non-yellowing wax or polish for smoked pottery

[terrim8]

Anyone know of a good brand or type of polish for smoked pottery that is non-yellowing? Closest I've found so far is Pledge but it doesn't produce a high shine. Beeswax is really yellow (surprise, surprise) and floor paste wax causes the white parts of the terrasig to go yellow too

[Fred Sweet]

Terri-

You mention the desire for a clear shiny finish. I used to use Future Floor Polish on some pieces that were pit fired or raku. That was a long while back though. I did a quick internet search on it and came up with the following web article among others:  http://www.finescale.com/online-extras/how-to/2017/11/in-the-past-it-was-future

I realize that this article refers to using it ( or its new brand name, but read through it, especially the parts about using it on clear plastic parts, and then do some testing for yourself utilizing your clay body and effects on some “non-precious “ samples to evaluate the results.

If you choose to explore this and/or other suggestions, please post your results. Others may find them useful.

Regards,

Fred

[neilestrick]

I've used Future floor wax in the past, too.

[liambesaw]

2 minutes ago, neilestrick said:

I've used Future floor wax in the past, too.

Time Traveller I see

[neilestrick]

1 hour ago, liambesaw said:

Time Traveller I see

 

[terrim8]

I will check it out & post results - thanks!

[JohnnyK]

I started using clear acrylic spray paint on my Raku pieces 1  1/2 years ago with great success. I tried waxing a horsehair raku pot as an experiment and found that the process yellowed the pottery but also wiped away some of the burned areas of the horsehair. I sprayed a couple of pieces with clear matte acrylic and the white areas darkened a little but the acrylic really set the horsehair burns...

[Dick White]

I too used Future in the past for my saggar, horsehair, and naked raku work, but now I use Pledge Floor Care  Finish. yah yah yah, I know, it's the same old stuff/new name in the North American market... (Note, despite the similar branding, this is not the spray furniture wax.) It's hard to find in stores now because nobody has linoleum floors that need weekly waxing, so I order it online from that big river in South America. I prefer it over spray acrylic varnishes because I'm a lousy sprayer. See how it runs. And runs. And runs - when I do it. So having a wipe-on product is my savior. Others in my circle of raku bums have said they prefer paste wax because it buffs up to a softer shine, but you've already found its color problem. I generally thin it half and half with water so the finish isn't a deep thick glassy layer over the ceramic surface, although others might want that.