A demonstration during a Manchester pottery class

3 Reasons Why Taking a Manchester Pottery Class May Be the Creative Activity for you this Spring.

Feel in a rut, uninspired, bored, unsatisfied or even lonely? We may be biased, but taking a pottery class in Manchester is the ideal activity to get your thoughts out of your mind and engage in the joy of creatively making pottery amongst a friendly community.

Our Manchester pottery class offers a unique setting to connect with the earth (literally) in a social group, and develop some skills you never knew were possible or even enjoyable to do. Here are 3 reasons why we think a pottery class could be the alternative creative activity in Manchester that suits you this Spring.

1. You’ll be brought into the moment without even realising.

There’s something soothing about smoothing clay through your fingers, coiling sausages of clay into useful containers, and manipulating mud into mugs. The concentration it takes will bring you out of your head and into the present moment, which will leave you feeling a sense of calm.

If you’re looking to de-stress, forget about work or take a break from the kids in Manchester then our pottery studio will help you get creative with clay, so you can zone out, relax and leave feeling like you’ve cleared your mind. You’ll know you’ve enjoyed yourself as the time will fly, it always does.

2. Pottery making in Manchester might give you the inspiration you need.

In the rush of everyday life—balancing work, responsibilities, and constant notifications—it’s easy to lose touch with your creative side. A pottery class offers a refreshing escape, inviting you to slow down, get your hands dirty, and reconnect with your imagination in a truly tactile way. Sometimes trying that new activity, a pottery class, is what will really get you feeling inspired.

You’ll be designing geometric patterns on plates, glazing rustic wheel thrown mugs and maybe even creating your own ceramic art sculpture. Will it be worthy of your living room plinth? Well it doesn’t really matter, you’ll be welcomed into our Manchester pottery studio to experience the joy of learning and making pottery without judgement. You’ll get used to failure, develop your patience, and will even make a great pot or 2 in the process. The varied activities and things to do in our Manchester pottery classes will help you develop the skills to express yourself creatively. The making process will fill you with ideas, developing into a passionate craving to make more.

Several terracotta wheel thrown mugs

3. A pottery class will connect you with a creative community in Manchester

One of the unexpected joys of joining a pottery class is the people you meet. Manchester has a thriving creative scene, and stepping into a pottery studio plugs you right into it. Whether you’re a total beginner or have dabbled in ceramics before, you’ll find yourself among others who are curious, open, and up for getting their hands messy.

There’s something wonderfully bonding about sitting around a table, shaping clay, and chatting as you work. Conversations flow easily, encouragement is shared generously, and mistakes often become shared laughs. 

Many of our students say their weekly class becomes something they really look forward to—not just for the pottery itself, but for the community it brings. It’s a chance to connect, learn from each other, and feel part of something creative and supportive right here in Manchester.

So why not try out and book a pottery taster class, see if it’s for you? But if you’re really wanting to connect with those around you get yourself onto a weekly evening or daytime pottery class, where you’ll have the time to develop those skills and get to know your class mates over several weeks.

Can I Still Wheel Throw with Arthritis

Pottery and Arthritis: Can you still make pottery on the wheel?

Making pottery can actually be really good for arthritis. As the saying goes, use it or lose it. The fact is if you’re not moving your arthritic joints, and training the muscles around them, they will deteriorate faster. The Arthritis Foundation says it’s a “myth that activity will cause more pain and joint damage”, and that activity is actually “the best arthritis pain reliever in your toolbox”. 

Note that I’m not a medical professional, and because the approach depends on the type and severity of arthritis, you should always involve your care providers in the management of your symptoms. I however was training to be a Neuropsychologist before changing career to pottery, which offers an interesting insight and psychological perspective.

Is Arthritis a Barrier to Learning Pottery?

In psychology there’s a phenomenon known as illness behaviours. This is where someone assumes the role of a sick individual and reduces their activity, and rests. While short-term rest offers pain relief and initial inflammation reduction, in the long-term it is activity that reduces inflammation in chronic conditions such as arthritis. 

