Using Oxides In Ceramics

A demonstration of how to use an oxide wash on pottery.

Using oxides in ceramics.

Ceramic pigments solve some of the problems found in using just plain oxides. Red iron oxide can be layered fired watered down and used in many ways to add a finish to a piece of bisque pottery. Or do the same thing with oxide over unfired glaze. In short oxides and stains can be used in very similar ways.

Their application areas depend on their melting points and maximum use temperatures. Some potters will use oxides and stains suspended only in water. Bisqueware absorbs the color easily so the two materials work well together. Use other masking techniques such as torn wet newspaper and paint an oxide wash.

Ceramic stains make it possible to create glazes that fire to just about any color of the rainbow. Cover with transparent or translucent glaze. However some plain oxides like cobalt and chromium oxide and some ceramic stains are quite refractory. This can cause problems with adhesion.

The mostly known examples for oxide ceramic fibers are composed of oxides such as silica sio 2 mullite 3al 2 o 3 2sio 2 alumina al 2 o 3 and zirconia zro 2 having different characteristic properties. Prepared stains prepared oxides modified oxides inorganic colorants coloring oxides how to use stains when introducing a ceramic stain into a glaze recipe it is best to mix powdered stain with hot water sieve through a 200 mesh screen then add to the wet raw glaze batch. Spatter wax on the surface and paint the oxide wash over that. It discusses the importance of wiping back how to avoid uneven coverage and many other useful hints.

This is a video tutorial of decorating bisque with red iron oxide. Pick up some new ideas for how to decorate bisque pottery with red iron oxide by watching this video ceramic design tutorial. For example when pure chrome oxide is used as a colorant to obtain green it may fume or volatilize in the kiln leading to absorption into the kiln bricks and shelves.