Surface and decoration · Using resists

Wax, latex, tape and paper. Which one, and when it comes off.

A resist is anything that keeps glaze, slip or underglaze off a part of the pot you want left alone. Five materials do it, and the whole subject comes down to one question: does it need to come off before the kiln, or can the kiln take it off?

This page answers that question for each material, then walks the apply, the glaze-over, the beads and the peel with a tick list at every step. Six fixes, and six videos from potters who do not work here.

This is the short version: the one question, the four steps with tick lists, and the three failures. The material-by-material detail, the layering, and the questions are in the comprehensive version.

x2Burn out in the kiln: wax and paper
MatteThe moment to peel latex and tape. Not shiny, not dusty
x6Videos, from potters who have nothing to do with us
x4Steps, each with a tick list you can work off
Jump to a section
Why this page has words and video The one question The technique in six moves What you need on the table 1. Matching the resist to the job 2. Applying it 3. Glazing over it 4. The peel and the kiln Six potters, four resists The one video to watch When it goes wrong How it works at The Clay Hole Questions people actually ask Related lessons
An illustration of a potter holding a strip of blue painter’s tape against a glazed pitcher on a banding wheel, with a roll of tape, small tape scraps, a jar and brushes on the table and other potters working in the background.

Every resist in full, the layering, the studio rules and six videos.

Read it, then watch it

Why this is written down and filmed, both.

Resists are a matching problem: five materials, four stages of clay, and a rule about which comes off before the kiln. That is a table, and tables are what pages are for. What a page cannot show is the peel: the moment latex or tape comes away from a matte glaze and either leaves a knife edge or takes the edge with it. Or the bead: the way glaze pulls into drops on wax, and the sponge that takes them off. That is what the six videos are for.

Use both, in this order

Read the matching band and answer the one question. Read the step for your resist. Watch the peel or the bead. Do it on glaze day with the tick list open.

The whole idea

Does it have to come off before the kiln, or can the kiln take it off?

That one question picks the resist. Wax and paper burn out in the firing, so they are for anything you will not touch again: a foot ring, a pattern under one glaze. Latex and tape have to be peeled, so they are for crisp edges and for layering, where you glaze, peel, and glaze again. Whatever you use: dry it before glazing, sponge the beads off wax, and peel latex and tape when the glaze is matte.

The five-minute version

The whole technique in six moves.

If you already glaze and you just want the shape of it, this is the shape of it. Everything below is these six moves, slowed down and with the places they fail marked.

1Ask the one questionOff before the kiln, or off in the kiln? Wax and paper burn out. Latex and tape are peeled. That picks the resist.
2Apply it to a clean, dry surfaceDry bisque. Wax goes on first, in one coat, before any wiping or rinsing. Latex goes on in two thin coats, tape burnished down, wet paper smoothed flat.
3Let it dry fullyWax goes on shiny and is ready when matte. Latex goes on milky and is ready when clear and rubbery. Ten minutes, longer on a cold day. Glazing over wet wax is how wax gets into glaze.
4Glaze or slip over itBrush away from the resist edge, never toward it. If you dip, follow our dipping lesson: the time printed on that glaze’s lid, then hold the pot over the bucket until it stops dripping.
5Beads off wax, peel the othersOn brushed glaze, a barely damp sponge lifts every bead off waxed areas; on a dipped pot, check the waxed foot last. Latex and tape come off when the glaze is matte. Paper comes off when the slip is matte.
6Only wax and paper go into the kilnLatex and tape are off before the pot leaves your hands. Wax and paper burn away and leave nothing.

Before glaze day

What you need on the table.

Five resists and a sponge. You will not use all five on one pot, and wax alone covers most of what most potters ever need.

Wax resist, and its own brushCold wax emulsion from a bottle. One brush that only ever does wax, marked as such, washed in hot soapy water the moment you finish. Our wax stations are a Purple and Black Level tool for brush-on work and open to every Level on dipping day; for brush-on work at Green and Yellow, bring your own.
Latex resist, and its own brushLiquid latex from a bottle, the kind sold for ceramics. Soap the brush before loading it or the brush is gone. Ventilation, and not for anyone with a latex allergy. Bring your own.
TapePainter’s tape for straight lines, a tape made for curves for anything else. Any tape can let glaze wick under on rough bisque, so press every edge down. A craft knife to cut shapes once it is on the pot.
Newsprint or thin paperTorn or cut shapes, soaked until limp, for paper resist on leather hard clay under slip or underglaze. Free, and the resist that suits raw clay best.
Rubber bands and stickersBands wrapped around a pot give lines and grids under a wash or a glaze. Vinyl stickers and cut vinyl shapes are tape you did not have to cut. Both peel like tape.
A barely damp sponge and a needle toolThe sponge for beads on wax. The needle for lifting a corner of paper, tape or latex, and for scoring a tape edge before the peel.