Teaching over 2500 people to throw a pot on the wheel, I’ve found people with arthritis often have a barrier to learning pottery, but that it is their mind set. After failing to put their hands into the correct position initially, I’ve had many people tell me they can’t do it because they have arthritis. What I think happens is that their expectation of not being able to do it almost prevents them from seeing it through and trying their best. Each occasion I’ve reassured them they can take their time, and that I believe they can get their hands into the right position, but not to do it if it’s too painful. Shortly after, they do get their hands into the right position and successfully throw a pot!

The Research

It is exercise, socialising and engaging in novel activities, such as pottery, that promote good physical, cognitive and mental health. The research shows: 

Exercise, socialising and engaging in novel activities are not separate from each other either. They’re all related, which is why throwing on the pottery wheel gives you a fantastic, creative and fun, low-impact activity, that targets them all:

  • Engaging in fun and creative activities, like pottery, help direct focus away from pain, which reduces stress and depression. 
  • Reducing stress can improve physical health, promoting better immune responses, and therefore physical recovery. 
  • Then of course the physical effects of moving your body, as strengthens the muscles around your joints, increases bone strength, lubricates the joints, increases blood flow to your joints, reduces inflammation, maintains joint flexibility, improves balance and coordination reducing the chances of falls, all of which reduce inflammation and arthritis related stress.
Stciking a handle onto a wheel thrown pottery mug

Adaptations in Pottery with Arthritis

There are also adaptations for pottery making that a good tutor can give you if you have particular forms of arthritis.

  • You can substitute your fingers for your thumbs on many moves, if pain in your thumbs is problematic.
  • There are alternative techniques many throwing moves such as lifting clay walls.
  • The wheels can be elevated or lowered to put less impact on your elbows, as these should generally be placed with your elbows at 90 degree angles.
  • You can also slow the wheel down and therefore the force of the wheel will be less.
  • Pulling handles for mugs can be strenuous on the wrist, but other methods of making handles include using a coiler or an extruder, which avoid force on the wrists.
  • Then, after a number of attempts, if you find throwing on the wheel to be too painful, then there is the fantastic world of hand-building, which use a whole set of different movements with your hands, and don’t receive the force of the wheel.

Pottery Making is Good for Arthritis

In conclusion, making pottery can be a very positive way to manage your arthritis, as part of a larger activity regime. The social and engaging activity can reduce your stress and depression levels associated with your arthritis, which has beneficial effects to your physical health as well. Then the physical activity, using and developing your fine motor skills to create sculpture, throw pots on the wheel and express yourself decoratively, helps build up the muscles, strengthen the bones and reduce inflammation around your fingers, hands and arms.

Get booked into your local community pottery studio to try it out. If you’re near Manchester, then try our wheel throwing taster to see if it suits you, or book one of our longer pottery courses in Manchester.

Striped layered clay nerikomi bowl handmade by ceramicist Sam Andrew

References

Bae, Y. S., & Kim, D. H. (2018). The applied effectiveness of clay art therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine, 23, 2515690X18765943. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515690X18765943

Luo, B., Xiang, D., Ji, X., Chen, X., Li, R., Zhang, S., Meng, Y., Nieman, D. C., & Chen, P. (2024). The anti-inflammatory effects of exercise on autoimmune diseases: A 20-year systematic review. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 13(3), 353-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2024.02.002

Ye, H., Weng, H., Xu, Y. et al. Effectiveness and safety of aerobic exercise for rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil 14, 17 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-022-00408-2

Khedekar, Sayali & Shimpi, Apurv & Shyam, Ashok & Sancheti, Parag. (2017). Use of art as therapeutic intervention for enhancement of hand function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A pilot study. Indian Journal of Rheumatology. 12. 10.4103/0973-3698.199130.

Rustic glazed wheel thrown mugs made in a pottery taster course

Pottery Painting is Rubbish – Why You Will Get So Much More Out of a Wheel Throwing Taster in Manchester

Pottery Painting vs. Proper Pottery: What’s the Difference?

