would you be willing to share a list or just some aquarium-safe glaze recipes? i finally have class time again and im eager to make a hide for my boyo (and my tafe is great and lets us fire whatever so cone isnt a huge deal?)
I am planning on sharing a few glaze recipes at some point. I may share most of them on Patreon but I’ll try to share a few here as well.
Unfortunately right now my computer is dead, and I don’t have access to all of my recipes at the moment. I back up so many things and I just didn’t back up that folder. I’m sorry!
For glazes I have a few recommendations!
Fairly obvious but they need to be free of toxic metals and minerals that have the potential to leach; that means no barium, lead, etc.
Food safe. This doesn’t just mean that they don’t contain the above minerals, but for many it also means they have to have a strong enough glass former that they don’t react to acid. To test a glaze, fire a test piece with it (just a flat tile works). Slice an acidic fruit such as kiwi or a citrus fruit, and lay it flat side down against the glaze. Let it sit for a week in your fridge. When you remove the piece of fruit, if the glaze has changed in any way (texture or color), it should not be considered food safe, and needs to be reformulated. Glossy glazes tend to be stronger than matte glazes, but there are exceptions.
If your work is not becoming vitrified then you need to particularly make sure that your glaze has a good fit, such as no crackling or crawling (and certainly no shivering!). If you’re firing your clay so that it’s becoming vitrified then it’s less important, since bacteria has less of a chance of getting trapped in the cracks if the clay is not porous.
No copper. You don’t mention what species you’re making the hide for. Avoiding copper is most important to animals like invertebrates and amphibians and some fish. In a well-formulated glaze it shouldn’t leach, even when immersed in environments such as acidic aquariums or acidic substrate for years. However, I err on the side of caution with this one, and make sure I never use copper on any piece intended for small animal use. I don’t know how someone might use it down the road, and even if it’s for me only, I don’t want to potentially forget which piece has which combination of glazes. You could write "contains copper” on the bottom with stain or glaze pencil when you want to make a piece for critters and remind yourself not to use it with glaze-sensitive animals down the road, however.
It’s best to fire mid-to-high range. Porous, low-fired clay is very hard to sanitize or disinfect. Although brand new porous low fired clay like terra cotta will be pet safe, you can’t really reuse it after quarantine, between animals, etc. It should be tossed and new pieces made or purchased.
No lusters or other low-fired decals and accents.
I hope this will help you evaluate the glaze recipes you have access to until I can share some!
