How To Keep Clay From Sticking To Mold

At that place are a few mutual challenges that potters have when information technology comes to storing pottery clay. I of the nearly common challenges is to go along moist clay from becoming dried out. Another challenge is to store the dirt in a mode that will prevent it from becoming moldy.

There are two ways you tin store pottery clay. One is to tightly seal the bags of clay to preserve the wet content of the clay. The other is to shop your clay in dry out course and rehydrate it.

I'll become over the different means to store your clay and the pros and cons of each method. By the end of this article, you should have a good understanding of how to store your pottery clay properly to detect out which one works best for you.

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How Do Y'all Store Moist Pottery Clay?

The best fashion to store your dirt in the moist or Plastic Stage of Clay is by sealing information technology tightly in a thick plastic bag and placing it in a plastic storage container. It'south better to shop your clay in both a tightly sealed bag and inside a plastic container. This will help proceed the moisture content of the clay and prevent it from condign moldy.

An Image of Closing a container with clay

The storage location of your dirt matters because mold also thrives in dark places. You lot will desire to choose a practiced location to store your dirt. A low-cal area in your studio would exist best.

Pros of Keeping Your Stored Clay Moist

The biggest plus to keeping your clay in the plastic (workable) stage is that you can utilize the dirt right away. You lot don't have to take the time to rehydrate your clay. Just wedge it, and y'all're ready to play with your dirt.

Cons of Keeping Your Stored Dirt Moist

You have to check your stored dirt to make sure it'south not growing mold. Especially if you lot are storing a lot of clay for a long time.

Y'all must check on your stored clay at to the lowest degree one time a week to ensure your clay is non drying out. It doesn't matter how thick the pocketbook is if the bag is not sealed tightly.

And sometimes the plastic numberless still develop very small holes. And then, checking your stored clay weekly is very important.

Best Pottery Dirt Storage Numberless

The best pottery numberless y'all can use are Thick Articulate Plastic Numberless. The thicker, the better. The clear bags will go along the dirt out of the dark which helps to stop mold from growing. Continue in mind that the thick bags are no good unless sealed properly.

Pottery Clay Storage Containers

The best storage containers for pottery dirt are Clear Plastic Containers. These containers allow you to see how much clay you accept in each container. They are also great to use every bit damp boxes. They also help prevent mold from growing since mold loves to grow in dark places.

How Practice You lot Keep Stored Clay From Drying Out

If your unused blocks of clay start to dry while storing, in that location are a few ways yous can keep them moist:

Spray Bottle Filled With H2o

Open up your dirt bag and spray a footling water over your clay body. You can besides add together 20% vinegar to the Spray Bottle to help keep your clay fresh. Vinegar also improves the plasticity of your clay. Adjacent, remove any air and seal the pocketbook tightly.

Wet Cloth on Your Clay

Place a wet fabric on the top of the clay within the plastic bag. This can also exist done with a textile soaked in 20% vinegar and water. Next, remove the air and seal the plastic bag. After a few days, remove the cloth and seal the plastic bag.

An Image of Place wet cloth on clay in bag

Poke Holes in Your Dirt

Y'all can poke some holes in your clay with a round stick. A i-tertiary inch or one centimeter is a good width. For 25 pounds of dirt, 6 or 7 holes are good. Cascade water or water mixed with 20% vinegar into the clay holes and remove whatsoever air as y'all seal your clay back in the plastic bag. Later a few days, you tin wedge out the clay.

If Your Pottery Clay has Dried Out and is Hard as a Rock

The clay would have to be broken up and rehydrated. The same method you would use to Recycle Bone dry out Clay.

Another method would be to put the block of dry clay in an closed plastic bag. Since twenty% of clay is water you lot desire to identify viii ounces of water for every 10 pounds of dirt in the plastic handbag, seal the bag, and then submerge the bag in a bucket of water.

An Image of submerge the bag in a bucket of water

The pressure from the water on the outside of the handbag will forcefulness the water inside the bag to go back into the clay.

