If you get glaze on the bottom of your pots and fire them they will stick to the kiln shelf. This would result in a lot of damage to your shelf and will ruin the pot you just spent a lot of time making.
Kiln wash helps when your glaze runs down the side and overflows onto the shelf. That is not what we are discussing here. We are talking about glaze on the very bottom of your pot. Perhaps you are remembering a mug that had a glaze on the very bottom of it. This most likely is a low-fire piece that was placed on stilts in the kiln during the glaze firing. These stilts won’t take the heat of mid-fire or high-fire firings so we have to remove the glaze from the bottoms before firing.
One of these ways is by waxing the bottoms of your pots. This is the method I currently use but if that doesn’t appeal to you there are a few more ways!
Somehow, in my early years of learning pottery, I got the notion that the correct way to wax the bottom of my pots was by using hot paraffin wax. I have since learned that there are several ways to keep glaze off the bottom of your pottery besides using wax but to this day I continue to use this method.
I have tried various methods of keeping glaze off the bottom of my pots but for me, I have found hot wax to be the way that works best for me.
Tips for waxing the bottoms of a pot
- I use an old electric frying pan that my Mother in law gave me. This gives me temperature control. You can probably pick one up pretty cheap at a second-hand store or garage sale.
- I will say it once again because it is pretty important but make sure you DO NOT OVERHEAT THE WAX and DON’T LEAVE IT UNATTENDED. It took me a bit of experimenting to find the sweet spot on my frying pan where the wax is hot but not smoking. You don’t want the wax too cool either or it goes on clunky.
- Level your pan. I use a small level like this one to make sure my frying pan is level so the wax goes on level. It’s usually not off very much. Popsicle sticks work great to raise a side or two.
- Generally, I use cheap white candles that I pick up at dollar stores and add a little bit of baby oil. The baby oil thins the wax out a bit and it doesn’t go on too thick.
- Dedicate an old small paintbrush to your waxing. You will want to fill in unwaxed places with it. Be careful though to not drip on an area where you don’t want wax on!! (I learned this the hard way)
- If you do get wax someplace you didn’t need to you may be able to remove it by sanding it off the bisqueware. I have also tried melting it off with a torch which sometimes works too. To check, I apply some water to the area. If it beads off, the wax is still there. Worst-case scenario, you can rebisque the piece. It won’t hurt a thing and will melt off all the wax
- Don’t melt too much wax into your pan. You don’t need the wax to go up very high on your pot so be sure that your wax isn’t too deep. In the picture below you can see where my wax line is. I make sure that I only have about 1/8″ of hot liquid in my pan and add more if needed.
You can see the thin line of wax on the bottom of this piece
To Use Hot wax or not to use Hot Wax
Many pottersthings
If one or two of my pots did not stick to the shelf, what would I get to keep for myself!!
Alternatives to using Hot Wax
Wax ResistWax resist
To apply it you can use an oriental-type brush that comes to a point, a foam square or an old sponge.
Wax resist can get on other parts of your pieces if you are not careful, and rebisquing seems to be the best solution to repairing this. When the resist burns off there are no stinky fumes (I would like that). If your product is clear you can add a dab of food coloring so you can see it. If you need to you can turn your piece upside down on a banding wheel and paint it on.
NO WAX NEEDED
Here are a few ideas that I really liked and these are the ones I have experimented with
A wet sponge
Yeah, how simple is that? When I paint my glaze on, I can avoid glazing the bottoms and if some glaze gets in the bottom it is easily wiped off with a wet sponge. When I dip a piece into the glaze it’s a bit harder and time-consuming to use this method to clean off the bottom. (In my opinion)
A piece of tight pile carpet or a piece of foam wetted
Rub and twist the bottom of your pot on a wet piece of tight pile (like berber) carpet or a piece of upholstery foam. It takes most of the glaze off and leaves a nice line. You can put the carpet or foam in a baking dish with some water to keep it wet and it will need to be rinsed off every once in a while.
Some untried alternatives
One potter suggested that when you trim the leather hard piece to burnish the foot with a steel rib. This removes or flattens the clay making it smoother which makes the glaze come off easier. Another potter suggested wetting the bottom of the pot prior to applying the glaze so that the glaze doesn’t saturate the clay as much and comes off easier.
So now you have some better, cheaper, safer, and healthier ways of protecting your pot bottoms from sticking to the kiln shelves. Try one or try them all. Let us know what you do or what worked (or didn’t) for you.
