#7 days to die clay from lump of clay how to

However, some potters will use as little as 2% of darker stains for a subtle coloring effect. I find anything from 5% up is normally good. Never the less 10% or more is recommended for paler colors.ĭarker colors like black, dark blue, or deep red will show up with smaller percentages. If your clay is very white, like white porcelain, it will show up more than with tan clay. With lighter stains, I tend to use, at least 10% of stain per weight of the clay. These tend to disappear into the clay body easily, particularly if you are using off-white clay. The paler colors are stains like yellow and violet. You will need to add a larger amount of the paler stains to get a rich color. What Color Stain are You Using?īear in mind that certain stain colors are paler than others. And you only really need to be completely accurate with quantities if you want to repeat an exact color later. I have found that mixing stain in with wet or dry clay does not make too much difference. However, in practice, most potters simply add a percentage of stain to wet clay. If you add 10% of stain to wet clay, the ratio of clay to stain will be higher. So, 1lb of wet clay contains fewer clay particles than 1lb of dry clay.

The reason this is more accurate is that about 20% of the weight of clay is water (1). And then mixing the dry clay with water to reconstitute it. But that means making your clay bone dry, or buying clay powder. Strictly speaking, it’s more accurate to make your stain a percentage of the weight of dry clay.

The weight of the stain will be a percentage of the weight of the clay. Normally potters think about this in terms of percentages. Whichever of the methods you choose, you need to think about how much stain to add to your clay. How Much Stain to Add when You Make Colored Clay? Otherwise, small unmixed chunks or bits of stain will cause a speckling effect when your clay is fired. However, some potters use oxides with the same techniques.Īnd you need to mix it in evenly. Whereas stains are oxides that have been processed and have added ingredients that make their colors more stable and consistent.īecause the color results of stains are easier to predict than oxides, I will be using stains in this article. The difference between stains and oxidesis that oxides are simple metal elements. You can make colored clay with mason stains or oxides.

Making a colored slip and mixing this with your clay.

If you want to jump directly to any of the methods, just click on the link in this list: Try them out and see which one you prefer.

#7 days to die clay from lump of clay how to

This article is a step-by-step guide about how to make colored clay using 3 different methods. And then added to the clay in liquid form. They can be added to the clay as a powder, or they can be made into a paste or slip. To make colored clay, you need to add a stain or oxide to your clay. You can make lovely marbled agateware or nerikomi from the clay you have colored. It is one of my favorite ways of decorating my pottery. It is simple to make colored clay, and the results can be really stunning. I may receive a commission from Amazon or other third parties if you make a purchase after clicking on of these links.