Storage Saves Your Work
Wedged clay is an investment of your time and effort. Storing it properly means it will be ready to use exactly when you need it.
The Enemy: Air
Clay dries when air gets to it. Even 20–30 minutes of exposure can form a dry skin on the surface. If you ball that dry surface into the middle of your clay, you end up with hard spots that cause problems on the wheel.
Rule: If you are not using the clay right now, it needs to be covered.
How to Store Properly
- Mist it: If the clay feels slightly dry, give it a light spray of water before wrapping.
- Wrap tightly: Use heavy plastic bags. Twist the opening shut and fold it over: no gaps.
- Check for holes: A single pinhole can dry out a concentrated spot over days or weeks. Check bags regularly.
- Store away from heat: Kilns, sunlight, and heating vents are the enemies of stored clay.
Rescuing Dry Clay
If you forget to cover your clay and it dries out partially:
- Slightly stiff: Poke holes in the clay with a finger, add a few drops of water, wrap it tightly and leave for a day. Then re-wedge.
- Bone dry: Break it into small chunks and submerge in a bucket of water. Let it slake down completely to a slurry. Spread the slurry on a plaster bat or dry board to evaporate the excess water. Once it reaches a workable consistency, re-wedge.
Pro Tip
Label your bags with the clay body type and date. If you have multiple clay bodies in the studio, mixing them by accident is easy, and a mixed clay body can crack during firing.
Storage Workflow for Busy Sessions
Use this simple flow:
- End of session: re-bag each clay ball individually.
- Add label: clay body, weight, and date.
- Weekly check: inspect for pinholes or stiff spots.
- If stiffening starts: light mist, rewrap, rest overnight.
Good storage turns tomorrow's setup into a 30-second task.
Did You Know?
The slaking process for rescuing bone-dry clay works because clay minerals can reabsorb water between their plate-like layers, returning to a plastic state. Drying clay on a plaster bat is effective because gypsum plaster is highly absorbent and pulls moisture evenly from the slurry. Different clay bodies like earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain have different shrinkage rates, which is why mixing them causes cracking.
