Q&A for How to Glaze Pottery

Metal tips and fine line bottles work well! You can also use fine brushes, auto detailing brushes, hockey brushes, and bamboo brushes.

You must never add a second coat when the first coat is still wet. Applying a second coat will actually remove the glaze underneath, which ends up creating some bare spots.

As long as the first coat is dry! Feel the glaze first—if it feels cold, then it's still too wet.

Hold the plate either with your fingers or a pair of dipping tongs. Then, dip the plate into the glaze for just a moment—however long it takes you to breathe in and out. Give the plate a shake, and place it on a clean surface so it can dry.

Dip glaze for the amount of time it takes you to quickly breathe in and out. Some people prefer to dip glaze for 3 to 5 seconds, but this might make the glaze too thick.

You can paint ceramics with acrylics which is called a cold finish. Or you can use oil paint. It takes a little longer to dry if you use oil paints. Otherwise, you can glaze it.

The glazing method is also known as the hot method. Glazes are different from paint, and the pieces have to be fired once again after the application. Beginners may find it hard to do glazing. Glazes can be very misleading in terms of their looks. Yellow could look like green and green could look like yellow and blue looks like pink.

It is best to use a simple palette while using glazes. Do not use primary colors with secondary colors and put them on top of each other. It can spoil the appearance of your piece. Apply at least three coats of glaze and allow the piece to dry in between the coats.

You can use metal stamping tools.

No. You never want to put kiln quality clay in a regular oven. There are oven-bake clays on the market, but none of them would be compatible with the glazes used in the process outlined above.

You don't need to as it should come out glossy.

Apply the wax resist BEFORE glazing. Let the wax resist dry before glazing. Dry wax resist usually repels glaze. If there is glaze over the wax resist, it should be wiped off before the piece is fired.

Applying underglaze to dry unglazed clay rewets the piece and weakens or ruins its structure. It's better to bisque fire a piece of greenware and underglaze the bisque piece.

Yes. If you can heat up the piece first, then the glaze will adhere and dry better. If you have a heat gun, that works best to heat it as well as dry it. Once dry, you can pick it up without smudging it.

I usually try to break up the hard glaze into smaller chunks, then replace then add water.

Use a food-safe clay, and use food-safe glazes. If the glaze is food safe, it will most likely be mentioned by the manufacturer on the glaze packaging.

Yes, the heat of the kiln is what allows the glaze to undergo the chemical reaction that will result in its vibrant final color, as well as a waterproof seal.