Clay glossary

Drawing a feather across slip-trailed ware for decorative purposes.

The removal of the seam left by the mould in greenware, by fettling knife and/or sponge.

These are materials added to a system to give it rigidity or increase its volume. Flint or quartz are often referred to as fillers in ceramic bodies.

A nylon or terylene cloth used in filter presses to filter the clay.

The aggregation of suspended particles by the addition of electrolytes to give a proper consistency for casting, dipping, etc.. A flocculant is a thickener.

A substance that lowers the melting point of material in which it is present.

A ceramic glass-like composition, melted or fused together. Used to render soluble constituents of glazes insoluble.

Mainly a decorating fault, typified by the curling over or frizzling of parts of a decoration. Caused mainly by temperature being too high in the initial stages of firing thereby causing the boiling off or eruption of organic media, i.e. size, oils, etc.

Any treatment which converts a solid substance to a liquid state with temperature.