Favorite Laguna Clay Body to Use in Middle School

[Mrs. Gibbs]

Aloha, 

I currently teach ceramics in a middle school and would love to know what clay body most teachers are using in their classroom.  Actually, to those veteran educators working with kids what is your favorite clay?

My first few years I used Soldate 60 because that is what I inherited. I enjoyed working with this clay body, but I decided to try  Laguna Buff with Sand and EM-210 White since they are low fire and I have a lot of low fire glazes.  My students hated the Buff with Sand because it was rough and honestly I couldn't pull a handle from a fresh bag of clay. I then decided to try a more plastic clay and smooth clay, so now I am using Laguna White EM-210. I have encountered several issues with dunting and shivering and want to get a new clay body for next year but am unsure which clay to order. 

Being a teacher with over 200 students I do not have time to troubleshoot firing issues and want to purchase premixed clay and glazes to ensure successful results. I don't mind troubleshooting issues at my home studio, but I want to go with the sure thing at school and not have to worry about shivering, adding feldspar to change the ph level of my clay body, or have to play around with different firing schedules only to get bad results. 

Thanks in advance for your support. 

[Joseph Fireborn]

I know this isn't the answer to your question, but have you tried contacting laguna and explaining your situation to them? I can't imagine they wouldn't have someone who could answer this question with an exact answer. I have never contacted them, but I have contacted a lot of other clay companies and they were more than friendly and helping. I imagine knowing that your a teacher and will be ordering clay for the rest of your career would be motivation enough to make sure you get what you are looking for.

Just a thought. I know it seems like a simple one, but there has been plenty of times I didn't even think about just contacting the source.

Also, I am sure other people more experience with laguna might have some answers here as well.

[dhPotter]

Laguna WC-607 #55 is very forgiving. I used it for 8 years before moving to WC-609 #65. I wanted a smoother clay. Having said this the 607 clay was not abrasive. It does have a small particle grog in it. 607 is cone 6 clay.

http://www.lagunaclay.com/clays/northeastern/wc607.php

 

[Mrs. Gibbs]

6 hours ago, Joseph F said:

I know this isn't the answer to your question, but have you tried contacting laguna and explaining your situation to them? I can't imagine they wouldn't have someone who could answer this question with an exact answer. I have never contacted them, but I have contacted a lot of other clay companies and they were more than friendly and helping. I imagine knowing that your a teacher and will be ordering clay for the rest of your career would be motivation enough to make sure you get what you are looking for.

Just a thought. I know it seems like a simple one, but there has been plenty of times I didn't even think about just contacting the source.

Also, I am sure other people more experience with laguna might have some answers here as well.

Laguna Clay has been extremely supportive and helpful in correcting this issue, but since I'm in Hawaii it is challenging to purchase large amounts of clay and getting stuck with a clay that I don't like,  doesn't fit my needs, or causes dangerous situations (shivering-which can happen today, in a month, or years down the road).

Thanks for your reply.

[Mark C.]

Which supplier do you use on Oahu?

[Mrs. Gibbs]

On 2/9/2018 at 2:18 PM, Mark C. said:

Which supplier do you use on Oahu?

I have to order directly through Laguna. When the studio/classroom was created in 2000, Ceramics Hawaii was the vendor used for purchasing the kilns,clay, and supplies. Ceramics Hawaii no longer exists. If you know of a supplier on Oahu I would love that information. 

 

[Mark C.]

No I do not  know of any thats why I asked. I do some work on Molokai  at a clay arts center every few years and they also used that supplier as well. Last I heard he folded up (died or retired-I forget)

I'm currently shipping some ceramic stuff over for a salt kiln conversion workshop I'm doing soon and was asking to see if I could find a better supplier on Oahu .

[Mrs. Gibbs]

On 2/11/2018 at 4:35 PM, Mark C. said:

No I do not  know of any thats why I asked. I do some work on Molokai  at a clay arts center every few years and they also used that supplier as well. Last I heard he folded up (died or retired-I forget)

I'm currently shipping some ceramic stuff over for a salt kiln conversion workshop I'm doing soon and was asking to see if I could find a better supplier on Oahu .

Hi Mark, 

I was just talking to another Kauai art teacher today and she said she thought her friend had recently ordered clay from a supplier in Oahu. She is supposed to get back to me with that information.  I'll post when I hear from her. 

Thanks.

[Mrs. Gibbs]

On 2/9/2018 at 5:45 AM, dhPotter said:

Laguna WC-607 #55 is very forgiving. I used it for 8 years before moving to WC-609 #65. I wanted a smoother clay. Having said this the 607 clay was not abrasive. It does have a small particle grog in it. 607 is cone 6 clay.

http://www.lagunaclay.com/clays/northeastern/wc607.php

 

Thanks.