Many people, children and adults, after making some handicraft with pasta, want to preserve this creation. Here at umCOMO, we want you to know that it is possible to perform certain techniques that allow the pasta to harden and can be perfectly preserved.
Using air, the oven, the microwave or simply sealing products, you can make the dough hard quickly and safely. If you want more information about these tricks, don’t miss this umCOMO article, because we’ll show you how to harden pasta with quick and easy methods.
Table of Contents
How to harden pasta
Believe it or not, you can leave the pasta hard using only the air, since in this way, the humidity of the pasta decreases, it hardens and no longer has elasticity. To use this trick, just follow these steps and see how to make the pasta hard:
- The first thing you should do is wrap the figure in butter paper for four or five hours.
- Then remove the butter paper from the pasta and let it dry. If it is a very large piece, you can use spatulas.
- Finally, place the pasta on a clothesline or drying rack for another 24 hours. The next day, you will see the results.
How to harden pasta in the microwave
Putting the modeling clay in the microwave can help it soften and harden. If you want the latter option, it is necessary to leave the mixture in the appliance for about a minute. After this period, you will see how the piece begins to harden little by little.
It is important to keep in mind that the steam from the dough releases several harmful chemicals (like sulfur) when it is at high temperatures. This, together with the radiation that occurs in the microwave, can be very harmful to health. Therefore, we recommend maximum care or the choice of a less aggressive method. Furthermore, if none of these methods convince you, but you do not want to buy new products, you can always learn like making homemade pasta.
How to harden modelling dough in the oven
Another procedure you can use to toughen dough soft consists of heating it in the oven. This will help the dough to gain stiffness and lose elasticity. Besides, it is a very easy and fast process, because you only need to perform this step by step:
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Put the mashed figures on a greased baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
- After this time, turn off the furnace with the figures inside, as you will only need to remove them when they cool down.
- Place the pieces in another container and let them rest overnight. The next day, you will discover the incredible results.
How to harden pasta with varnish
The last option we propose, if you want to know how to conserve your hard dough figures, is the use of specialized products, of course. It may be a slightly more expensive option than the others, however, the use of pasta sealants is much more effective and safer than those mentioned above. See how to harden spring dough with varnish:
- A white glue turns into varnish easily when it’s dissolved in water. Then, to start, mix these two ingredients (adding very little water to the mixture);
- With a brush, spread the white glue now turned into varnish all over the piece. It is important that you do this in several layers and avoid the formation of bubbles and excess glue.
- To learn how to preserve the figures of pasta, wait for the dough to dry and apply a layer of liquid silicone with the help of a wooden toothpick. Apply this product little by little and in small quantities to make it uniform.
- When you finish this last step and the silicone dries, apply more two coats of glue white again and let the figure rest.
- To make the job better, apply some spray sealantAlways make sure to spray the figure about 20 centimetres away.
- Although this next step is optional, we recommend that you also apply a thin layer of transparent acrylic glue, so you can completely harden the piece and the figure will last much longer.
When the figures are completely dry, you can use any kind of paint to decorate the pieces of hard pasta. Also, keep them away from wet places to prevent them from softening or deteriorating.
If you also work with clay, we suggest reading the article that explains cow to dry a clay sculpture.
If you want to read more similar articles to How to harden pastaWe recommend that you enter our category of Art and Crafts.
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