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The Clay Hole University · Surface and Decoration

Mason Stains in Clay, Slip and GlazePrintable pottery guide

Pick the use, weigh the powder by dry weight, wet it to a paste, mix it in until the color is even, and fire a tile before the pot, with the order and the respirator set out so the first batch works.

$12.505 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Intermediate
  • 24 printable pages
  • 6 video picks
  • 8-question quiz + answer key

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

What is the Mason Stains in Clay, Slip and Glaze printable guide?

It is the stain lesson on paper: the four uses and the percentage for each, why you read the note on the jar before you choose a base, the respirator and the weighing by dry weight, wetting the powder to a paste, wedging or sieving until the color is even, and the tile that decides the rest. Each of the common faults is set out with what it is telling you. Steps with tick lists, a one page summary for the bench, and a log for every tile. Built to be printed and written on.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Mason Stains in Clay, Slip and Glaze” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 24printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 6hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 12glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For the jar of powder you have not opened yet

Weigh it, wet it, then fire the tile

One jar of stain can color a clay body, a slip or engobe, a glaze or a wash, and the percentage is different for each. It is also fine powder, so the respirator goes on before the jar opens, and the weighing happens over a damp towel and not at a shared table. That is not a list you want to scroll to with gloves on.

The numbers are the other half. Every percentage is by dry weight, which means working out what the clay, the slip or the glaze weighs without its water before any stain goes on the scale. Write those numbers where you can see them. A phone goes dark, gets powdery and ends up in the wrong place. A page stays where you put it.

The guide keeps the order in front of you with a tick list at each step, names what goes wrong and what it means, and leaves room for a tile log and a one page summary. The log is where the stain, the percentage and the base get written down, so the next tile starts from a note and not a guess.

Look inside

Real pages, for the bench beside your work

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark.

  • Page 5 of the “Mason Stains in Clay, Slip and Glaze” printable guide: what you need, shown with the sample watermark
    What you needThe bench list on one page: the jar, a scale, a fitted respirator and gloves, a sieve, the clay, slip or glaze it is going into, and test tiles, with a word on the item people skip.
  • Page 6 of the “Mason Stains in Clay, Slip and Glaze” printable guide: step one, shown with the sample watermark
    Step onePick the use, then the percentage. Clay body, slip and engobe, glaze and wash each get their own range, then the note on the jar, with a tick list to finish before you weigh anything.
  • Page 11 of the “Mason Stains in Clay, Slip and Glaze” printable guide: when it goes wrong, shown with the sample watermark
    When it goes wrongThe start of the fault section. Each fault says why it happens, what to change next time, and what can still be done with the piece in your hand.
  • Page 17 of the “Mason Stains in Clay, Slip and Glaze” printable guide: every tile, and how it turned out, shown with the sample watermark
    Every tile, and how it turned outA log to write in: the stain and color, what it went into, the percentage, the base and what happened. The last column is the one that pays, because the next tile starts from it.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

You do this in a respirator, with powder on your gloves

Stain work is done at the bench, covered and careful, looking at the scale and not at a screen. Paper suits that.

  • The respirator line stays in view

    The first thing on the order is the thing that protects you. On a page beside the scale it is there every time, and it does not need a clean finger to find.

  • The percentages, worked out and written down

    Dry weight first, then the stain to the percentage, in pencil next to the steps. You can check the sum again at the scale without losing your place.

  • A log that holds the recipe

    The tile log has a column for the stain, what it went into, the percentage and the base. By the time the kiln opens you will have forgotten what went in, and the page has not.

  • One page for the bench

    The one page summary has the uses, the order and what each fault is telling you. It pins up beside the jar for the moments when your hands are full.

How this one is built

Rebuilt for paper, not printed from a web page

Every guide in the series is set from scratch for print. Here is what that meant for this one.

  • A respirator, said plainly

    The guide says a fitted respirator, names the level for mixing powder, keeps it on until the powder is wet and the bench is wiped down, and keeps the work away from shared tables. The free lesson says the same.

  • A wash that stays on

    We checked the wash against our washes lesson. A wash is stain and flux with water added until it looks like watercolor. Without the flux the color can dust off after the firing, so the guide and the lesson now say so.

  • Food safety follows the glaze

    A stained clay or a wash under a clear glaze is only as safe as that clear, so the guide sends you to check the clear first. Bare stained clay and a bare wash stay off food surfaces, and so do the stains that are known to need a test.

  • Written for any studio

    The Clay Hole’s own rules, such as where stained scraps and rinse water go and how tiles are fired here, are named and dated as Clay Hole facts, so a reader working somewhere else knows which line is ours and which is a rule of the craft.

  • A quiz that explains itself

    A short quiz, and an answer key that gives the reason behind every answer rather than only the letter, worded to match the corrected lesson.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link, video picks included, is a short Clay Hole address. If a video moves, we repoint the address and your printed copy still goes to the right place.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free “Mason Stains in Clay, Slip and Glaze” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

I love a stain because it is the most honest thing on the shelf. It has already been through a kiln, so it does the same thing every time, and all you have to decide is how much and what it goes into.

So make the tile before the pot, every time, and write the percentage on the back.

Your first stained glaze will be paler than the jar, and the tile is how you find that out cheaply.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
The series

Build a little pottery library

Every printable guide in The Clay Hole University series takes one free lesson and rebuilds it for paper, with workbook pages, a glossary and a quiz with a worked answer key. Each one keeps its number for good, so a guide you buy today is the same guide in the same place next year.

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.

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Sits next to

Three lessons that pick up where this one leaves off

Each one is free to read online, and the codes in the guide take you straight there.

Questions

Good to know

How is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is not going anywhere. The guide is that teaching rebuilt for paper: a learning dashboard at the front, a tile log to write in, a one page summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
What do I need to try it?
A jar of stain, a scale that reads in grams, a fitted respirator and gloves, a sieve, the clay, slip or glaze it is going into, and test tiles. The guide lists them on its first pages, and says which one people skip and then wonder about the speckles.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Intermediate in the University. The mixing itself is simple. The care goes into the respirator, the weighing and the tile, and into reading the note on the jar. If you have never colored anything before, read the free lesson first and keep the guide beside you for your first tile.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is set 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.
Does it print in black and white?
Yes. Nothing in it depends on color to make sense: the text, the tick boxes and the tables are black on white, and color is used for headings and small labels.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page summary and the tile log are the two worth having at the bench. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
Can I read it on a screen instead?
Yes. It is an ordinary PDF and it reads fine on a tablet or a phone. The workbook pages are the ones that want paper, because you write on them.
How does delivery work?
It is a digital download. The link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout, so you can have it printed and beside your bench the same evening.
What happens if the guide is updated?
Every edition carries its version number on the last page. When we correct or improve one, the new edition replaces the old one in the shop, and we can send the updated link to anybody who already bought it.
Can I share it?
It is licensed for your own use. Print as many copies for yourself as you like, on as many of your own devices as you like. Please do not pass the file on, upload it or use it with a class or a group without asking us first.

Respirator on, paste first, tile before the pot

Pick the use, weigh by dry weight, wet the powder, mix until it is even, and write the percentage and the base on the back of a tile. Those habits take minutes and decide whether the color is there after the firing. The guide keeps them in front of you at the bench.

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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