Logo mugs: how to glaze?

[Tori Hunt]

Hi, I am trying to glaze some logo mugs (mugs with logo plaques/medallions that have company logos/words on them) and want to get some advice on the best way to make the words/shapes on the plaques show up. I am wondering if I should use a combination of iron oxide and a clear glaze to accent the words/shapes in black iron oxide and the clear glaze on the rest of the medallion/plaque?

The rest of the mug will be dipped in another glaze. I am using speckled brownstone clay, cone 6 glaze firing, and glazes made in-house.

Thank you for your advice!

[Benzine]

It sounds like your plan should work fine.  Have you tested it, to make sure the clear doesn't affect the color of your iron oxide?  There are clear glazes out there, that do.  For instance, I had a commercially made, low fire clear that would turn a certain black iron oxide greenish.  

Are you just brushing on the design, with the iron oxide, or do you have something etched/ carved in, that you will be using the oxide to emphasize?  If you are just brushing the entire design on, I believe a frit is recommended to help it melt slightly to promote adhesion.  

Are you going to do the iron oxide/ clear first, then use a resist over them, before doing the main color?

Any pictures of the work, would help provide more specific feedback.

[Tori Hunt]

@Benzine

Thank you for your quick response!

The logo plaque is stamped in, so it has negative letters/shapes. So basically "etched". I was hoping that the iron oxide would go into those grooves and help them stand out amidst the glaze of the mug and the clear glaze on the rest of the logo that doesn't have words/shapes etched in.

I had planned to do a wax resist over the iron oxide (in letters) and clear (rest of logo). Will that work? Can you do wax resist over glaze?

 

Thanks.

[JohnnyK]

From my experience here is what happened when I used a clear over Red Iron Oxide. The gremlin on the right has no clear while the on the left has a clear over the RIO. They were both fired to ^06 at the same time.

As Callie suggested, do some testing to find out what the effect might be.

[Tori Hunt]

1 minute ago, JohnnyK said:

From my experience here is what happened when I used a clear over Red Iron Oxide. The gremlin on the right has no clear while the on the left has a clear over the RIO. They were both fired to ^06 at the same time.

As Callie suggested, do some testing to find out what the effect might be.

Thank you! I appreciate it. Would you suggest just doing iron oxide in the lettering then wiping it off the top of the logo plaque, then doing wax resist to keep the bare clay look? That would prevent problems with clear/BIO reaction and provide coverage from the dipping glaze on the rest of the mug.

 

[Pres]

I am doing logo mugs right now also, but I really am not interested in using the logo per se, but more as a decoration. I will see how they tun out. I usually wash decoration with a little iron oxide to seep in to the deep areas, and wash off the high surfaces. My white base glaze makes the iron look pretty well black when it bleeds through.

 

best,

Pres

[Tori Hunt]

@Pres 

Thanks! So you go over the iron oxide in the depressed areas with the glaze and don't wipe any glaze off?

[preeta]

Do you have to use glaze over the logo? Esp if you are glazing the rest a different colour. 

I’d try out a few test ones and see how they do.  Try different oxides too.  Personally I love copper unglazed. 

Lol same conversation at same time.  

[JohnnyK]

As suggested before, test your idea on a scrap before you do your production. Your idea should work, but I would do some testing first. Depending on the effect you want to achieve you can go with or without the clear...

[preeta]

Some things to try.  

Instead of Oxide use dark glaze and wipe off. Will leave recesses shiny. 

You wont need wax resist. It would be redundant if you planned to do it the way you said.  

Try a translucent glaze on your logo and see how that looks.  

From your questions Tori I would say watch some videos on glazing on YouTube or check out a few books.  

All the questions you are asking we learnt in our first semester in ceramics class in junior college.  

[Pres]

No, you really don't, I just prefer to. If you are going to leave the logo unglazed, you could use liquid wax resist to paint over the logo to protect that area and provide a clean edge, or you could dip glaze the entire pot, and then carefully wipe the area clean where the logo edges are. If doing the second technique, the glaze you dipped in would remain in the low areas of the design. . . accenting them. Another method would be a transparent colored glaze over the logo, possibly 3 painted coats, then wax resist over top and then dip glaze the piece.

