Glazes for cone 6 porcelain

[Alexa cole]

Hello,

I need some advise as to the best commercial glazes for cone 6 porcelains n #365. Specifically I need a good clear glaze to be used over underglaze screen prints, and a great matte glaze as well.  And if anyone can steer me to the best brand of cone 6 porcelain glazes, I would greatly appreciate it.

I can’t seem to find any information regarding glazes for porcelain or where I can see test tiles of cone 6 porcelain.

I have wasted so much money and time on glazes I thought would work well, which ended up looking terrible.

Thanks for any advise and suggestions.

 

Alexa

 

 

 

 

[Gabby]

I really like the clear glaze I use, which is Amaco Sahara series.

I have used it on porcelain over underglazes and been very happy with the finish for not being too wildly glossy but for me just right.

Most of the underglazes I use are black, dark green, and dark blue. I have used maroon also. So I haven't seen it over light colors.

[Min]

Not sure what you mean by looking terrible but some colourants have certain likes and dislikes so to speak as for a compatible glaze. Examples would be if your underglaze contains chrome then a zinc free glaze will avoid the green going an ugly brown colour. Chrome/tin reds and pinks and purples need a glaze that is very high in calcium to keep their colour from fading out. 

As you don’t know what stains are in the underglazes nor what the glaze ingredients are it will take testing to find compatible glazes. I’ld start with looking for zinc free glazes, just buy the smallest amount of glaze you can and keep testing. For reds, pinks and purples you could use an underglaze containing cadmium inclusion stains so the covering glaze doesn’t need to contain a large amount of calcium. If you look up the underglaze Safety Data Sheet it might say if cadmium inclusion stains are used, if not then contact the manufacturer and ask, I know Speedball doesn’t list cadmium inclusion stains but they are listed in an older post here. Also I would suggest reading up on the safety of using underglazes containing cadmium inclusion stains if you go that route. 

Another point is many clear glazes will look cloudy if they are applied too heavily, doing some tests with 1, 2 and 3 layers of glazes to see how thick to apply the glaze could be helpful. Years ago I used Laguna's MS 29 on porcelain, it's a lovely bright, clear, glossy glaze but the porcelain I used likely isn't the one you use so testing would be necessary. Once you get a glaze that looks good then I would suggest checking for glaze fit.

Welcome to the forum 

 

 

[Alexa cole]

Thanks so much Gabby and Min for your feedback. Great information which I will try out.

Alexa