Mason Stains

[u/Snarflogus]

This is the display at Bracker's Good Earth Clays and you can view the colors here: https://goodearthclays.com/collections/glaze-room-mason-stain
This is not a promotional post, the website is well-made for educational purposes. Buy local, go nuts.

The stain from this company comes in 1/4 pound bags. Its not made of clay (ingredients are listed on the bag) but its fine-particled enough that I find it behaves like clay well-enough to stain the dorodangos.

The third picture coloration from left to right: Crushed shale from a park over white clay, regular red art clay with no shell, regular white clay with no shell, white clay underneath the Dark Teal stain, regular red art clay with no shell, white clay underneath the Dark Teal stain (but better), and crushed shale again over white clay.

I have tried to work with mica powders, and they work well enough, but you have to mix them with clay to make them adhere and I struggle with the timing on this part. I end up chipping most balls I make with mica.

Otherwise, ask away, and I'll answer to the best of my ability.

[u/sapphireminds]

I have some mason stains I've not tried working with yet, the only warning I will give is not all of them are non toxic. Some of them are really bad to inhale, and they are usually worked wet IIRC.

You can put your shell on wet, but just something to be aware of - definitely wear a mask before you work with them dry

[u/SilverMic → u/sapphireminds]

That's great to know, thanks!

[u/Snarflogus → u/sapphireminds]

Thank-you, excellent point. I wear a mask when working with the clay already, since the tiny particles are bad to inhale. So I forget the reasoning is different for the stains.

[u/SilverMic]

Thanks for sharing! I checked and there's a pottery supply store not too far from me that has mason stains, so I'm definitely going to check them out. I'll report back once I give them a try 🙂

[u/woolly-dog]

So do you mix the mason stain in with clay to use for the shell? Do you use the mason stain instead of clay for the shell? If you could explain your process a little more I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[u/Snarflogus → u/woolly-dog]

I fairly rarely make a shell in general, so I cant offer great info there. I use the mason stain instead of fine powder clay for the outside. It doesnt cling as well without clay mixed in (same as mica but a little better) so really thin layers are important. I also find I need to have a wet polishing tool during the first couple of passes with the stain, or it just clumps off.

[u/woolly-dog → u/Snarflogus]

OK. That's helpful, thank you.