Darwi Vernis is a varnish for polymer clay and other craft surfaces, made by The Clay and Paint Factory in Liège, Belgium — the same factory that makes Cernit. It is hard to get hold of outside Europe, which is why Ginger Davis Allman names us as one of the few US sources for it in her review — we import it directly.

Aerosol matte. Most spray sealers stay tacky on polymer clay — it is the usual reason people give up on sprays. This one does not. In Ginger Davis Allman’s testing, “the Darwi Vernis sprays showed no stickiness when applied to Cernit, Soufflé, Premo, Kato, Fimo Professional, CosClay, and Pardo Professional Art Clay,” and of the finish itself: “the matte is one of the flattest and most matte varnishes I’ve tried.” If you want a piece to read as unvarnished, this is the one.

One important limitation. This finish is hard, and hard means inflexible. On anything that bends — cutter earrings, thin slabs, wearables that flex in use — it will crack and flake off. It is the right varnish for beads, sculptures, ornaments and anything rigid, and the wrong one for anything that moves. Worth being clear about before you coat a finished piece.

It seals air-dry clay as well as polymer — including Darwi’s own self-hardening clays, which are porous until they are varnished.

Test first. Every sealer behaves differently on different clay brands. Varnish a baked scrap of the clay you are actually using and leave it a few days before committing a finished piece.

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.

Specification. 400 ml. Aerosol. Matte finish. Made in Belgium.

Ginger Davis Allman’s Darwi Vernis Spray Varnish on Polymer Clay at The Blue Bottle Tree tests it against the other sprays, most of which stay sticky.