As Johnny says, take a little extra time, test out some scrap of clay with logo on it, and try different strategies of glazing, using wax resist and stain combinations. If you can do these standing in the kiln as they would be on a mug, even better. In the long run, it is the style you are looking for, if like any other logo mug out there, then that is one thing. Yet if you are looking to stand out with a unique product, test, check with your client, and make a final decision.

 

best,

Pres

[Min]

6 hours ago, Tori Hunt said:

I had planned to do a wax resist over the iron oxide (in letters) and clear (rest of logo). Will that work? Can you do wax resist over glaze?

Waxing over the letters would be really fiddly. Easy way to do it would be to use a black or dark brown underglaze, brush it over the letting, let it dry then wipe off the high parts. You can then glaze over the entire logo area with a clear glaze, wax over it and glaze the rest of the mug. Colour more likely to stay true than with just iron oxide. Clear glazes over a brown clay can look somewhat insipid so you would have to test like everyone else is saying. Yes you can use wax resist over glaze but the type of resist makes a difference. Water based wax resist can re-wet the glaze and cause it to lift off the pot. An oil based wax resist won't do that. If you don't know which type you have just try it out on a scrap of bisque over some dry glaze. If you want to go the iron oxide route but not use a covering glaze on the logo part using an iron wash not just straight iron oxide would bond better with the clay. Your clay looks quite groggy, how rough is it when not glazed?

[Tori Hunt]

10 hours ago, preeta said:

Some things to try.  

Instead of Oxide use dark glaze and wipe off. Will leave recesses shiny. 

You wont need wax resist. It would be redundant if you planned to do it the way you said.  

Try a translucent glaze on your logo and see how that looks.  

From your questions Tori I would say watch some videos on glazing on YouTube or check out a few books.  

All the questions you are asking we learnt in our first semester in ceramics class in junior college.  

Thank you, I appreciate it. I am self-taught and still very much in the learning phase with these logo mugs!

[Tori Hunt]

3 hours ago, Min said:

Waxing over the letters would be really fiddly. Easy way to do it would be to use a black or dark brown underglaze, brush it over the letting, let it dry then wipe off the high parts. You can then glaze over the entire logo area with a clear glaze, wax over it and glaze the rest of the mug. Colour more likely to stay true than with just iron oxide. Clear glazes over a brown clay can look somewhat insipid so you would have to test like everyone else is saying. Yes you can use wax resist over glaze but the type of resist makes a difference. Water based wax resist can re-wet the glaze and cause it to lift off the pot. An oil based wax resist won't do that. If you don't know which type you have just try it out on a scrap of bisque over some dry glaze. If you want to go the iron oxide route but not use a covering glaze on the logo part using an iron wash not just straight iron oxide would bond better with the clay. Your clay looks quite groggy, how rough is it when not glazed?

Thank you! I will have to check which kind of wax it is that we have at the gallery where I am employed.

It is fairly rough with the speckles coming through, hence the name "speckled brownstone"

[Tori Hunt]

10 hours ago, Pres said:

No, you really don't, I just prefer to. If you are going to leave the logo unglazed, you could use liquid wax resist to paint over the logo to protect that area and provide a clean edge, or you could dip glaze the entire pot, and then carefully wipe the area clean where the logo edges are. If doing the second technique, the glaze you dipped in would remain in the low areas of the design. . . accenting them. Another method would be a transparent colored glaze over the logo, possibly 3 painted coats, then wax resist over top and then dip glaze the piece.

As Johnny says, take a little extra time, test out some scrap of clay with logo on it, and try different strategies of glazing, using wax resist and stain combinations. If you can do these standing in the kiln as they would be on a mug, even better. In the long run, it is the style you are looking for, if like any other logo mug out there, then that is one thing. Yet if you are looking to stand out with a unique product, test, check with your client, and make a final decision.

 

best,

Pres

Thank you! I appreciate your advice and time. I will plan out better next time around! Just getting starting and still learning tons.

