[Bette]

I have heard different advice about preparing bisque ware for glazing: wiipe with a damp sponge, or quickly hose with water, or hose but then wait 24 hrs before glazing. I like the quick hosing for more effectively getting rid of dust, but do you advise waiting as long as 24 hrs after that before glazing? I bisque to ^04.

[SmartsyArtsy]

There is no right or wrong. It depends on your glaze . Will it adhere and give you the coverage you want when the piece is wet? That is what it comes down to. Think about if you will be glazing both sides of the piece at the same time, whether you are brushing or dipping/pouring. Experiment.

[Bette]

CSC, on 12 November 2012 - 10:12 PM, said:

There is no right or wrong. It depends on your glaze . Will it adhere and give you the coverage you want when the piece is wet? That is what it comes down to. Think about if you will be glazing both sides of the piece at the same time, whether you are brushing or dipping/pouring. Experiment.

Makes perfect sense (and freeing!), thank you

[Marcia Selsor]

You might have to wait a little longer if you really get things soaked. Thin lips and spouts will hold the water and the glaze won't get sucked into the body.
If your work hasn't been sitting around in dusty places, I would think a damp sponge would do the trick. As always it depends on a lot of things.

Marcia

[neilestrick]

The longer you dip a pot in glaze, the more water the walls of the pot absorb, and the thicker the glaze layer will be. If the pot is already wetted by rinsing/wiping, it may not be able to take in enough water to give a proper glaze coating. It all depends on how viscous your glaze is, and how thick your pot is.

[yedrow]

I think of the walls, bottoms, attachments, etc. of pots as being themselves vessels which will hold a certain amount of water. If you bisque hotter, they will hold less water. And, of course, if you wet them they will hold less water too. If your glazes are tuned to dry bisque then you will get a different look. I personally don't like doing it since it is hard to control the variables in the bisque to glaze process as it is, introducing another difficult to control variable just seems undesirable.

Joel.

[GEP]

I rinse my bisque pots in the sink only when I am intentionally trying to get a thinner application of glaze. Otherwise I glaze all of my pots when they're dry.

I don't think it's necessary to rinse or wipe off your pots before glazing, unless they have been sitting in your studio for longer than a few weeks.

Mea

[Lucille Oka]

I give the ware a quick swirl in water then leave them to sit on the table for about as long as it takes to prep the glazes about an hour or two or more depending on the thickness and size of the ware; oftentimes they must be turned upside down so water won't accumulate in the bottoms.

[Marcia Selsor]

Just a note. Wax them AFTER you wash them ot the bottoms won't dry and could hold water into the glaze firing...depending on your turn around time.

Marcia

[TJR]

This is my procedure. It is rather labourious, but I used to have problems with pitted glazes, or slight crawling of the glaze. Now, I don't.
1.Use a green scouring pad on bone dry pots. Get all those little lunps out.
2.Bique. I usually bisque to Cone 06.
3. Use coarse sand paper to sand. [wearing a dust mask, of course]
4. Dip into a 5 gallon pail of clean water.
5. Let dry overnight.
6. Wax the feet
7. Glaze.

Told you that it was a lot of work, but I get better results. I am in a studio by myself, so am able to leave my work on tables. Your situation might be different.
TJR.

[Mark C.]

After unloading the bisque I usually process the ware within 24 hours. Usually same day or very next day after unloading and sorting it to same forms
I usually wet sponge the ware before loading it in bisque kiln-saves sanding later and has no dust with it.Long ago used to sand but sponging is faster and cleaner on green ware.
after bisqueing
I wax it- ether with hot dip or sponge wax with water soluble wax. Then glaze it and load it-what does not fit I leave on bats till next fire glazed-
I usually have some bisque ware laying around but cover it with paper to keep dust off.
The only time I wet ware is to wash a glaze off is from a mistake then I let it dry a day before reglazing.Unless its warm and sunny then that dries it same day.
I use a lot of rutile glaze which is prone to pitting so I pay attention to clean wares.
Mark