Pages

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Do You Wax Your Bottoms?


I learned years ago to wax the bottoms of my pots before glazing. The wax resists the glaze, making it quick and easy to wipe away any bits of glaze before firing. Of  course if you've trimmed or added a foot you only need to wax the foot; as long as no glaze touches the kiln shelf. Occasionally I've met potters who prefer to skip the whole step of waxing pots and just opt to wipe away the glaze from the bottoms of the pots. Well recently I have decided to try that route. I've found that my hand sometimes gets a bit shaky when brushing on the wax leaving an uneven edge. I've never considered that a problem but decided to see if no waxing might give me nicer bottom edges. So far I've been happy with this technique. 

Do you wax?

8 comments:

  1. embarrassed to say - no I don't wax, and I know I should, but I have been a wiper and stilter myself....

    I have to say that I love the way the bottom of your mug looks with the carving right down into the foot. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wax the bottoms. I have not waxed in the past but have decided I like the results when I have waxed the bottoms of pots. That carving on that mugs foot looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i'm a waxer, mostly i dip my pots in parafin melted in an electric skillet, only brush on if i have to. it's just so much faster. sometimes i do forget to wax the bottom of a pot or 2 so instead of getting out the skillet i'll just wipe off the glaze, but do prefer to wax.

    those carved bottoms look fantastic btw :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm learning new things from you-not being a potter. I'm glad you liked my bead piece.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Gina, My work doesn't really call for waxing and I avoid it like the plague. If I have to, I use liquid rubber resist instead, much more forgiving.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wax my bottoms currently, but I'm thinking of making my foot taller and waxing the interior of the footed area.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hiya, I learnt to wax early on, then learnt to wipe. I used to trim the bottoms in a certain way, so that I could use a knife edge to 'cut' the excess glaze off, a quick wipe with a damp sponge and voila a clean and neat bottom.. lol
    Once I mastered that technique I never waxed again. I love the way you've cut the edge of the mug and left the glaze in, lovely..

    ReplyDelete
  8. The bottoms are as pretty as the vessels themselves! Beautiful work, Gina.

    ReplyDelete

I enjoy hearing from you! If you've made your email address available I'll send an email reply. Thanks for visiting!