Pottery painting is applying manufactured underglaze colours onto factory-made pots. It’s like saying you’ve made a pizza when you’ve only added toppings to a store-bought base. In the style of Emma Bridgewater, you’ll no doubt be painting cats and love hearts all over until you make yourself sick with granny-core twee cheese. Some pottery painting studios even say you can’t microwave, dishwasher, or pour boiling water into your tea mugs—which is just not proper pottery. With the limited range of brightly coloured underglazes you’ll be missing out on the most interesting things about pottery: making your own pots with your bare hands, and exploring the many magical, rustic and wonderful glazes that are possible.

Pottery Wheel Throwing: Hands-On and Satisfying

Pottery painting doesn’t come close to the satisfaction of making your own pottery. Throwing on the wheel brings you into the moment and demands your full concentration for success. The soft, wet clay soothes through your fingers and expands into useful, functional vessels. There’s nothing like it. It could flop over, buckle or collapse at any point, which is what makes it such an exciting challenge too. People often leave the pottery studio buzzing at their creations with feelings of satisfaction and calm. You can also come back and glaze them yourself to complete the whole piece.

Durability Matters: Proper Pottery You Can Actually Use

One major issue with pottery painting studios is the poor quality of the pottery itself. If they say you can’t microwave, dishwasher, subject the pots to changes in temperature, or submerge the pots in water, that’s a huge red flag. How are you supposed to put boiling water in your tea mug? Will it crack from thermal shock? How are you supposed to wash stained ceramics if you can’t soak them or put them in the dishwasher? Proper pottery is durable.

At our Manchester pottery studio, the pots you make are functional and strong. You can:

  • Microwave them without damaging them.
  • Put them in the dishwasher for easy cleaning.
  • Pour boiling water into your handmade tea mugs without worry.

That’s what proper pottery is designed to do.

Try Making & Painting Your Own Pottery Mug

The closest thing we offer to pottery painting is to create and paint your own pottery mug in Manchester. You’ll:

  • Handbuild a cylindrical mug from raw clay.
  • Pull and attach a handle.
  • Decorate it using coloured slips (liquid clay)—the way handmade pottery is traditionally decorated.

Once fired and glazed, your mug will be functional, food-safe, and importantly thermal shock resistant—perfect for your morning brew or evening tea.

Pottery Wheel Classes in Manchester: A Hands-On Experience

Pottery painting may be a fun distraction for the kids or a casual drop in activity instead of the pub, but if you’re looking for an experience to remember you’ll want to give the wheel a go. So if you’re ready to trade boring pottery painting in Manchester for the thrill of wheel throwing – Book your wheel throwing taster class at our Manchester studio today. Come and make beautiful durable pottery you’ll be proud to use.

Wheel Throwing Course Manchester

Been thinking about picking up the craft? Looking to get your hands stuck in some mud and let time fly from a hyperfocus on this fine motor-skill task? It’s fun, it’s a challenge, and it’ll give you an extra thing to enjoy your life with. This 12-week wheel throwing course is aimed at not just giving you a go at throwing, but providing you with the proper skills and time needed to do it independently. It’s aimed at both beginners and advanced throwers.

A nice wheel thrown pot from a pottery workshop

We’ve just released it and it will be held in our new pottery space in Piccadilly East/Ardwick at 85 Northwestern Street, M12 6DY in the new year. We’ve extended the classes to 2.5 hours and at £380 we’ve discounted it for the lucky first few to book onto.

You’ll be taught by our master potter Sam Andrew who has been teaching wheel throwing for over 10 years, and has learned pottery since a young age.

Here’s what we were able to get people to achieve in one of our tasters (red clay) and our 2-day throwing workshops this summer (grey clay).

You can book our 12 week throwing course in Manchester or if you’re unable to make the 12 weeks then try your hand at our 2-day throwing workshops or our pottery taster classes to give it a go for the first time.

