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How to Recycle Clay

September 22, 2012 by Brandon "Fuzzy" Schwartz 5 Comments

Intro to Recycling Clay

clay drying on a plaster slab

clay drying on a plaster slab

You can recycle clay, or reclaim clay, so it can be used again. Many potters keep their non contaminated (21) clay scraps from trimming, broken greenware, or old throwing slurry (3) to recycle and reuse. As long as clay has not been fired it can be recycled (10, 21). It can be a time consuming process (2), physically demanding and take up a lot of space (14) but it doesn’t have to be an unreasonable amount of work (3). Plus, recycled clay is clay that you don’t have to buy! As the old saying goes, there are about as many ways to recycle clay as there are potters. Many variations are presented below. Find the process that suits your situation the best. Of course, if you have a pugmill, recycling clay can be a lot easier (20).

Safety

The most notable hazard with recycling clay is breathing clay dust from dry clay (11). To be safe, wear a good quality respirator mask and eye protection (14).

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Filed Under: Articles, How To Tagged With: clay, diy, information, maintenance, original article, reclaim clay, recycling clay, saving money

How to Mix Pottery Glaze

July 7, 2010 by Brandon "Fuzzy" Schwartz 17 Comments

Intro to Mixing Dry Glazes

Mixing a glaze powder with water allows you to apply the glaze to bisque ware quickly and easily.  It is a relatively simple process.  The main steps, in more detail below, include: measuring water, mixing the glaze powder with the water, sieving, adjusting viscosity or density and letting the glaze sit for a while before it is applied.  There are many variations and some people execute these steps in a different order.

First of all, follow the instructions that came with the glaze if you are using a premixed powder.  Many commercially prepared glazes can now be purchased as dry powder in 10, 25, or 50lb increments.  Generally, dry glaze powder is formulated for dipping and pouring, while premixed liquid glazes are formulated for brushing (3,20).  The following instructions assume that you have a glaze in dry powder form which is mixed well and ready to be mixed with water.  If you are not using a whole batch of premixed powder make sure it is mixed well before taking part of the powder to mix with water.  Some of the glaze ingredients might settle to the bottom of the container during transport (20).  There are also many suggestions for keeping the glaze suspended in water or improving brushability.  These suggestions include Flocs (7), bentonite (3,11), epsom salt (13), brushing medium (10), CMC (11) and Macaloid (13).

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Filed Under: Articles, How To Tagged With: ceramic glazes, diy, information, mixing glaze, original article, pottery glaze

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Brandon "Fuzzy" Schwartz is a full time teacher, dad and husband and a part time potter, designer and photographer.

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