Cold wax and a brush that only does wax, latex and a soaped brush if you want peelable edges, painter’s tape and a craft knife, wet newsprint for raw clay, a barely damp sponge and a needle tool. That is all of it.

1

Step one

Match the resist to the job and the stage.

Does it have to come off before the kiln, or can the kiln take it off? That is the question that picks the resist. Everything else, which brush, which stage, how long to wait, follows from the answer.

The kiln takes it off

Wax and paper

Wax is the everyday resist. Brush it on bisque and glaze will not stick there; brush it on leather hard clay and slip or underglaze will not. It is permanent until the glaze firing burns it out, which is why it belongs on anything you will not touch again: the foot ring, a pattern under one glaze, a border. Paper is wet newsprint laid on leather hard clay and slipped or underglazed over, then peeled; anything left burns out in the bisque. It is the resist that suits raw clay best.

You take it off

Latex, tape, bands and stickers

Latex is brushed on bisque or over a first glaze, dries to a rubber skin, and peels off in one piece once the glaze over it has gone matte. It gives the cleanest edge of anything and it is the resist for layering, because you can glaze, peel and glaze again. Tape is latex you did not have to brush: straight lines, geometry, lettering cut with a knife. Rubber bands and vinyl stickers are tape in other shapes. All of them come off before the pot goes anywhere near a kiln, because none of them burn out cleanly.

By stage

Leather hard clay: paper first, wax second, latex if you must (it can pull clay), tape last, burnished down hard, because it grips raw clay least well. Bisque: everything works. Over a first glaze: wax or latex, and latex peels cleaner. After the glaze firing: nothing on this page. A mask on a fired pot is a sandblasting job, and we do not allow sandblasting here.

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2

Step two

Apply it to a clean surface, and let it dry all the way.

Wax goes on shiny and is ready when it is matte. One coat, from a brush that only ever does wax, on dry bisque, before any wiping or rinsing, because wax does not stick well to damp bisque. Ten minutes on a warm day, longer on a cold one. Glazing over wax that is still wet is how wax gets into a glaze, and wax in a glaze jar finishes the jar.

Latex goes on in two thin coats rather than one thick one, with a brush that has been soaped first, in a room with the window open. It is ready when it has gone from milky to clear and rubbery. Tape goes on dry bisque and then gets burnished down along every edge with a fingernail or a rib, because a tape edge that is not pressed down is an edge the glaze will wick under. Cut shapes with a craft knife after the tape is on the pot, not before. Paper is soaked until it is limp, laid on leather hard clay, and smoothed flat with a fingertip or a soft rib so there is no air under it, because an air bubble is a place slip will get to.

Whatever the resist, work with the pot on a banding wheel, use a small brush for the edges of a shape and a big one for the middle, and keep your fingers off the parts you have already done. A fingerprint of wax on a bisque pot is invisible until the glaze refuses to go there, at which point it is permanent.

Wax as a drawing tool

Resist for effect starts here. A brush loaded with wax drawing a leaf, a stripe, a word or a scribble on bisque is a drawing the glaze will go around. Dark glaze over a wax drawing gives a pale drawing. It is the fastest decoration on the glaze wall and it needs one brush. Bill van Gilder’s video below is about three minutes of wax resist decoration on pots.

Between two glazes

First glaze, let it dry, wax or latex in a pattern over it, second glaze brushed over everything (dipping glaze and brush-on glaze never meet here, so both are brushed). The resist sheds the second glaze so the first shows through, and at the edge where they meet the two glazes react. This is where resist stops being tidy and starts being interesting. Test tile first, because two stable glazes can run together.

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3

Step three

Glaze over it, away from the edge, and sponge the beads off wax.

Brush away from the resist, never toward it. A brush stroke that ends at a wax line pushes glaze into the wax. A stroke that starts at the line and moves away leaves the line clean. If you dip, follow our dipping lesson: the time printed on that glaze’s lid, then hold the pot over the bucket until it stops dripping.

Then the beads. Glaze does not run off wax, it pulls into drops on it, and every drop you leave fires as a dot. On a foot ring that is a sharp bump; on a decorated surface it is a spotty pattern. On brushed glaze, go over every waxed area with a sponge wrung nearly dry while the glaze is still damp, and lift the beads. On a dipped pot, leave the wet glaze alone and check the waxed foot last with a barely damp sponge. It takes a minute per pot. It is the single most skipped step on this page and the reason waxed feet come out of kilns with pimples.

