We’re so happy were able to help fire your clay babies. 
Here are a few tips and notes to help us get your pieces in and out of the firing process as smoothly as possible:

1.We reeeeeally mean bone dry!

• With limited space and lots of pots to fire, it gets tricky to keep track of the drying stages for multiple people’s pieces. Pieces must be 100% completely dry when dropped off.
• Overwrapping leather hard/wet pieces will result in them being too moist for firing when unpacked, and they will be sent back home to dry with you ☹

 

2.Pack light, pack right!

• Packing your pieces properly is key: pad them well so they make the ride, but light enough so we can unpack them safely. Too much packing material/tape/plastic makes it challenging to unpack and therefore, more likely to get damaged in the process.
• Please allow for small and fragile parts/pieces to be visible.
• Newspaper, bubble wrap, foam are great options.

 

3. Leave your mark

• You won’t believe it, but sometimes people make very similar items, in the same or very similar clay bodies or commercial glaze. Stamping or otherwise clearly signing your pieces helps us make sure they are returned to their rightful maker.
• Clearly stating the number of items you are dropping off on your intake form is required and super helpful as well.

 

4. Do those decorative pomegranates reeeeally need to be waterproof?

• Glazing the bottom of multiple and/or irregular (sacrebleu!) pieces = lots and lots of stilts = lots and lots of extra time and labor loading your pieces = you must pay more to fire. See where we’re going here?
• In some instances, glazing the bottom can be important, as in low fire pieces that will come in contact with food BUT often adding a built-in foot to the construction and not leaving them sitting in the sink for three days is just what the doctor prescribed.
• In any case, please give us a call to consult before dropping off pieces with glazed bottoms.

 

5. Nobody likes a dirty bottom.

• Sponging the bottoms of your pieces is a big time consuming process for us. When having to wipe off 100+ before a firing, you pay for this time, so firing costs can go way up. Wipe your bottoms, pretty please.
• Even with wax, unclean bottoms that have traces of glaze will have beads form and attach your piece to the shelf, increasing chances of your piece being cracked or straight ruined.