Storing Pottery Clay in Dry Course

If you are non using your clay for a long period of time or have a large amount of dirt, you tin can shop it in the Dry Clay Stage. When storing your clay in the dry out stage, the large pieces of moist clay should be sliced with a wire cutter earlier drying out, this will make information technology easier to rehydrate.

Y'all can go on the dry out clay in a plastic bag or container with a lid until you are fix to rehydrate information technology.

When you are ready to use the clay, break up whatsoever large pieces of dirt. Make certain y'all ware a Dusk Mask when working with dry clay. And then add water to the sack or the container. The moisture will go back into the dry clay faster and more than evenly. When information technology returns to the Plastic (workable) stage of clay Wedge it really well, and the clay is set to apply.

There are potters that use bags of dry clay and use a Clay Mixer to hydrate their dirt.

A Dirt Mixer is important because it helps to evenly distribute the water in the clay. This volition rehydrate the clay and return it to the Plastic Stage or workable stage of clay. Is A Dirt Mixer The Same As A Pugmill

Pros of Storing Dry out Dirt

Storing your clay in the Dry out Land prevents whatever mold from growing in the clay. This is important if you are allergic to mold or merely don't like the scent of moldy clay.

Y'all never have to cheque your clay. Simply go out information technology until you are ready to rehydrate it.

Cons of Storing Dry Clay

You volition take to rehydrate your clay and wedge it actually well. The same mode you lot would Recycle Bone Dry Dirt.

Yous need to wear a grit mask when working with dry dirt.

Information technology may accept up to several days to rehydrate dry out clay.

How Long Can Pottery Dirt Be Stored?

Pottery or ceramic dirt can be stored indefinitely. Information technology doesn't affair if your clay has water content or not. I store my pottery clay in both moist and dry forms. The dry clay I store for long periods of time. For more data on how long you can store your pottery clay, check out this commodity Does Pottery Dirt Expire?

Can Pottery Clay Go Moldy When Storing Information technology?

Yes, if yous do not store your wet dirt properly, it will grow mold. Mold needs nutrient, h2o, oxygen, and a dark place to grow. Mold also needs a temperature between twoscore℉ (4℃) and 100℉ (37℃) to survive.

Mold feeds on whatsoever organic thing or natural materials in the clay, as long as moisture and oxygen are present.

It's a proficient idea to eliminate the oxygen in the bag by sealing it tightly so the mold can't grow. The same goes if you eliminate the h2o in your clay. Mold cannot grow on bone dry out clay.

Working with Moldy Clay

While mold does help the plasticity (workability) in the clay, many potters prefer Non to work with moldy clay for several reasons.

Some Potters may exist allergic to mold. Working with moldy dirt volition kick upwards their allergies and for some, information technology may be an unhealthy surroundings.

Others do not prefer to work with moldy clay considering of the odour and may even discard it.

For the highest level of freshness possible, you lot can Introduce twenty% vinegar to your water. Or a few drops of Cortane-B (Dettol) to your water. This volition kill the bacteria and keep the mold off your clay while the vinegar volition add plasticity to the dirt.

I take worked with moldy clay on many occasions. Information technology really is great to work with and has very good plasticity, just I tin can NOT stand up the olfactory property, then I attempt to continue the mold out of my clay. That is the chief reason I similar storing my recycled clay in dry out form.

Can You Shop Dirt in the Refrigerator?

Y'all can store your dirt in a refrigerator without harming the clay. However, y'all will have cold, hard clay when you lot take information technology out of the refrigerator. Therefore, it'southward best to let the dirt warm upwardly to room temperature before wedging it out.

An Image of putting the clay in the fridge

How Do You Shop Clay in the Refrigerator?

Storing clay in the fridge volition proceed the moisture in longer and go on mold from growing in the clay. If you determine to refrigerate your dirt, you should set the temperature between forty and 34 degrees. Most molds cannot grow under 40 degrees. You don't desire to go below 32 degrees, or your clay will freeze.

Freezing will not ruin your clay, but it will take a lot of wedging to get information technology dorsum to a workable state.

Tin can the Clay Be Stored Outside?

Yep, yous can shop your clay outside with no bug as long your clay is tightly sealed. Likewise, cold climates are fine every bit long as the clay is stored above freezing temperatures. If your clay is dry form, it doesn't thing what the temperature is because in that location is water in information technology to freeze your dirt.