Paper works the same way with slip: brush the slip away from the paper edge, or pour it, and keep it thin enough that it does not build up against the paper into a wall. Underglaze over paper wants two coats, brushed in different directions, both away from the edge.

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Step four

Peel at matte. Then only wax and paper go to the kiln.

There is a window for the peel. Latex and tape come off when the glaze over them has lost its shine but is not yet powdery: leather hard glaze, if that helps. Peel too early and the wet glaze drags across the line. Peel too late and the dry glaze has bonded across the edge and chips when the resist moves.

Lift a corner with a needle tool. Pull tape back on itself at a low angle, not straight up. Pull latex slowly in one piece; a good latex peel comes off like a glove and leaves a knife edge. If the glaze is thick, score along the tape edge with the needle first so the break is where you want it. Paper comes off when the slip has gone matte and the paper is still damp: needle under one corner, lift, done. If the paper has dried on, dampen it with a brush and wait a minute.

Then check what is still on the pot. Wax and paper can stay; the glaze firing burns wax away below the temperature anything else happens, and the bisque burns paper. Latex, tape, rubber bands and stickers cannot: latex leaves a residue that marks the glaze, tape leaves adhesive, and rubber bands smolder. None of them go to the drop-off table. If you are not sure whether every scrap of tape is off, run a fingertip round the pot; tape edges catch.

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Watch it done

Now watch six potters use four resists.

Watch this one, then go wax a foot.

None of these videos are ours. Between them they cover wax resist three ways, latex, tape, and paper with slip. Nothing but the still frame loads until you press play.

Just under twelve minutes of wax resist over underglaze, from the bisque vase to the glaze firing, at cone 04, which is cooler than our glaze firings. The other five videos are in the comprehensive version.

Start here: wax resist, start to finish Pottery Glazing Tutorial: Wax Resist Miss Linnea Lark
Just under twelve minutes of a teacher decorating a bisque vase: an image traced on with carbon paper, underglaze, and a coat of wax resist, then the glazing and firing. This one fires low, to cone 04, which is cooler than our glaze firings, so take the wax technique and leave the temperatures and the underglaze step, because ours goes on raw clay, never on bisque. Watch on YouTube
Latex, the peelable one How to Use Latex Resist to Create Glaze Patterns | LORNA MEADEN Ceramic Arts Network
Four minutes on using latex resist to make glaze patterns, cut from Lorna Meaden’s longer video on form and surface with porcelain. Watch on YouTube
Which tape Tape Resist Review Little Street Pottery
Nearly ten minutes in which Ann tries several tapes as resist on small cups and judges them for how flexible, durable, water resistant and sticky they are. The chapters run application, low tack tape, painter’s tape and a conclusion. Watch on YouTube
Paper and slip, on greenware Paper Resist Richard McColl
About nine minutes on a hard edged design made with slip and newspaper. The chapters run paper resist, slip, other uses and tips. Watch on YouTube
Wax as a drawing tool How I apply wax resist decoration to pots. Bill van Gilder
About three minutes of Bill van Gilder applying wax resist decoration to pots, which is what the title says. Watch on YouTube
Wax resist and glaze How to Create Lively Glaze Surfaces with Wax Resist Ceramic Arts Network
About five minutes from a longer video on wheel throwing and handbuilding by Nick Joerling, with wax resist in the title. The chapters run applying shino glaze, brush decoration, rim treatment and blue slip, and the final glaze. Watch on YouTube

When it goes wrong

Six ways it goes wrong, and what to do about each.

The three failures that happen on the first night.

Pick the one that looks like your pot. The first three are the resist itself. The last three are the edge, the paper and the brush.

Pick the one that looks like your pot.

How it works here

At The Clay Hole, wax is a glaze day tool and the jars are sacred.

This page is written for potters everywhere. A few things are specific to our building.

Four things to know here

Our wax stations are a Purple and Black Level tool for brush-on glazing, and open to every Level when you are dipping. For brush-on work at Green and Yellow, bring your own wax and your own brush for it. Latex, tape and paper are bring-your-own for everyone. No brush ever goes into a glaze jar here: spoon what you need into your own cup. A contaminated jar is finished and replacing it is on the member. Every pot goes into our kilns with a naked bottom on a cookie, and wax is how the bottom stays naked when you dip.

Wax by Level

The wax stations are set up for glaze day. For brush-on glazing they are a Purple and Black Level tool, and Green and Yellow Level Members bring their own bottle of cold wax and their own brush. For dipping, every Level uses the wax stations, because every dipped pot needs a waxed foot. Everyone needs the free brush-on glaze and underglaze certification before anything on the glaze wall, and the dipping buckets have their own training.

