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The Clay Hole University Ā· Safety and Your Body

Masks and Respirators: Which One, and WhenPrintable pottery guide

The free lesson, rebuilt as a workbook: which jobs need a respirator, what the ratings on the box mean, how to check the seal every time, and a card to stick up where the dusty work happens.

$7.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Beginner
  • 20 printable pages
  • 4 video picks
  • 8-question quiz + answer key

Flip through the free sample
  • Instant download
  • Prints on any home printer
  • The full lesson stays free online
The printable, at a glance

What is the printable edition of Masks and Respirators: Which One, and When?

It is the free lesson of the same name, rebuilt as a workbook. It sorts a studio into wet jobs that need no mask and dry jobs that do, decodes N95, P100 and FFP, walks through the four kinds of mask and the seal check that decides whether any of them works, and covers what to buy and how to look after it. On paper it adds a seal check troubleshooter, a fit and filter log, a one-page respirator card, a quiz with a full answer key, and a glossary.

Prefer to read it online first? ā€œMasks and Respirators: Which One, and Whenā€ is free to read, and always will be.

  • 20printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 4hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 13glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
Why a printable, for this one

A respirator in a drawer at home protects nobody

Most of pottery is wet, and wet clay is not the hazard. Dry dust is. So a mask matters enormously for a handful of jobs and not at all for the rest, and plenty of people wear one for the wrong ones.

The hard part is not buying the gear. It is checking the seal every time you put it on, and keeping it where the dusty work happens. Air is lazy: given a gap at the edge of a mask, it takes the gap.

This guide puts the jobs, the ratings and the five-second seal check on paper, next to a card you can stick up wherever your respirator lives.

Look inside

Real pages, for the bench where the dust is made

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark. The full guide has none.

  • Page 5 of the ā€œMasks and Respirators: Which One, and Whenā€ printable guide: what the ratings actually mean, shown with the sample watermark
    What the ratings actually meanN95, P100 and FFP decoded: the number is the efficiency, the letter is about oil, and what none of them cover.
  • Page 8 of the ā€œMasks and Respirators: Which One, and Whenā€ printable guide: the seal check failed. now what?, shown with the sample watermark
    The seal check failed. Now what?Six things that go wrong with a fit, and what to change for each one.
  • Page 10 of the ā€œMasks and Respirators: Which One, and Whenā€ printable guide: the fit and filter log, shown with the sample watermark
    The fit and filter logWhich respirator, what size, when the seal checks passed, and every filter or strap you replaced.
  • Page 16 of the ā€œMasks and Respirators: Which One, and Whenā€ printable guide: the quiz, shown with the sample watermark
    The quizEight questions, with an answer key that explains the reasoning behind every answer.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Paper beats the screen here

The mask lives by the dusty job, and so should this

Nobody reads a web page with a respirator on and dust in the air. A page taped up beside the bench is where the habit gets built.

  • The card by the bench

    One page: wet or dry, which mask, the seal check, and how to look after it. Stick it where your respirator lives.

  • A fit you can troubleshoot

    When a seal check fails, the troubleshooter tells you what to change, one thing at a time.

  • It keeps the boring facts

    Sizes, filter changes and strap replacements go on the log, so ā€œwhen did I last change these?ā€ has an answer.

  • It is honest about the limits

    Dust filters do not stop fumes, a full-face mask does not solve a beard, and cloth and surgical masks are not respirators.

How the guide is built

Built for the first time you buy a respirator

Every guide in the series is designed as a workbook first and a document second. For this one, that means:

  • A learning dashboard before page one

    What you will learn, what you need, the traps, and what success looks like.

  • The ratings, decoded

    N95, P100 and FFP, then the four kinds of mask and what each one is for.

  • Four videos, checked

    Short, well-regarded videos on where the dust comes from, choosing a reusable respirator, buying the right mask and common mistakes. Each was checked when the guide was built.

  • A seal check troubleshooter

    Six things that go wrong with a fit, and what to change for each one.

  • A fit and filter log you actually fill in

    Eight rows for the mask, its size, both seal checks, what you replaced and what fixed it.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every QR code points at a short Clay Hole address, so a printed copy keeps working when a video moves.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free ā€œMasks and Respirators: Which One, and Whenā€ lesson at The Clay Hole University. No paywall, no sign-up, no catch.

Safety information should never sit behind a paywall, so this lesson never will. Wet clay is not the hazard, dry dust is, and a respirator that fits, worn for the right jobs, handles almost all of it.

The University is free and stays free. The guides are the version rebuilt for paper with an unreasonable amount of care, and buying one keeps the free side going.

Thank you. Genuinely.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
Collect them

Build a little pottery library

Every guide carries a permanent number. This one is 02.01, the first guide in Safety and Your Body. The series is designed to live together in a binder, section by section, so the craft ends up on your shelf in the order you learn it.

Put any five printable guides in your cart and the cheapest one is on us. Put in nine and the two cheapest are on us. It happens automatically at checkout, no code to remember.

See every printable guide, or every printable we sell on one page.

  • 5guides in your cart1 on us
  • 9guides in your cart2 on us
Where this leads

From the mask to the whole studio

These lessons pick up where this one leaves off. Each one is free to read now.

Good questions

Before you buy

Is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is complete. The printable adds a seal check troubleshooter, a fit and filter log, a one-page respirator card, a printed quiz with an answer key, and a glossary.
Does it replace a proper fit test?
No. It is general education, and it does not replace a fit test or the respiratory rules where you work. We checked the parts that matter most, like the filter ratings and what works with a beard, against NIOSH and OSHA guidance.
I am not at The Clay Hole. Is it still useful?
Yes. Almost everything in it applies to any pottery studio or home setup. The few Clay Hole notes are labeled ā€œAt The Clay Holeā€.
Will it tell me which respirator to buy?
It tells you which kind to buy and why, how to check the size and the seal, and what to skip. Bring your own: a respirator has to fit your face to work.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is designed for an ordinary home or office printer on regular US Letter paper, with nothing important near the edges, so normal printer margins cut nothing off.
Can I print it in black and white?
Yes. Nothing depends on color, and we looked at the workbook pages in grayscale to be sure.
Can I use it on an iPad or laptop instead?
Yes. Every QR code in the guide is also a tappable link, so on a screen you just tap instead of scanning.
How do I get it after I buy?
Right after checkout you get a download link by email and on your order confirmation page. Each link works up to seven times.
What if the guide gets updated?
Every edition carries a version number. When we correct or improve a guide, everyone who bought it gets an email with the new edition at no charge.
Can I share it with my class or studio?
Please donā€™t. It is licensed for your own personal use. Anyone can read the full lesson free online, and the printable is here if they want their own copy.

Fit it, check it, keep it where the dust is.

Print it, stick the card up by the bench, and check the seal every time. The rest is a wet mop instead of a broom.

Get the printable · $7.00

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Depending on what you are doing, ceramics may involve extreme heat, kilns, electricity, gas, flame, sharp tools, spinning machinery, heavy equipment, pressurized equipment, silica-containing dust, fumes, chemicals, raw materials, stains, oxides, glazes, combustible materials, hot surfaces, breakable objects, and other hazards capable of causing serious injury, illness, property damage, fire, or worse.

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Terms version 2026-09-19b