Trevor

The other day I was washing some bisqued pieces and I noticed several sizzled like cooking bacon when I got them wet. The pieces made with the Hawaiian red clay in particular sizzled more than the rest. The clay has a rough texture - I believe it has quite a bit of sand in it. It’s a cone 5 commercial clay. Any ideas why it makes this noise?

I've never done a baking soda wash before — Is it as straight forward as baking soda from your kitchen pantry and water? Also in college I remember someone saying raku is poisonous and not to eat out of or plant in containers that have gone through that process. Is that correct? The container pictured is my friend's tea leaves container and he can't find another so he asked if I could make one.

@PeterH Thank you and everyone else for sharing your knowledge. I do this on the side so I try to keep things as simple as possible. I don't make my own glazes and I both brush and dip my pieces. Right now I've been using Laguna b-mix (white) clay and I fire to cone 5/6. I'd like to keep all my clay and glazes in the same mid-fire category to avoid problems — this I'm sure will limit my options.

I saw this vase the other day and I love the texture and the weathered look. Suggestions on how to get this type of texture? The grooves are pretty simple but I like the unevenness and I'm not sure how to get that.

What about mixing in a little bleach to kill or at least to tame the algae?