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The Clay Hole University · Glazing

Oxides, Carbonates and Ceramic StainsPrintable pottery guide

Coloring a glaze on paper: which metal gives which color, how much to weigh, how to swap an oxide for its carbonate, when a stain is the better tool, and a log for every tile you test.

$10.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Intermediate
  • 21 printable pages
  • 5 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 Oxides, Carbonates and Ceramic Stains printable guide?

It is the free “Oxides, Carbonates and Ceramic Stains” lesson rebuilt for paper: the three families in the color cupboard, seven raw materials and stains with the percentages that work, the oxide and carbonate swap, what oxidation and reduction change, how to handle the powders safely, six faults and what caused each, and five videos. Built to be printed, kept beside the scale and written in.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Oxides, Carbonates and Ceramic Stains” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 21printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 5hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 12glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone about to weigh out a color

A little goes a long way.

Nearly all the color in a glaze comes from a handful of metals, and most of the skill is knowing which jar to reach for and how little of it to weigh. A quarter of one percent of cobalt is already blue, and the same number of iron would be almost nothing.

The guide tells you what each metal does, how much it takes, why the same powder can look like a different material in a different glaze, and when a stain is the honest answer. It is plain about the dust too: the respirator, the wet cleanup and the labels on every jar.

It also gives you something a web page cannot: a log to write in. The colorant and its percentage, the base glaze, what the tile did in the kiln and the one change you would make. A line of tiles with notes beats a book full of numbers.

Look inside

Real pages, for beside the scale

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

  • Page 3 of the “Oxides, Carbonates and Ceramic Stains” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before any jar opens: what you will learn, what you would need, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls and what a good result looks like.
  • Page 9 of the “Oxides, Carbonates and Ceramic Stains” printable guide: oxidation and reduction, shown with the sample watermark
    Oxidation and reductionSix cards on what the kiln atmosphere does to iron, copper, cobalt, manganese, stains and rutile, and what to make of a recipe you found.
  • Page 11 of the “Oxides, Carbonates and Ceramic Stains” printable guide: handling them safely, shown with the sample watermark
    Handling them safelyThe respirator rule, weighing over a damp towel, wet cleanup and the rinse water, written with the reason behind each.
  • Page 15 of the “Oxides, Carbonates and Ceramic Stains” printable guide: every tile in the line, and what it did, shown with the sample watermark
    Every tile in the line, and what it didA log to write in: the colorant and percentage, the base glaze, what the tile did and the one change.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A scale, a jar and a page of numbers

Weighing a colorant happens at a bench with powder nearby. Paper suits that.

  • The numbers where you can see them

    The percentages, the swap rule and the safe handling sit on one page you can pin up beside the scale.

  • A reason for every rule

    Each warning comes with the reason behind it: why a carbonate weighs about double, why chrome travels in a shared kiln, why dry powder is the risk.

  • A log for your own tiles

    Columns for the colorant and percentage, the base, what the tile did and the one change. A few lines of notes beat a memory of what you weighed.

  • It does not mind a dusty bench

    A page stays where you put it. It does not lock its screen, and you can wipe it down with the rest of the bench.

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.

  • Read against the studio’s own rules

    We checked the lesson against The Clay Hole’s rules and our other lessons. Where the lesson was out of step, the guide now says what those pages say.

  • A real respirator standard

    The vague “particulate filters” is now a half mask with P100 filters, an N95 at the least, and the guide says cloth and paper masks do not count.

  • Plainer promises about food

    A well made glaze is far less of a worry, but an under fired or crazed one can release metals. The guide says so and points to our Food Safe Lookup.

  • Numbers that agree with each other

    The stain range now matches our stains lesson, and the percentage ladder no longer contradicts the cards above it.

  • Video notes that say what the video shows

    Each of the five videos has a note checked against its description and chapter list, so the guide promises only what a video covers.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link is a short Clay Hole address. If a page 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 “Oxides, Carbonates and Ceramic Stains” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Nearly all the color in a glaze comes from a handful of metals, and most of the work is knowing which jar to reach for and how little of it to weigh.

And if a color does something strange, come ask us. We love this stuff.

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.

See every printable guide

  • 5guides in your cart1 on us
  • 9guides in your cart2 on us
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 log to write in, a one page summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Is this a book of glaze recipes?
No. It is about the colorants: what each one does, how much of it to use and how to handle it. It is meant to sit beside whatever base glaze you use.
Do I need to be a member of The Clay Hole to use it?
No. The metals and the percentages are the same in any studio. Where a line is only ours, such as telling us when a piece with tin or chrome comes in, the guide says so.
Will it tell me whether a colored glaze is food safe?
It tells you a well made glaze is far less of a worry, that an under fired or crazed one can release metals, and that a glaze you mix yourself has no maker’s food rating. For the glazes on our wall, it points you to our Food Safe Lookup.
Does it cover the safety side of the powders?
Yes. A half mask respirator with P100 filters, weighing over a damp towel, wet cleanup, rinsing in your own bucket and labeling every jar, each with the reason behind it.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Intermediate. It helps to have glazed and fired a few pieces first, and the glossary fills in the words.
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. 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 beside the scale. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
Do the videos work on paper?
Each video has a short note and a code that takes you straight to it, so you can scan it from the page.
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 the 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.

Weigh less, test more

Know the families, check the percentages, put the respirator on first and test a line of tiles. The guide keeps the whole page in front of you at the scale.

Get the guide · $10.00

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Your purchase gives one individual purchaser a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license for personal use only. You may download the guide to your own devices, print copies for your own use, write all over them, spill clay water on them, replace a coffee-damaged copy, and generally use the heck out of what you bought.

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Pottery is wonderfully unpredictable. It also carries real risk.

We work hard to make The Clay Hole University accurate, useful, practical, and ridiculously thorough. But pottery is a hands-on craft involving countless variables that no written guide can completely control or anticipate.

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.

These guides are provided for general educational and informational purposes. They are not a substitute for hands-on training, competent supervision, your studio’s safety procedures, applicable laws or codes, Safety Data Sheets, or the instructions and warnings supplied by the manufacturers of your clay, glaze, chemicals, tools, kilns, equipment, protective gear, or other materials.

Studios, kilns, clay bodies, glazes, firing schedules, electrical systems, ventilation systems, equipment, environmental conditions, application thicknesses, material formulations, and individual techniques vary enormously. Something that works beautifully in one situation may fail spectacularly in another. That is part of pottery. Occasionally, it is a very expensive part of pottery.

You are responsible for determining whether any technique, material, combination, firing schedule, tool, or process described in a guide is appropriate and safe for your specific circumstances before using it.

Use appropriate protective equipment. Use adequate ventilation and dust control. Read manufacturer instructions and Safety Data Sheets. Follow your studio’s rules. Obtain qualified instruction when a process or piece of equipment requires it. Test materials and techniques before committing important work to them. If you do not understand how to perform something safely, do not proceed until you do.

Never assume that a ceramic surface, glaze, clay body, firing method, finished vessel, repair, decoration, or other result is food-safe, microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe, oven-safe, structurally sound, chemically stable, or suitable for any particular purpose solely because it appears in or is discussed in one of our guides. Verify suitability independently when it matters.

Ceramics also refuses to sign contracts promising beautiful results. Colors change. Glazes move. Kilns have opinions. Pots crack. Materials interact unexpectedly. Manufacturers reformulate products. Equipment behaves differently. The Clay Hole does not guarantee any particular aesthetic, functional, firing, glazing, structural, or other result.

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Terms version 2026-09-19b