How to guides Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Pottery Tips by the Pottery Wheel

Painting Mugs – 11 Amazing Ways to Paint Your Own Mug

Painting mugs is a great way to personalize gifts. It can be a great way to express your creativity, whatever your age. And it’s a fun way to keep children entertained when they are at a loose end. There are lots of different ways to paint your own mugs. But if it’s not something you’ve…

How To Make a Teapot – An Easy Step by Step Guide

This is a step-by-step guide on how to make a teapot. Making a clay teapot is actually quite a simple process. But it’s extremely satisfying. There are few things as nice to make in pottery as a nicely shaped teapot. Plus, at the end of it, you get to enjoy a nice cup of tea…. …

Pinch Pot Mug – 2 Ways to Make a Mug Without a Wheel

Making a pinch pot mug is simple, and like anything the more you practice the easier it will become. Once you have mastered the pinching technique you can get creative and find your style. In this article, I will show you my two favorite ways to make a pinch pot mug. This is a…

How to Make a Pinch Pot – 3 Ways to Make Pinch Pots

Pinch pots are one of the easiest and fastest ways of hand building pottery. Once you have mastered the basic pinch pot technique you can use it to make a lot of clay projects. So, I thought I’d write a step-by-step guide on how to make a pinch pot. In this article, I start off…

Sawdust Kiln Firing – How to Build a Brick Kiln for Sawdust Firing

A sawdust kiln is one of the easiest ways to fire clay at home. The kiln can be made using a simple brick construction. It can be used to bisque fire pottery, or to create lovely smoked effects on already bisque fired ware. Here is an easy to follow step by step guide on how…

DIY Propane Kiln Ideas – 4 Simple Ways to Make a Propane Kiln

Making a DIY propane kiln is a great way to start firing your own pottery. A lot of the time DIY propane kilns are used to glaze fire pottery using the raku technique. But some can also be used to bisque fire pottery. There are lots of different ways to make a DIY propane…

How to Fire Clay at Home – 7 Simple Ways to Fire Pottery

If you’ve started making pottery, you may be wondering how to fire clay at home. The good news is that you don’t need a fancy art studio to fire your own pottery. There are some simple, inexpensive ways to fire clay at home. This article covers 7 ways of firing pottery and some of the…

Kiln Maintenance – 19 Tips on How to Look After Your Kiln

When I bought my kiln, I was so excited to use it, I didn’t think too much about kiln maintenance. But kilns are like cars, they have parts that wear out and need replacing. And the more you use them the more quickly they will need replacing. Also, like a car, if you look after…

How to Glaze Pottery at Home – With or Without a Kiln

If you are starting your pottery journey, you may be wondering just how to glaze pottery at home. Is it possible? What are your options? You will be pleased to know that it is completely possible to glaze pottery at home. This article is all about the different ways to glaze pottery both with and…

How to Seal Raku Pottery – Can Raku be Waterproof or Food safe?

Raku pottery can look lovely. However, it is porous and fragile. The question of whether raku be waterproof has been debated for a long time. And there has been much debate around can raku be food safe. This article looks at these issues and considers if there are effective ways of how to seal raku…

Copper Matte Raku – How to Make Copper Fuming Raku Pottery

Copper matte raku, also known as copper fuming raku is a low fire technique that can produce iridescent multi-colored pottery. It involves the application of a simple copper oxide wash to bisque pots. These are then raku fired and put into a post-firing reduction atmosphere to create a vivid array of rainbow colors. There are…

How to Get Rid of Mold on Clay – 7 Ways to Clean Moldy Clay

Finding that your pottery clay has gone moldy is very common. Clay needs to be kept moist to stay workable and it contains organic matter. These are perfect conditions for the growth of mold. So, what can you do if you open up your bag of clay and it’s growing green and black mold? Here…