[yappystudent]

After a recent nightmarish experience with the messiness of black iron oxide I would recommend the black underglaze option. I am a newb and probably didn't mix it right, but I'm still cleaning it off things in my studio, my clothes,  other places, after doing a pie plate with an outlined pattern of black oxide.  I've used it fine for signing my work and little details, so was surprised when things went awry on a larger scale. Maybe look up a recipe for adding something that will give it more control. For my part I'm going the black underglaze route from now on. 

[S. Dean]

9 hours ago, Tori Hunt said:

Thank you! I will have to check which kind of wax it is that we have at the gallery where I am employed. <snip>

Since speckled brownstone is a Highwater clay, it looks like you might be getting supplies from them.  They currently sell Forbes wax (milky-white color and water based) and Amaco (green).  Forbes is a great wax for applying directly to clay.  However, it can lift around the edges when applied over some glazes.  

Highwater states that Amaco's wax is the same product as Mobil wax (aka Mobilcer), a product they used to sell. My experience with Mobil wax was that it would not peel or lift when applied over glazes, so the Amaco wax might be an option for you.

-SD

[Tori Hunt]

4 hours ago, S. Dean said:

Since speckled brownstone is a Highwater clay, it looks like you might be getting supplies from them.  They currently sell Forbes wax (milky-white color and water based) and Amaco (green).  Forbes is a great wax for applying directly to clay.  However, it can lift around the edges when applied over some glazes.  

Highwater states that Amaco's wax is the same product as Mobil wax (aka Mobilcer), a product they used to sell. My experience with Mobil wax was that it would not peel or lift when applied over glazes, so the Amaco wax might be an option for you.

-SD

The wax we have here at the gallery were I work is from Davens in ATL and it's red colored, and just has a sticker with handwritten "wax resist".  not very helpful lol

[Benzine]

Personally, I would recommend doing the stain (or glazes, as was also suggested, in the incised lines of the design, wiping off the excess, wax resist the rest to keep it bare, then finish glazing the rest.

I would just caution, that when using wax, it does flow super easy, which can lead to it getting somewhere you don't want it to be.  It is next to impossible to get wax off, without burning it off in the kiln.  

[Mark C.]

I suggest putting the glaze or oxide in a small squeeze bottle in liquid form-this is the kind with the fine metal or plastic nozzles.Then you just fill the letter indentations and sponge off any extra and wax over then glaze mug. Thats what we do. its the fastest cleanest way for production I have found.

[Roberta12]

Tori, your situation looks almost identical to what I have been doing for a small local business.  I brush the Jill's Brown Patina into the lettering, using a damp sponge I wipe off the extra. I have discovered that latex works better than wax resist.  As  Min said, the wax in those small letters can be rather fiddly.  The latex peels right off.  After the latex is set, I glaze the rest of the cup.  

Here is Jill's Brown Patina Wash.  The recipe is out of Mark Burleson's book Ceramic Glaze Handbook

2 tablespoons of Red Iron Oxide

1 tablespoon of yellow ochre

1 tablespoon of rutile

1 teaspoon of Cobalt carbonate

4 and 1/3 tablespoons gerstley Borate

Mix equal parts by volume with water to the consistency of skim milk.  Brush the patina onto the cracks and details of bisque fired clay. Wipe off the excess with a damp sponge. Fire to cone 5 in electric kiln.  It can also be used underneath a transparent glaze.

I fire to cone 6.  I have had no problems.  And I have used it under clear glazes with no problems.  

Roberta

 

[Mark C.]

Roberta

I think this will be far less cleanup for you vs brushing  the colorants into the letters( small squeeze bottle in liquid form-this is the kind with the fine metal or plastic nozzles)Mostly only the letter get filled with very little clean up.

[Roberta12]

When I said brushing, I should have said smooshing. A very fine tip brush and the bisque slurps it up.   It is very quick and only takes a quick wipe of the sponge to get the excess off each logo. The bisqued logo sort of wicks up the patina.   The patina is watery and lasts forever.  It seems to fire black.  

But when I first started making these mugs for them, I was not that good with bottles, tips, or underglazes.  I should really give that a try again.