled upon DAS Stone air dry clay and I wanted to test it out.

I’ve been using white DAS clay for years, but I was curious what was the difference in the DAS Stone clay? Is it stronger? Does it have a different feel or consistency?

Learn from my other article why I think DAS is a good air dry clay brand.

DAS Stone effect modeling clay is an air drying clay that has a grey color. I tested a whole 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of clay to test it. I loved it! It’s very easy to work with, perfect for beginners and crafts with a stone or rock effect.

Now, let’s see my experience more in detail.

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DAS Stone Air Dry Clay Pricing

DAS Stone Effect air modeling clay comes in a 1 kg (2.2 lbs) packaging. In contrast to the white and terracotta DAS air dry clays, which are also available in smaller batches.

DAS Stone clay, just like the other modeling clays from this brand, is affordable. The price ranges from $10-13.

Here are a few places to buy stone effect clay:

• Michaels,
• Walmart,
• Amazon,
• Etsy,
• Ebay.

DAS Stone Clay General Features

Color

The stone effect clay has a rich grey color while still wet.

After it dries, it gets significantly lighter, it gains a concrete-like light grey color.

I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed, I loved the darker shade.

Modeling

Sculpting and modeling with the DAS stone clay is very easy. It’s soft but slightly fibrous, just like the white and terracotta clay, compared to other air hardening clays.

This grey clay will stain your hands (just like the white version), but it’s easy to wash off. However, if you have sensitive skin, it may dry out your hands, so I would recommend using a lotion after modeling. You may also use plastic gloves, but if you handle the clay for longer, small dried flakes will come off and stick to wet parts, which is annoying.

You can easily add imprints and textures to the DAS stone clay. I used several materials: textured wallpaper, a stencil, metallic charms, filigree, etc. The clay hasn’t stuck in the small holes, it was easy to remove the ‘stamps’ and they transferred the print nicely.

If you’d like a different shade of clay, you can simply color the clay with tempera, acrylic paint, or ink. I really liked the rich grey color of the clay, so I added black Chinese ink to the clay to make it darker. It was almost black when wet and dried to that darker, rich grey color I was looking for.

If you would like to see more ideas for coloring clay, check out my experiment and results, on how to color air dry clay.

TIP! Do you want to make it look more like stone or rock? Roll or press ground black pepper into the wet clay.

DAS stone clay drying time

How long does Das Stone take to dry? I would say it takes an average of 24-48h for a clay project to dry, but it depends on many factors.

Some recommend 24h per centimeter (half an inch) but in my experience more like a quarter of an inch dries hard in 24h if it’s flat, and you can maximize airflow by putting it on a rack.

Drying widely varies on several factors you need to take into consideration:

1. How warm is your environment (NOTE! too hot weather will make the clay craft prone to cracking),
2. How wet is your climate,
3. The general aspect of your clay craft (for example thickness, layers, etc.),
4. Airflow (for example if one side is covered with plastic wrap it will dry slower).

Shrinking and Cracks

Like other air drying clays, the DAS stone clay will shrink a little while the water evaporates, but it’s minimal.

I used a whole 1 kg package of DAS stone clay to test it, but none of my crafts cracked. Which is a good sign.

I also tested it on a small styrofoam egg, because in my experience clay crafts that use an armature are more prone to cracking because the clay doesn’t have enough room for shrinking. It did shrink a bit, making the surface not as smooth as it was, but not a single crack appeared.

However, this doesn’t mean that the craft you make won’t crack!

If it cracks, you can fix it by pushing a small amount of clay into the crack and smoothing it out. You can fix small unevennesses with sandpaper, but you can achieve the best results by making everything as perfect as possible while the clay is still wet.

Strenght

Some sites said that this clay it’s like rock or stone. The stone effect only stands for the grey color. Yes, it will dry hard, but it’s not stronger than any other type of air dry clay I tested.

To test the strength I made a drop test. I rolled out a piece of white and a piece of stone clay to the same thickness. I made them thin (1.5 mm = 0.06 inches) because I found that thicker clay crafts can be pretty durable. I waited for 24h for them to dry. I dropped both of them from 1 m and 2 m in height, on a carpet, on the wood floor, and the tile, in this order. Both of them eventually broke on the tile from a 2 m height.

If you want to increase or maximize the strength of your air dry clay crafts read my article on how to make clay crafts stronger.

Painting and Sealing

You can easily paint DAS stone clay, like any other air drying clay, with acrylics, tempera, or watercolors. If you’re looking for a bright color, add a layer of white paint first to make the colors pop.

I also like to use soft pastels on the clay while still wet. They are perfect to emphasize textures and imprints.

Sealing will make the original color slightly richer (well, my sealant did that, you should make a test with yours to see if it affects).

DAS Stone Clay – instructions

There are no specific instructions for this clay. You should work with it as you would do with any other air hardening clay.

1. Take a chucnk of clay from the package.
2. Knead it with your hand for a a minute or two to make it uniform.
3. Mold it, sculpt it, twist it as you like.
4. Wrap the remaining clay as tight as possable so it won’t harden until your next craft.

DAS Stone Modeling Clay ideas

I suggest using this clay for crafts that you intend to keep grey, like a fake concrete pot or ornament.

What I made with the DAS stone clay:

• Air Dry Clay Mandala Trinket Dish
• How to Make a Gnome Planter with Clay

Final thoughts about the DAS stone effect modeling clay

If you like to craft with air dry clay I recommend using this clay too. It’s easy to work with, has a nice grey color which reminds me of concrete. You can make lots of fun and beautiful clay crafts that have a stone-like, rock, or concrete effect. You can further emphasize that by rolling or pressing into the clay ground black pepper.

Have you tried DAS stone clay? How was your experience?

DAS STONE AIR DRY CLAY – an IN-DEPTH REVIEW