Linda1313 Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Hi everyone. I made a sculpture of terracotta and fired it to 04. There is scumming, so I tried to linseed oil it but it's still visible. I want the natural clay color so, not interested in glaze, but is there something I can do to make the color uniform? I also tried scrubbing and sanding it but it's not budging lol. Please help ! Thank you, Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 To remove the mineral salts deposit you could try a commercial efflorescence remover. It would likely take a few applications and I would fire the linseed oil off first. Going forward if you get a terracotta that contains a tiny amount of barium the barium will prevent the mineral salts from scumming the clay. If your supplier doesn't have this information then I would contact the manufacturer and ask which of their terracotta bodies do contain barium. Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda1313 Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Thanks Min! Yes, I'm totally new here and also very new to using this clay, firing, all of it lol. I am nervous about trying to glaze this piece and ruining it. Plus I like the light orange natural color. Good to know I can still fire it with linseed! I wonder if it's the poor quality water at my shop that's causing this when I spray it? I have no clue. But I will check about the barium. Thank you so much ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted June 8, 2018 Report Share Posted June 8, 2018 Terra cotta is prone to scumming. It's the mineral salts that are already in the clay, not the water in your spray bottle. Its probably nothing you're doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda1313 Posted June 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2018 Oh I see. Thank you Callie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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