How Do You Store Recycled Clay

An easy way to recycle clay is to allow the clay scraps from the potter's bike and hand-building to dry completely. Therefore, the best way to store your recycled clay is to get out it in the os-dry stage until yous are ready to rehydrate information technology. This way, you can shop it as long as you like without having to picket information technology for dry parts or mold growth. Then, when y'all are ready to rehydrate your recycled dirt, you lot can shop your rehydrated dirt in a thick plastic bag.

For an like shooting fish in a barrel, less messy way to recycle clay, read my article on How I Recycle My Clay. It saves me fourth dimension and money on clay and helps reduce the amount of dirt wasted.

Tin You Store Clay in H2o?

Yous can store your clay in water. It would be in the course of slip or clay slurry. Because mold needs h2o, air, and a nighttime identify to thrive, you would need to eliminate the air and keep your watered-down dirt in Sealed Plastic Numberless and a Large Container. This fashion, y'all can shop your watered-down dirt (slip) for a very long time without growing mold.

A picture of a potter showing clay bleach and vinager

If you tin can't eliminate the air, you lot can add vinegar to your sideslip or slurry. Some potters practice use bleach, merely I prefer vinegar considering it is a natural substance.

What Are Some Ways You Can Store Unfinished Dirt Projects?

I of the most important things to retrieve when it comes to storing unfinished clay projects is that you need to go along them moist. Different clays and the size of your piece will determine how fast your clay will start to dry out. If they are not kept moist, the clay will go past the Leather Hard Stage. This would make it difficult to impossible to piece of work with the clay and you may no longer exist able to finish your project.

Information technology is too of import to know that if the clay is kept moist for too long, the unfinished pieces may start to grow mold. The good news is you can withal work with it and the mold volition burn down off. But you may exist allergic or not like the scent. You lot tin can also spray 20% vinegar water on it.

Y'all can choose one of the following ways to store your unfinished dirt projects. This volition help to ensure that they stay moist and in skillful condition until you are ready to finish them by trimming or adding attachments like handles:

Wrapping your Dirt Project

Yous can gently wrap your dirt pots with a damp cloth like Muslin and cover them with plastic wrap. Still, if the textile is too heavy, it may deform your project. This is done with bigger and less delicate pieces of pottery.

An Image of pottery wrapped in a cloth and wrap in plastic wrap

You tin spray a small corporeality of water over the cloth to help it stay moist. This is a practiced method to use if you are not going to be working on the projection for a few days.

Using a Damp Box

If you are not able to piece of work on your projection for an extended period of time, you lot can place it in a clammy box. This will aid to keep the clay moist and in workable condition. When choosing a damp box, make sure that the Container has a chapeau.

At that place are several ways you tin can keep the humidity level loftier in your Damp Box:

Yous can place a moisture towel inside the box
Spray water within your Damp box and bank check daily
Use pottery plaster on the bottom of the damp box and add water to the plaster
Cut out a piece of HardieBacker board, place information technology on the bottom of the damp box and keep the HardieBacker lath moist by adding water

If your damp box starts to abound mold you lot can add 20% vinegar to the water in your damp box.

Placing Your Clay Project in a Plastic Bag

If you are non able to work on your project right abroad, you can identify information technology in a plastic purse. This volition help to go on the clay moist and in practiced condition. When choosing a plastic bag, brand sure that it is securely sealed in the purse. Be careful the plastic does not affect the dirt project, but tents over the projection

a picture of leather hard pottery in clear plastic bags

Yous can also identify a damp fabric inside the bag or spray the clay with a little water to assistance keep the humidity level high.

Conclusion

a picture of clay storage containers open

At present that yous know the different ways to store your pottery clay, information technology'south of import to cull the method that volition work best for you lot. By keeping your clay moist and in proficient condition, you'll be able to consummate your projects without whatsoever problems. The best way to store your pottery dirt long-term would be in the Dry out Stage. We hope that this commodity has helped you learn how to shop pottery dirt properly and so that you can go along enjoying this wonderful hobby.