Latex, tape and paper

All bring-your-own. Latex wants ventilation, so use it near a door and not over the glaze table. Tape and paper are yours to bring and yours to take home; a strip of tape left on a shared table ends up on somebody else’s pot.

The jars

No brush ever goes into a glaze jar here: spoon what you need into your own cup and dip the brush in that. A wax or latex brush is one more brush to keep well away from the glaze, and the glaze brushes never go into the wax. One drop of wax in a jar of glaze contaminates the whole jar, the jar is finished, and replacing it is on the member who did it. Mark your wax brush. Wash it at the sink, not in the glaze water.

Naked bottoms and the kiln

Every glazed piece goes in on a cookie with a bare bottom, which is what the wax on the foot is for. Wax and paper burn out in our firings, cone 05 bisque and cone 5½ glaze. Latex, tape, rubber bands and stickers do not, so please make sure every scrap is off before the pot goes to the drop-off table.

Questions people actually ask

The ones that come up every week.

Which resist do I use?

Ask one question: does the resist need to come off before the kiln, or can the kiln take it off? Wax and paper burn out, so they are for anything you will not touch again before firing: a foot ring, a pattern under one glaze. Latex and tape have to be peeled, so they are for edges you want crisp and for anything layered, where you glaze, peel, and glaze again.

Can I use resist on greenware?

Paper, yes: wet newsprint on leather hard clay with slip or underglaze over it is the classic. Wax works on greenware for slip and underglaze, and burns out in the bisque. Latex works but can pull clay when it peels. Tape grips raw clay least well, so burnish the edge down hard. On bisque, all four work.

Does the wax burn off completely?

Yes, in the glaze firing, well below the temperature anything else happens. It leaves no trace, which is why the foot of every glazed pot can be waxed. Latex and tape do not: latex leaves a residue that can mark the glaze, and tape leaves adhesive, so both come off before the pot goes to the kiln.

Why does the foot need wax at all?

Every pot in our kilns goes in on a cookie with a naked bottom, and wax is how the bottom stays naked while you dip or brush. Wax the foot, glaze the pot, sponge the beads off the foot. If you brush glaze carefully, you can skip the wax, but nobody dips without it.

What is the difference between cold wax and hot wax?

Cold wax is the emulsion in a bottle: brush it on, let it dry, done. Hot wax is paraffin melted in a pan, sometimes with oil, applied hot with a brush. It is faster, harder and more traditional, and it is a fire and fume hazard that does not belong in a shared studio. Everything on this page is cold wax.

Why does latex smell like that?

Ammonia, which keeps the latex liquid in the bottle. The smell can sting your nose and eyes, so use it near a door with fresh air moving, and stop if it bothers you. If you have a latex allergy, this is not the resist for you. Wax does the same job on most pots.

Can I put wax on top of glaze and then glaze again?

Yes, and it is the most interesting thing on this page. First glaze, wax pattern over it, second glaze brushed over everything (dipping glaze and brush-on glaze never meet here, so both are brushed). The wax sheds the second glaze so the first shows through in the pattern, and where the two glazes meet at the edge of the wax they do something neither does alone. Test it on a tile first; two glazes that are each stable can run together.

Related lessons

Six lessons that sit next to this one.

Three to read next.

A resist is only ever half of a technique. These are the glazing and decorating pages it pairs with.

GlazingGlaze Brushing TechniquesThe three-coat method the resist sits under. GlazingHow to Use Dipping GlazesDipping is where a waxed foot earns its keep. Surface and decorationMishimaWax over the surface, carve through it, flood the lines: the resist version. Surface and decorationHow to Use UnderglazeTape and stencils under underglaze, and the firing rules. Surface and decoration40 Ways to Add TextureWax between glaze coats is one of forty. GlazingGlaze Problems, Causes and FixesCrawling and the other glaze faults, including wax where it should not be.

That is the whole technique

One question. Apply, dry, glaze away from the edge, sponge the beads, peel at matte.

Your first waxed foot will have three fired dots on it because you skipped the sponge. That is normal, and the second one will not. Resist is the cheapest decoration on the glaze wall, and the potters whose surfaces you admire are mostly using one brush of wax and a good peel.

If you want each resist in full, the layering between two glazes, the studio rules and the answers to the questions everybody asks, switch to the comprehensive version at the top. Otherwise, go wax a foot ring.

Back to Clay Hole University The three-coat method it sits under

Written for potters everywhere. Where our studio does things differently, the page says so.