The Clay Hole University Ā· Studio Life and Etiquette
To Apron or Not to ApronPrintable pottery guide
The free lesson, rebuilt as a mostly unserious field guide: the one serious rule about studio clothes, seven types of potter, the case for and against the apron, and what actually happens to your laundry.
- Skill level: Beginner
- 17 printable pages
- 13-term glossary
- 8-question quiz + answer key
- Instant download
- Prints on any home printer
- The full lesson stays free online
What is the printable edition of To Apron or Not to Apron?
It is the free lesson of the same name, rebuilt as a workbook. It gets the serious part out of the way first (tie back anything that dangles, and brush off before you get in the car), then gives a field guide to seven types of studio dresser, the case for the apron and the case against it, the laundry facts that are genuinely useful, and a verdict. On paper it adds a clothes check, a one-page clothes card, a quiz with a full answer key, and a glossary.
Prefer to read it online first? āTo Apron or Not to Apronā is free to read, and always will be.
- 17printable pages, US Letter
- 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
- 8QR codes, each on a short Clay Hole address
- 13glossary terms in plain language
- 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
The deepest rift in ceramics
On one side, people who arrive in a canvas apron with their name embroidered on it. On the other, people who throw in whatever they wore to the grocery store and go home streaked to the elbow. Both are correct. Neither will admit it.
There is one serious part, and it is short. The rest is a taxonomy of your fellow members, plus the laundry facts that are genuinely useful: wet clay washes out, glaze and iron oxide do not.
It ends in a one-page clothes card for the studio bag, and a clothes check so you can find your type.
Real pages, for the studio bag
These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark. The full guide has none.

The serious partClothes you have made peace with, tie back anything that dangles, and brush off before you get in your car. 
A field guide to the seven typesThe Embroidered, the Denialist, the Towel, the Archaeologist, the Overdressed, the Convert and the Uniformed. 
The clothes checkWhat you wear, whether anything dangles, what stained and stayed, and whether it is studio-only now. 
The quizEight questions, with an answer key that explains the reasoning behind every answer.
A card in the studio bag
It is a clothes guide. It should live with the clothes.
The clothes card
The serious part, the seven types, what happens to your clothes and the verdict, on one page.
A clothes check
One row for each thing you wear, so you know what is a studio-only item now.
The serious part, first
If you read one thing: tie back anything that dangles, and brush off before you get in the car.
A field guide you can argue with
Find your type. Then argue with the person who is a different one.
Built for people who take clay seriously and clothes less so
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 seven types
A field guide, compiled from watching people, and from being several of them.
The case for, and the case against
Both sides, argued properly.
A clothes check you actually fill in
Eight rows: what you wear, anything dangling, stains that stayed, studio-only now.
The clothes card
The whole guide on one page.
Codes that keep working
Every QR code points at a short Clay Hole address, so a printed copy keeps working when a video moves.
The lesson is free. It always will be.
All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free āTo Apron or Not to Apronā lesson at The Clay Hole University. No paywall, no sign-up, no catch.
The apron debate is the deepest rift in ceramics, and both sides are correct. The one serious part is short and belongs to everybody, so this lesson stays free.
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
Build a little pottery library
Every guide carries a permanent number. This one is 03.04, the fourth guide in Studio Life and Etiquette. 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
From the clothes to the rest of the studio
These lessons pick up where this one leaves off. Each one is free to read now.
-
Guide 02.02 · free lessonThe Risks Every Potter Should KnowThe one line on this guide that was about safety, taken seriously and at length.
Read the free lesson -
Guide 02.01 · free lessonMasks and Respirators: Which One, and WhenThe dust that travels home on your clothes, and what to do about the rest of it.
Read the free lesson -
Guide 02.04 · free lessonSaving Your Back at the WheelWhy you brace on your thigh, and why the wheel is probably too low for you.
Read the free lesson
Before you buy
Is this different from the free lesson?
Is it a serious guide?
Do I need an apron?
I am not at The Clay Hole. Is it still useful?
Do I need a fancy printer?
Can I print it in black and white?
Can I use it on an iPad or laptop instead?
How do I get it after I buy?
What if the guide gets updated?
Can I share it with my class or studio?
Wear what you like. Tie back what dangles.
Print it, keep the card in the studio bag, and brush off before you get in the car.
Get the printable · $3.00

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