GLAZING

Glaze is paint - but specially designed for pottery. It’s how you get your piece to be coloured, shiny and food safe. Glaze is made from silica (powdered glass) and oxides (colourants reactant to heat). The two main ways to apply glaze is brushing or dipping/pouring. We offer a range of small tubs of brush-on glaze in a range of colours that can be purchased at our Elsternwick studio. This method involves applying 3-5 coats with a soft-bristled brush. We also offer a range of dipping/pouring glazes that you can use in the studio for a slightly higher final firing cost. You only need to dip your pot into glaze for 3 seconds to get a lovely, even coat.

Before applying any glaze make sure it’s well mixed as it can ‘settle’ in its tub. Use an old toothbrush, fork, the back of your paintbrush or an electric mixer to blend it.

Don’t glaze the base of your pot. It will stick to the kiln shelf. If you accidentally get some glaze on the base of your pot while glazing you can get a wet sponge and thoroughly wipe it off. If you haven’t used the glaze before it’s also a good idea to leave the bottom centimetre of youth wall of your pot unglazed - glaze melts in the kiln and can run down the walls of your pot.

PLEASE NOTE:

It’s important that the glaze you use matches the type of clay you use so check that they are designed to be fired at the same temperature. At Ceramiques we only offer a STONEWARE glaze firing which means that both your clay and glaze need to be able to reach the firing temperature of 1280°C. If you use clay or glaze that fires lower to this it will result in your pot melting into a puddle and ruining itself, other potter’s work and our kiln shelves. If you’re ever unsure please have a chat with us and we’ll help you figure it out :)