Matte
20 glazes / Mayco
Twenty matte glazes from Mayco's Stoneware line. Solid shades at one end and glazes that move and break at the other.
This is the shelf to raid when a gloss would fight the form. A matte surface stays quiet and lets a good pot be the thing you notice.
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Matte by the numbers
How the Matte line works
Application thickness is the key to making mattes work. Mayco says so and our tiles agree: a thin coat on a matte reads as a mistake, where a thin coat on a reactive gloss reads as variation.
Many of these break over texture and rims, revealing a second color underneath. That is why a carved pot in Rainforest or Wrought Iron looks like more work than it was.
Coats
Two to three even coats on cone 04 bisque. Even is the word that matters. Mayco intends these for cone 5 to 6 and says they stay stable at cone 10.
Layering
Built to layer with the rest of the Mayco Stoneware line. Many break over texture and reveal a secondary color, so a carved or stamped surface gets more out of these than a smooth one.
Food and safety
Mayco lists its Stoneware glazes as dinnerware safe when used as directed, except where it marks otherwise. Anyone selling functional ware should test their own finished work.
Clays that suit Matte
Clay body changes the result more than people expect on this line. A darker body pulls the light mattes down, and a speckled body reads through the paler colors.
Common questions about Matte
How many coats?
Two to three, and even matters more here than on a gloss.
Why do some of these change with more coats?
Weathered Blue, Storm Gray and Lemon Meringue are built that way. One coat shows more color, more coats increase the mottling and white variegation.
Which ones work best on carved work?
The breaking colors. Rainforest, Wrought Iron, Black Walnut and Leather all lift lighter on a raised edge.
What cone do you fire these to?
Our glaze kilns run cone 5½, inside Mayco's intended cone 5 to 6 range.
Is there a test tile pot?
Yes. This family has its own numbered pot on the shelf, and every tile number here matches it.
From The Clay Hole University
More info about Matte below, but first... Everything we teach about glazing, written down and taught properly. These are the glaze lessons, and they are a small corner of a library that runs from centering your first pot to selling your work.
GuideGlaze Brushing Techniques, Coat by Coat
GuideGlazing Big and Intricate Pottery Faster
GuideGetting the Most Out of the Mega Glaze Tool
GuideMaking, Logging and Dialing in Test Tiles
GuideGlaze Problems, Causes and Fixes
GuideGlazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands
GuideBubble Glaze with Dish Soap
GuideMixing Your Own Glazes: What It Actually Involves
GuideMaking a Glaze Catcher
GuideOxide and Carbonate Washes
GuideWhen to Use Celadon Glazes
GuideHow to Use Dipping Glazes
UnderglazeHow to Use Underglaze: Techniques, Rules and Firing
UnderglazeMishima: How to Inlay Slip and Underglaze into Carved Lines
UnderglazeWipe-Away Texture: Underglaze and Oxide Washes on Bisque
The Matte test tile pot
Every glaze family on our shelves has its own test tile pot, and it is the fastest way to decide what to put on a piece. It is a fired pot wearing the whole family, one numbered tile per glaze, on a surface built to show you what that glaze actually does rather than just what color it is.
Look for Mayco Matte written on the rim. Each glaze on this page carries its tile number, and the numbers run around the pot.
Some glazes tell you loudly that they run. Others hide it. Look at how the brushed lines fired: crisp edges mean a stable glaze, and edges that went soft and fluid mean it moved, and it will move on your pot too.
About these images and what your pot will actually look like
We have done our best to represent every glaze here accurately, and you should still expect your pot to look different from what is on this screen.
Our glaze tile images are digitally created. They are built to show the character of a glaze, not to be a color match.
A screen is not a printout, a printout is not a test tile, and a test tile is not a finished pot. Each step in that chain shifts what a glaze looks like, sometimes a lot.
On top of that, the pottery itself changes the result: the clay body, how thick the glaze went on, whether it was brushed, dipped or sprayed, what was layered under or over it, where the piece sat in the kiln, how hot that spot ran, how fast it cooled, what was fired next to it, and how much texture the surface had. Two pots glazed from the same jar on the same day can come out different.
Treat every image here as a starting point, and treat a test tile fired on your own clay as the real answer.


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