April 2026: We are continuing a major code rewrite, please be patient regarding any issues. If any page is not working for a period of hours, please contact us. Thank you.
| Monthly Tech-Tip | No tracking! No ads! No paywall! |
Stains can work surprisingly well in matte base glazes like the DIY G2934 recipe. The glass is less transparent and so varying thicknesses do not produce as much variation in tint as glossy bases do. Notice how low many of the stain percentages are here, yet most of the colors are bright. We tested 6600, 6350, 6300, 6021 and 6404 overnight in lemon juice, they all passed leach-free. The 6385 is an error, it should be purple (that being said, do not use it, it is ugly in this base). And chrome-tin pink and maroon stains do not develop the color (e.g. 6006). But our G1214Z1 CaO-matte comes to the rescue, it both works better with some stains and has a more crystal matte surface. The degree-of-matteness of both can be tuned by cooling speed and blending in some G2926B glossy base. You can mix any of these into a brushing glaze or a dipping glaze. Be sure to blender mix them to break up any agglomerates.

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.
The body is Plainsman M390. The firing schedule is Plainsman PLC6DS.

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.
These pieces were made from Plainsman Polar Ice and fired to cone 6 using variations on the PLC6DS and C6DHSC schedules. The dipping glaze is G2934Y, a recipe variant of G2934 having a finer micro-surface texture (it has the same chemistry but the MgO is sourced from a frit and talc instead of dolomite). These mugs display how well the recipe works with stains and the varying degrees of matteness we can achieve by varying the cooling rate and the percentage of glossy G2926B base blended in. As a magnesia matte, this glaze can have a surface that pleasant to the touch. It fires durable, can be quite matte without cutlery marking, and it has very good slurry and application properties (as a dipping glaze). It has a very low thermal expansion (won’t craze). It works really well with stains (except purples). It melts even better than the glossy!
| Materials |
Stains Mason
|
| Materials |
Mason 6021 Red Stain
An encapsulated red stain, it has proven better than any other red we have ever tried for glazes. And it works in bodies. |
| Glossary |
Cone 6
Also called "middle temperature" by potters, cone 6 (~2200F/1200C) refers to the temperature at which most hobby and pottery stonewares and porcelains are fired. |
| Glossary |
Ceramic Stain
Ceramic stains are manufactured powders. They are used as an alternative to employing metal oxide powders and have many advantages. |
| Glossary |
Base Glaze
Understand your a glaze and learn how to adjust and improve it. Build others from that. We have bases for low, medium and high fire. |
| Glossary |
Medium Temperature
These are stoneware glazes that fire in the range of 1200C (2200F). They often contain boron to assist with melting. |
| Recipes |
G1214Z1 - Cone 6 Silky CaO matte base glaze
This glaze was born as a demonstration of how to use chemistry to convert a glossy cone 6 glaze into a matte. |
| Recipes |
G2934 - Matte Glaze Base for Cone 6
A base MgO matte glaze recipe fires to a hard utilitarian surface and has very good working properties. Blend in the glossy if it is too matte. |
Buy me a coffee and we can talk