Tips for Claying at Home:

IUS Ceramics will provide you with some of the tools and equipment you need to work on clay from home. What we don’t supply can easily be sourced at any hardware store, or found around your house or apartment.

Good Practices: (the Do’s)

• Do find one place to work to minimize mess
• Do put down a plastic bag to work on top of your work area
• Do work outside if possible (less mess!)
• Do have a bucket of water and towel to clean your hands
• Do put all clay scraps (shavings, carvings, dried pieces) into a container as soon as possible to keep them from getting on the floor
• Do make no dust, Don’t let the clay dry out
• Do keep your clay covered when not working
• Do have fun and experiment with surface
• Do put down a plastic bag to work on top of

Don’ts: (Bad Practices)

• Don’t wash your hands in the sink if they are covered in clay
• Don’t dump clay water down the drain
• Don’t let clay get on the floor or crunched up into dust
• Don’t get hung up, have fun
• Don’t work in your bedroom
• Don’t make dust

Don’t have tools?

Here is a list of things you can repurpose at home:

• Kitchen knife = Exacto knife or fettling knife
• Fork = serrated rib
• Old credit cards/ID’s can be cut into shapes and used as ribs
• Cardboard can be used as a ware board
• Bowls, plates, and plastic forms from the kitchen can be covered in plastic wrap and used as forms to make vessels
• Mechanical pencils, pens, and regular pencils can be used to draw and carve
• Chop Sticks, toothpicks, and skewers can be used as supports while building solid
• Bowls, Buckets, Wash tubs will work for reclaiming your clay
• Toothbrushes and makeup brushes can work in place of a paint brush
• Sticks, stones, fabric, and found objects are great for making texture

Check out this video on how to easily reclaim slip into workable clay.