Front for under the arches Studio move

We’re Moving Studio

Exciting! After 18 years in Moss Side/Whalley range we’re moving. We’ll slowly be growing into the space. Coinciding with our 25th year, and our annual winter open studio our opening event is on 6th December 5.30pm-8pm and 7th December 10am-4pm, where we’ll hold an exhibition, social and sale, with new works by Sam Andrew, the tutors and members of the studio. Come join us, it’s a perfect spot to grab a mulled wine and peruse some unique handmade gifts from functional ceramics for daily use to sculptural ceramic art pieces in this new industrial space.


Location

It’s located at 85 Northwestern Street, M12 6DY. It’s behind Mayfield just off the ring road in between Power League and Curry’s clearance. It’s only 10 minutes walk from Piccadilly station with plenty of free street parking space during the evenings and weekends.

There’s still much to do before the opening including lighting, furniture making, plumbing, and moving over items from the old studio.

All classes, workshops and pottery collections will be at the new space from 6th December onwards.

Young people enjoying making mugs in a pottery class

Mug Hand-building Workshop Manchester (NEW Workshop)

Hand-build and paint your own mug

We’ve just released a new mug hand-building workshop for those of you looking to try pottery out for the first time or just to enjoy a morning or afternoon creative class with a friend. In the class you’ll learn to hand-build your own pottery mug and then finish it off painting it with coloured slips (a liquid clay). Think patterns from the tessellating pop illustrations of Keith Haring to the psychedelic optical dots of Yayoi Kusama, create your own unique design.

Forget pottery painting Manchester, you’ll create your brew vessel from scratch, from messy mud to neatly constructed mug. Manipulate the clay into a slab, create and attach a handle, then finish it off by painting it. You’ll be welcomed into our friendly class and shown the processes of making pottery by one of our expert tutors. We’ve been running classes for over 25 years, so you know you’re in good hands, with our skills having passed down generations from the top potters in the country.

Your mugs will be fired twice, clear glazed and after 3-6 weeks they’ll be ready to pick up. So if you’re looking for an activity to do with a date, or wanting to get into pottery after seeing it on the Great Pottery Throw down, this hand-build a mug workshop is a really good way to start.

A pottery painting class in Manchester

Pottery Painting Manchester

What is Pottery Painting?

Paint-a-pot or pottery painting is a business that operates as a café where you can paint ready made pots. What you say? You don’t make your own pots and then paint them? That’s right, you paint ready made manufactured pots.

We’re not a pottery painting studio, but we do get a lot of calls about pottery painting. We’re a pottery making studio, where you’ll make the entirety of your pot from a lump of clay, manipulating it by hand and tool to create your own masterpieces. You may at this point paint them with slips, a liquid clay, and/or you’ll then glaze (or paint) your pots when they’re fired too. You can try our hand-build a mug pottery class where you’ll paint them too.

Technically potter’s don’t put paint on their pots? Paint is made from plastics, which are far less durable than ceramics, and what pottery makers actually use to colour and finish their pots is glaze, slip, underglaze and oxides. These are made from natural materials, usually different types of rocks and metals. Sometimes potter’s will use a brush to apply these glazes, slips and oxides, and this may be where the term pottery painting comes from, but brushing is just one method of application. You can pour, dip, and spatter your way along with many other techniques.

The ready made pots in a paint-your-own-pot café have already been biscuit fired, so you can apply your glaze to them with a brush. Nothing to do with biscuits, but pottery goes through the process of 2 firings. The first firing is at a low temperature and is called the biscuit firing. It’s called this because the pottery is weak at this temperature and can break like a biscuit. Once a glaze is applied it goes through a second firing to melt the glaze and make the pottery harder.

Pottery painting is a good way to drop in and keep the kids occupied for a bit. However, it hardly compares to the satisfaction and enjoyment of making pottery from mud, with your bare hands. It’s fun manipulating clay into objects you can use and you can also ‘paint’ the pots that you make too. But what is the ‘paint’ that we use?

Pottery Paint

There isn’t such a think as pottery paint, what potteries use is glaze and slip. So what is glaze and slip?

What is Glaze?

