Easy question about Salt and Pepper Shakers

[kel-kay]

Well I got this brainy idea to turn figurines into Salt and Pepper shakers, they will be acrylic with clear coat on the outside. Yet I have no clue if one should glaze the inside of them or not since washing them in soap and water would be a typical scenario by someone eventually.  Thanks for your wisdom in advance.

[JohnnyK]

If they will be acrylic, why would you want to glaze them at all?

[neilestrick]

So you're going to paint the clay with acrylics? From a durability standpoint, I would go with glaze instead. Shakers get banged together as people move them about. Using underglazes with a clear glaze would be the same process and similar look to acrylics.

[kel-kay]

Okay, but what about the interior of the S&P? I seen various "how tos" for dipping the outside but nothing informative about the inside. I figure a customer would eventually wash the entire thing, dipping it down into  water with out the plug in it. So basically thinking ahead for cleaning and food safety.

Edited June 11, 2022 by kel-kay

[Min]

It's my understanding that salt pigs / cellars were originally made of a course earthenware clay called pyg or pygg that was porous. Salt was kept in pyg clay pots which helped keep the salt from clumping by drawing the moisture out of the salt. I've also read that piggy banks were also made from the same pyg clay. I would think that like all spices pepper would be best kept away from heat and sunlight and kept dry also.  Does anyone ever wash inside their salt/pepper shakers? I sure don't.

[neilestrick]

S&P shakers typically have a plug at the bottom which will allow you to pour glaze into it and dump it out. Clean out the holes well and you're good to go. If you glaze the outside, it would be good to glaze the inside, too, to prevent cracking from glaze tension.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

While it might not be an every day thing, I can think of a few scenarios where you’d want to be able to wash a shaker. If it lands in the soup pot, or if it’s been sitting a while and needs a wash before going back into use. 

But I think glaze tension might be the more compelling reason to glaze inside and out. 

[Min]

OP was planning on using acrylics on the outside so not sure that in this case tension would be an issue if no glaze is being used. I can't see that acrylics would put the clay into tension. 

[STONEWARECAFE]

2 hours ago, Min said:

OP was planning on using acrylics on the outside so not sure that in this case tension would be an issue if no glaze is being used. I can't see that acrylics would put the clay into tension. 

Hi I've been making salt and pepper shakers out of slip cast shapes and I don't bother to glaze the inside because clay fired to the correct temperature is completely matured and is basically waterproof. I have looked at the inside of lots of commercial salt and pepper shakers and they're mostly unglazed. I don't know how you plan to poke holes in the top but it is very time consuming to drill them out. I ended up taking finishing nails the ones with the little heads and sharpening those into needles and then drilling out a piece of wood and hammering them in so that they are all level with each other. Then whether it's a three or a four hole or whatever you take that and slide it in while it's leather hard or rather slightly soft it's kind of a fine line. Then I take a pencil and use the eraser end to reach inside and break off any small curls of dry or bisqued clay that may have occurred when you make the holes that way you will know that there aren't any loose pieces of clay that could break off into the salt or the pepper later on. It's also difficult to glaze the inside of salt and pepper shakers because you only have those little holes at the top to get any drainage with, if not done just right then those holes plug up and it takes forever to get the glaze out. Good luck with however you want to do it just be aware that after a little while you realize how much time you're putting into each set and may want to minimize all the times you have to touch each piece.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

@STONEWARECAFE If you’ve got a lot of holes to drill, I cannot recommend an actual drill bit enough. If you get the clay at the right stage of firm leather hard, almost too dry to trim,  you just have to wait until it’s bone dry and brush the crumbs away with a stiff paintbrush.  When I do my berry bowls I use a drill, but if you’ve only got 3 or 4 holes to make, handheld would work just fine too.

[Min]

For larger holes like in berry bowl, colander or draining soap dish a countersink drill bit removes the sharp edge left behind from the drill bit or hole cutter really nicely.

[kswan]

I use a little drill bit to make my shaker holes. I attach the top separately, so I can brush off the little crumbs that would be on the inside. 

I don't glaze the inside either, since I use stoneware which is not really porous. I cut round toothpicks in half and plug the holes with them to glaze. That way there's no glaze to have to remove from the holes. I twist them out before the glaze has dried all the way, so it doesn't flake off during removal. I rinse off the toothpicks and reuse them, storing them in a tiny cup. 

@Min That's brilliant! I have been sticking a chamois through my colander holes and twisting it around which is pretty time consuming to do all the holes that way.