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The Clay Hole University · Firing and Fixing

Reglazing and RefiringPrintable pottery guide

Rescuing a bad glaze result on paper: which pots are worth a second firing, which are not, how to get glaze to stick to glass, and a log for every pot you send back in.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Intermediate
  • 20 printable pages
  • 3 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 Reglazing and Refiring printable guide?

It is the free “Reglazing and Refiring: Rescuing a Bad Result” lesson rebuilt for paper: the pots worth a second firing, the faults a refire cannot fix, seven ways to get glaze to stick to a glassy surface, eight steps from a clean pot to the kiln shelf, the risks of two layers of glaze, and what goes wrong and why. Built to be printed, kept beside the glaze shelf and written in.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Reglazing and Refiring: Rescuing a Bad Result” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 20printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 3hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 10glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone who has just opened a kiln to a pot that came out wrong

A second firing is another chance.

Every potter who fires long enough opens a kiln to a pot that came out wrong. Dry glaze, patchy glaze, a color you did not want. Many of those pots can go back in, and some come back better than you had in mind.

The guide gives you the order of things: which pots are worth the kiln space, which are not, and the part that makes reglazing hard. New glaze has to stick to a glassy surface that no longer drinks water, so the guide teaches warming the pot, cleaning it, light coats and room at the foot.

It also gives you what a web page cannot: a log to write in. What was wrong with the pot, what you did and how it came out. A few weeks of notes show you which rescues work for you and which pots were better let go.

Look inside

Real pages, for beside the glaze shelf

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

  • Page 3 of the “Reglazing and Refiring” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before any glaze comes out: what you will learn, what you would need, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls and what a good result looks like.
  • Page 4 of the “Reglazing and Refiring” printable guide: what is worth rescuing, shown with the sample watermark
    What is worth rescuingThe honest triage: dry glaze, thin glaze, a color you dislike, bare spots and pinholes, and the pot that sits somewhere between fine and disappointing.
  • Page 5 of the “Reglazing and Refiring” printable guide: what a refire will not fix, shown with the sample watermark
    What a refire will not fixCrazing, a cracked pot, a warped form and the rest, each with the reason a second firing cannot touch it.
  • Page 13 of the “Reglazing and Refiring” printable guide: every pot i sent back in, and how it came out, shown with the sample watermark
    Every pot I sent back in, and how it came outA log to write in: what was wrong, what you did, how it came out and whether you kept the pot or let it go.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A clean pot, a warm surface and a page of steps

Reglazing is done with a brush in one hand and a pot in the other. Paper suits that.

  • The steps where you can see them

    Every step from a clean pot to the kiln shelf is on one page you can prop beside the glaze, in order, with the reason for each.

  • A reason for every rule

    Warm the pot, keep the coats light, leave room at the foot. Each comes with its reason, so you can tell a pot that is worth the trip from one that is not.

  • A log for your own pots

    Columns for what was wrong, what you did, how it came out and whether you kept the pot. A few lines of notes beat a memory of what worked.

  • It does not mind a wet bench

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

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.

  • Nobody doctors a studio glaze

    The lesson told you to thin the glaze. The guide says to use it as it comes and to ask an instructor if it looks thick.

  • A kiln cookie under every piece

    A refired pot goes on a kiln cookie, with a note on the ticket, and staff load the kiln. The guide says so where the lesson did not.

  • Plainer promises about food and fixes

    A refire is judged pot by pot, and the guide points to our Food Safe Lookup instead of promising a pot is safe. Pinholes sometimes heal and sometimes get worse, and the guide says both.

  • Video notes that say what the videos say

    Each video note was rewritten from the video’s own description and chapter list, so it claims no more than they show.

  • 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 “Reglazing and Refiring: Rescuing a Bad Result” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Every potter who fires long enough opens a kiln to a pot that came out wrong. Nobody likes that moment, and it never comes when you are ready for it.

If you are not sure whether yours is worth another trip, come ask us. Somebody here has almost certainly tried the same rescue.

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
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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 log to write in, a one page summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Will a refire fix every bad result?
No, and the guide says so. Crazing comes straight back, a cracked pot stays cracked and a warped form does not straighten. It has a page on what a refire will not fix and why.
Do I need a kiln of my own?
No. The guide teaches what to do to the pot and the glaze before it goes in. Where a line is only ours, such as the ticket and the drop-off table at The Clay Hole, the guide says so.
Is it safe to scuff a fired pot?
Wet, never dry, with safety glasses and at least an N95, yes. The guide says to work wet and says why. It is not a substitute for your studio’s rules.
Will it tell me whether a refired pot is food safe?
It tells you a refire is judged pot by pot, that two layers melted together are not covered by either glaze’s rating, and that a blistered, bare or crazed pot is not one to eat from. For the glazes on our wall, it points you to our Food Safe Lookup.
Do I need to be a member of The Clay Hole to use it?
No. The method works in any studio or at home. Where a line is only ours, the guide says so.
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 pot log are the two worth having beside the glaze shelf. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
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.

Warm, clean and patient

Warm the pot, keep the coats light, leave room at the foot. The guide keeps every step in front of you at the glaze shelf.

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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