In simple terms glaze is a glassy coating made to fit onto the outer layer of a ceramic pot. It makes it impervious to water, food safe and easy to clean. It is just as durable as ceramic and can enhance the strength of a pot helping them to last thousands of years. It can be applied with a brush, perhaps where the term pottery painting comes from, but it can also be poured, dipped or sprayed on.

What is Slip?

Slip is a liquid clay that can be applied to clay pots before they have been fired. It’s used in a decorative fashion to add colour and patterns. It can also be applied with a brush, but sponging, dipping, pouring and slip ‘trailing’ are also common methods. England has a tradition of slipware pottery, and you can see such beautiful examples made by modern potters such as Fitch & McAndrew.

What is Underglaze?

Underglazes are manufactured and pigmented colours within an independent medium that’s not quite slip nor glaze. Underglazes can come in vivid colours, but can also be quite expensive.

What are Oxides?

Metallic oxides are metals in their raw forms, such as iron oxide, copper carbonate, cobalt carbonate, chrome oxide, and manganese dioxide among others. These are the materials (or chemicals) that colour the world.

Pottery painting or Paint Your Own Pot (PYOP) studios usually use a combination of commercially manufactured glaze or underglazes applied to bisqueware (low fired pottery) to paint pottery.

Can you paint pots with paints?

Paints are various concoctions of plastics and chemicals, whereas pottery and ceramics are long-lasting and durable materials that can last thousands and thousands of years. The oldest things we have in the world are pots made by the hands of our ancestors. These can be carbon dated back 24,000-30,000 years old. You can indeed paint pots with paints, there’s nothing stopping you, but you’re devaluing the material, so make sure not to tell me or any other potters that’s what you’re doing, and be careful not to put them in the dishwasher as it’ll melt the paint.

Pottery Painting vs Pottery Making

Pottery painting is like to pottery making what a colouring-in book is to illustration, a trailer is to a movie, or what a ready meal is to a chef. If you’ve had a go at pottery painting in Manchester, then try a pottery course, to get your hands stuck into clay and create your own masterpieces from scratch. The classes are popular and as such you won’t be able to drop in, you’ll need to book a pottery class in advance. Try our make and paint your own pottery mug workshop or one of our other taster pottery classes in Manchester where you can also learn to throw on the wheel, all of which are perfect for someone looking to have a go for the first time.

2 women laughing and having fun in a pottery class at 7 Limes pottery Manchester

5 Benefits of Trying a Pottery Workshop in Manchester

There are numerous benefits of trying a pottery workshop in Manchester from meeting people, to learning a relaxing activity that helps relieve daily stress. There’s a good reason why celebrities, from Seth Rogan to Brad Pitt, are turning towards the craft and giving it a go. Here’s why we’d encourage everyone to try pottery out:

Making Pottery is Good for your Brain

As someone who has trained in Neuropsychology, and changed career to be a potter, I conducted research on how to train your brain. There were a number of things important in the research literature for longevity of healthy brain function in old age. These things can help build up your cognitive reserve, a kind of brain function strength that staves off the effects of dementias. What are they?: Exercise, socialising and novel activities.

These are the most stimulating things we can do for our brain. Well guess what? You’re engaging in all those things when taking a pottery workshop. It requires the development of fine motor skills and takes physical effort to roll, knead and centre clay, it’s very social when learning in a class, and it engages your brain heavily when you learn a new skill. It also helps to relax you and relieve stress which is great for your brain, and promoting good immune system function too. So taking a pottery course in Manchester is a great way to bolster your brain.

Taking a Pottery Workshop in Manchester can help you Relax

It’s well known that learning pottery requires a lot of concentration. It’s that concentration that takes your mind away from your thoughts, ruminations, and daily stresses to focus on a fun and creative activity, that soothes and calms the mind. This meditative like activity can help bring you into the moment and quieten negative thought and anxieties. It’s no wonder then that the NHS has pottery studios used for therapy in their mental health services.

