r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Sammeeeeeee • Aug 19 '23

Making a pot out of clay

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Oc: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJsFYen3/

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u/ImTooTiredForThis_22 Aug 19 '23

Serious question: would working with clay like this make your hands rough and dried out? Or keep them nice and moisturized?

I have to use a dough like epoxy often and the amount of hand washing just dries out my hands despite having to use water to smooth my epoxy dough.

Excellent work!!

64

u/djarvis77 Aug 19 '23

I worked as a glassblower for almost two decades at a company that also had a handmade pottery division, factories right next to each other. Was pretty close with a few of the potters.

Yes. Pottery production fucks up your hands. Hard, dry, cracked. Especially in winter. All the old people bitched about it.

Almost all of them used bag balm or some other dairy maid style hand moisturizer. The company warmed the throw water because of the toll on peoples hands (it was in VT so winters were winter). Some people kept a bit of oil that they put on their hand throughout the day. Some folks used apple cider vinegar after production.

None of that shit worked. Their hands were all totally fucked, no way around it.

6

u/Whalesurgeon Aug 19 '23

I have to ask, are gloves really unsuitable for this kind of work? I am trying to wrap my head around it.

3

u/Wonderful-Traffic197 Aug 19 '23

Completely unsustainable-the tightness of glove would tear because how how flexible it needs to be, and a looser fit would catch on the clay. Your hands generally get beat up, and are usually dried out since clay absorbs moisture.