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How to Decorate Pottery with Colored Wax Resist

From , former About.com Guide

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Finish the Pot Decorated with Colored Wax Resist
A pot decorated with a previously colored wax resist, in this case, colored with black underglaze.

A pot decorated with a previously colored wax resist, in this case, colored with black underglaze.

Photo © Beth Peterson

Once any excess cleaned off and the glaze has dried, the pot is ready to be loaded into the glaze kiln. If you are firing using a fuel-fired kiln (natural gas, propane, wood, and so forth), there is nothing special you need to do. If you are firing in an electric kiln, however, there are some precautions you should note.

Burn-out of combustible materials damages electric kiln elements. The more combustible material there is, the more smoke and gases are generated, and the more damage is done to the elements.

In order to avoid excessively harming your elements, you may can load minimal amounts of wax resist decorated pots per firing. However, if you really like this process and want to do a great deal with it, you can also use saggers to keep undesirable gases from your kiln elements.

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