Cernit Alcohol Ink is a dye-based ink made in Belgium by The Clay and Paint Factory, for coloring polymer clay and other non-porous surfaces. It goes on translucent rather than opaque, so it tints what is underneath instead of covering it, and wet drops push away from each other into the swirled, marbled patterns alcohol inks are used for.

Reviewing the range, Ginger Davis Allman rated it above Ranger and Piñata — the 20ml bottles are larger than most, the nozzle is finer, and the palette is built on bright clear colors rather than leaning on dull earth tones the way competing lines do. Worth noting these are colored with dyes, not pigments, which is what makes them transparent.

Working with it: wear gloves. It stains skin, and on raw clay it stains the surface on contact with little chance to move it afterwards. Designs made on raw clay also blur over time as the alcohol migrates through the clay, so use veneers soon after making them rather than storing them. On baked clay it needs no heat setting.

Lightfastness: alcohol inks are dyes rather than pigments, and dyes are not lightfast as a class — this is true of every alcohol ink brand, not just Cernit. Keep finished pieces out of prolonged direct sunlight and they hold up well.

Sealing: seal with a water-based varnish. It protects the surface, which matters because ink can scratch off unsealed clay, and it slows fading. Avoid solvent varnishes and dimensional glazes — they dissolve the ink and make it run.

We stock Cernit Varnish in gloss and matte, in 30ml and 250ml. It is water-based, so it seals over alcohol ink without lifting it — and being water-based it also ships by air, unlike the ink itself.

Shipping note — please read before ordering. This product is classified as a hazardous material by USPS and UPS, so it cannot travel by air. Any order containing it moves by ground carrier, and that applies to the whole box — anything packed alongside it ships ground too. If an order is large enough to need a second box, that box can go by the usual service.

Ground shipping on hazardous materials has sometimes run slower than an ordinary ground shipment. We ship from outside Seattle, so the further east you are, the more time to allow. If you need it by a particular date, please order with room to spare.

On availability: the same restriction applies to our own inbound stock — it crosses by sea rather than air, so restocks are infrequent and lead times are long. When a color is here it is worth buying; when it runs out it can be a while before it returns.

Ginger Davis Allman tested the whole range, including how each color holds up in sunlight, in Cernit Alcohol Inks on polymer clay at The Blue Bottle Tree. Her Using Alcohol Inks with Polymer Clay covers technique more broadly.

• Cernit reference: CE2000020010C
• Color: White
• Size: 20ml bottle