Creative Doughcraft6

DOUGHCRAFT

Problems with cracking

~he iwo most tommon rauses of cracking are:

•    dough which hasn't been kneaded sufficiently,

•    dough which has been baked at too high a temperaturę. If the oven is set too high, the dough will swell on the inside, causing it to crack.

Rapid temperaturę changes will cause cracks. To be on the safe side, allow the dough to cool down gradually by leaving it in the oven with the heat turned off after baking. This way, the dough will have time to adjust to a cooler temperaturę.

Cracks will sometimes appear hours after the dough has been baked. If this happens, just fili in the cracks with some fresh dough, but do not return the dough to the oven for further baking. Leave the dough to air dry for a few hours. When the dough is completely dry, sand the filled-in cracks smooth with fine sandpaper.

A salt dough model that has been kept in a damp atmosphere will almost certainly have become wet. To test if the dough is wet, give it a gentle squeeze to see if it feels soft and pliable. If the model is wet, place it in a warm dry place, like an airing cupboard, and leave it for a few days until it has dried out.

Finishing salt dough

If you don t want to paint your dough model, but want to give it a golden brown finish, beat an cgg with one tablespoon of watcr, and brush it onto the raw dough before baking. Reoeat this every process every half hour whilst the dough is being baked. The morę egg glaze you use, the deeper the finał colour will be.

Painting

You can use many different types of paint on salt dough, all of which are available from art and craft shops.

Poster paint produces bright colours but can dry powdery.

Watercolours come in smali tubes and are easy to use.

Gouache is sold in smali tubes They can be used to make an opaque błock of colour, or watered down to give a gentle wash. Acrylic paints can be used, but have a rather shiny finish, like plastic, when dry.

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