Abbots Stain Turquoise

Using Abbots Stain Turquoise

Stains have created a whole new color palette for the ceramist. The colors are brilliant, safe to use, and very reliable. This will enable you to make a reasonable prediction of the way the piece will look after the firing. Stains are added to the glaze in varying amounts, usually 2–12% of the total recipe.

Decorating with stains.

Using stains for colourful brushwork decoration is very popular, and many people just mix the pure stain powder with water and paint it on using watercolour techniques. In general, a stain should be used under a transparent glaze. The ware can be decorated at the green or biscuit stage. However, under-glaze stains must have maximum chemical compatibility with the overlying glaze for correct colour and surface development. This is achieved by dispersing the stains in a designed medium of clay, frits and fillers. When used as underglazes, surfaces coming into contact with food must be covered by a food-safe transparent glaze

Using Stains in glazes

If you use commercially produced glazes or underglazes, you are already working with prepared stains matched to supporting glazes and media.

There are many stain types. Stains can be very sensitive to the glaze ingredients they are added to; their color is heightened or diminished depending on the materials in the recipe. Listed below are the color characteristics of some stain types. Here are a few common types that work well.