Meet New People in Manchester in a Friendly Workshop

A pottery workshop is a great way to meet new people in Manchester. As activities go, it really is easy to join one by yourself and make buddies with the other people there. People attending workshops also come from all walks of life, with a really diverse range of people helping to expand your access to different networks and ways of thinking. As there’s pottery making to be done there’s also no obligation to socialise, which is what makes it so great. You can sit down and focus on your pots if that’s what you want to do. However it is really common for classes to become socially supportive groups, that promote a sense of belonging and camaraderie. Lastly you’ll have a hobby to talk about to your current friends and family, gifts to give them, and ceramic art around your home giving you even more social capital. So if you wouldn’t mind making new friends in Manchester, then a pottery workshop would be a great activity to try.

Learning Pottery Enhances your Creativity

Through slabbing your clay into a ceramic art sculpture or trying a new mug handle shape, making pottery really enhances your creativity, even for people who don’t feel ‘arty’. There are so many aspects to pottery making that can be creative: You can make utilitarian pieces, varying their style, shape and design, and learning along the way what works, what doesn’t and what sort of aesthetic you want to create. You can focus on form, but you can also focus more artistically developing patterns or painting styles you apply to your pots to make them your own. You can also learn by accident, with the unpredictable nature of firings sometimes you can discover happy accidents, that teach you a new technique or effect. In making pottery you’re spending time practicing and developing your creative thinking and skills.

Pottery is FUN

Yep, well it isn’t surprising that doing things that are good for your brain health, relieve stress, and providing a community for you to make new friends, would be fun. It’s like when children make a mud pie, but for adults. A place you can play, no judgement. You’re likely to have a good time, all while making food vessels for your home to hold everything from tea to noodles.

Striped layered clay nerikomi bowl handmade by ceramicist Sam Andrew
What pottery techniques? Wedging

What is wedging?

Wedging

Wedging is the process of making clay into a homogenous consistency through kneading, cutting, and slamming the clay down. It aligns the clay particles, evens out lumps and moisture levels, and removes air pockets.

The process of wedging is used to prepare clay before use. It’s a good idea to wedge the clay even if it’s straight out of a fresh clay bag from your supplier.

Wedging vs Kneading clay

Traditionally, wedging, referred to a process separate from kneading, with kneading being a process of folding a mass that can be done with clay and other mediums such as bread dough. Wedging is cutting a piece of clay in half (a wedge), picking the half up and slamming it back down on the other half. This process is unique to clay, necessitating it’s own word, and by itself it can homogenise the clay and remove air pockets. To process clay, wedging is combined with kneading, both of which homogenise and removes air pockets.

With the spread of social media, and the dilution of formal education in ceramics, the meaning of the word wedging has changed over time. It’s meaning more commonly encapsulates both kneading clay as well as the process that is more traditionally known as wedging. Wedging is now often used to refer to kneading alone as well. If you have any references for the origin of word wedging we’d love to hear from you.

Spiral Wedging/kneading

There are 3 Types of Wedging

Spiral Wedging

Spiral wedging is a technique to knead clay. It folds layers into the clay by rocking it forwards and backwards and rotating it in a spiral motion, at the same time. It’s the more advanced form of wedging and can take a little while to learn to proficiency. The clay ends up looking a little like a snail shell

Rams Head Wedging

Rams Head wedging is easier to learn the spiral kneading. In Rams head wedging the clay is kneaded by rocking it back and forth each time folding the clay back into itself by pressing with each hand on the left and right hand side of a log or roll of clay.

Cut Wedging

Cut wedging is where the clay is cut horizontally with a wire, the top wedge of clay is picked up, and then it’s slammed down on top of the other piece of clay. The wedge is usually turned before being slammed down, and once stacked the clay block is also usually picked up and turned, so that the wire then cuts through a different part of the clay. Different potters may use differing methods of cut wedging, for example the clay can be cut at an angle or it can be cut straight.

Cut Wedging

Striped layered clay nerikomi bowl handmade by ceramicist Sam Andrew

How to Recycle Clay

Is clay recyclable?/ Can you recycle clay?

