Thirteen ways to finish a pot

Which glazing method fits what you made

The glaze wall is the part of the studio people stand in front of for twenty minutes without deciding anything. The method matters more than the color, and it is decided by the shape in your hands.

A member at the glaze wall holding a bisque pot up against the rows of test tiles
Three questions

Answer these and the shortlist follows

What did you make

What do you want it to look like

How long have you got

Scoring is a simple sum across the three answers, shown so it can be argued with. A method that is wrong for your piece will always be wrong, whatever it scores.

All thirteen

The whole table, so nobody has to trust the scoring

MethodBest forThe ruleBefore you can
Brush-on glazeThe studio default. Three even coats from a jar, cross-hatched so the brush marks cancel out.Three coats, every time. Two comes out a different color. Leave the bottom quarter inch bare.Nothing first
Dipping glazeTwo seconds in a bucket gives an even coat no brush can match. The fastest way to glaze a whole piece, and the one with a certification in front of it.Certification first. Density and dwell time both matter, and a wrong dip costs the bucket.Certification
PouringGlaze poured in and out of a piece, or over the outside from a jug. The only sane way to glaze the inside of something with a narrow neck.Work over a bucket, move fast, and expect the pour lines to show. They are part of the look.Nothing first
SprayingAn atomizer or spray gun, for gradients, for very even coats, and for anything too big to dip.Not at The Clay Hole. We do not spray here, and the booth is owners and paid employees only. At home, outdoors or an extracted booth, mask on, built in passes.Not at the studio
Underglaze, then a clearColored clay in a brushable form. It holds a line, it does not move in the firing, and a clear glaze over the top makes it food safe and glossy.Three coats of underglaze for solid color, one for a wash. Clear goes over the top, not under.Nothing first
Sgraffito through underglazeScratch through a coat of colored slip or underglaze so the drawing is made by what you take away rather than what you put on.Leather hard, not bone dry. The slip has to have set and the clay still has to cut cleanly.Nothing first
Mishima inlayCarve a line, fill it with contrasting slip, scrape the surface back. The result looks printed rather than painted.Leather hard. Let the slip stiffen before scraping or it drags out of the line.Nothing first
Wax or tape resistWax, latex or tape painted where you do not want glaze. Glaze beads off it and the wax burns away in the firing.The only practical way to get a crisp edge or a clean overlap. Wax cannot be undone once dry.Nothing first
Layering two glazesOne glaze over another, where the overlap does something neither of them does alone. The most rewarding thing on the glaze wall and the easiest way to ruin a shelf.Test on a tile first. The overlap melts lower and runs further than either glaze. Keep it well above the foot and use a catcher.Nothing first
Slip or engobeColored liquid clay brushed or poured onto a piece before it dries. It sits between a slip and a glaze and it changes the surface rather than covering it.Goes on at leather hard, not on bisque. Matching shrinkage matters or it flakes off.Nothing first
Mason stains in the clayColor mixed into the clay body itself rather than onto the surface, so the color goes all the way through and survives carving.Sold by the twenty-five grams, paid for before it is weighed, and weighed only by me or the main hand building instructor. Colored scrap never goes in the reclaim.Weighed by staff
Lusters and overglazesReal gold, platinum and mother of pearl, painted onto an already glazed and fired piece and fired again low.We do not stock them, so members who want them bring their own. Nothing with luster on it ever goes in a microwave.Bring your own
Alcohol inks and enamel paintsNot fired at all. Color applied to a finished piece, which makes it decorative rather than functional from that point on.Outside tables only, because they are solvent based. Never for anything that holds food.Outside only

Three things true of every method on this page

The bottom quarter inch stays bare on anything that sits on a shelf, and a glaze catcher goes under anything likely to run.

Bisque has to be clean. Dust, grease and a fingerprint all show up as crawling, which is glaze pulling away and leaving bare patches.

The jar photo is the glaze at the right thickness, on somebody else’s clay. A test tile on your clay is the only thing that tells you the truth.

Before you commit a pot

Every method on this page has a test tile in front of it

An afternoon of tiles is the least glamorous and most valuable thing a potter can do with a session, and it is the difference between choosing a glaze and hoping for one.

Find a glaze Glaze problems and fixes