Yes, clay is infinitely reusable and recyclable, if done well it is a process that will save on the costs of purchasing new clay, and keep you fit along the way. It’s only once the clay is fired that it is more difficult to recycle. So, how do you recycle clay?

How to recycle clay: Divide The Clay Into Different Levels Of Dryness

To recycle clay it is useful to divide the clay into different moisture levels, we do it in 4 levels:

  1. Hard and Dry clay, that is no longer plastic or flexible.
  2. Soft Clay, like you would get out of a bag or from off-cuts.
  3. Wet Clay, which is soft clay with water on it.
  4. Clay Slops, such as the thickened clay water that collects during wheel throwing.

We treat each moisture level of clay differently, by dividing them in this way can reduce the amount of work involved in the clay recycling process. We keep buckets in the studio for clay slops, wet clay and dry clay, and finally then soft clay can be put straight back in a bag or kneaded right away.

Bucket of dry clay off-cuts

Hard/Dry Clay

Hard and dry clay, that is no longer plastic or flexible, should be collected and left to fully dry out to the bone dry stage. This includes trimmings from turning, failed pots that are leather hard or bone dry, off-cuts from hard slabs, and shavings/debris from other hand-building processes.

Soft Clay

Soft clay, even if it’s dried a little, as long as it’s still plastic and flexible, can be kneaded into a clay block and reused right away. It does not need to go through the whole recycling process. Soft clay can include off-cuts from soft slabs, trimmings from soft clay pots, and clay lumps used to pin down thrown pots for turning.

Wet Clay

We put flopped pots from throwing on the wheel, if there are many, in their own bucket. Wet clay such as from pots flopping over on the potter’s wheel or pulling handles, as with soft clay, can also sometimes be kneaded into a firmer block of clay and be reused right away. However, when the quantity is too much or the clay too wet, it may stick to the kneading surface, making the process difficult. In this case it should be collected and left to dry out. This clay does not need to go through the whole recycling process either, it just needs to dry a little until firm enough to knead into a block.

Clay Slops

The thickened clay water that builds up while wheel throwing we call slops. It should be collected separately in a bucket. As this settles over a day or two the water can be pared off of the top of the bucket.

The Clay Recycling Process: Step by step

After dividing the clay into different moisture levels, the steps to recycle clay are:

1. Slake down the clay

Add the clay slops to the fully dried (bone dry) waste clay. Depending on the size of the clay pieces, soaking the dry clay will slake it down to a thick slurry in 1 day to 1 week. If it’s fine trimmings from turning, they can slake down quicker.

Dry clay slaking down during clay recycling process

2. Put the clay slurry out to dry

The clay is given a good mix and put out to dry on plaster batts. The air and plaster together will help dry the clay. It’s dry enough when it won’t stick to a wooden board when it touches one, so it can be wedged. If left for too long the clay may be too firm to knead. It can take a couple of days to a couple of weeks to dry depending on how thinly it is spread, the weather, whether the kilns have been on, and the absorbency of the plaster batts.

3. Knead the clay

Once dry enough, it’ll be soft enough to knead. The clay is simply kneaded and wedged until it becomes a homogenous consistency. Kneading mixes in any harder lumps, and also removes air pockets. It’s then ready to throw and hand-build with.

What is Wedging?

Wedging is the process of kneading clay to make it into a homogenous consistency. Wedging does this by mixing and aligning the clay particles, and removing air pockets during the process. Read more on wedging.

What pottery techniques? Wedging

Recycling clay

Recycling clay is an effortful process initially. When done inefficiently it may even be cheaper to sling your waste clay down a hill and buy some new bags of clay. However, how you recycle clay, by dividing the clay into different moisture levels, understanding when to do each stage of the recycling process, and your skill in wedging has progressed: it is something that is economically beneficial, helps keep you physically active encouraging good health, and is better for the environment. It’s a necessary step for any pottery studio especially community studios like ours that offer pottery classes.


Striped layered clay nerikomi bowl handmade by ceramicist Sam Andrew