All clays except terra cotta and sculpture are recommended for wheel.
Sand Clay. A finely grogged clay. This clay is beautiful, it looks like wet beach sand when left unglazed with a grainy, speckled surface. The speckles do not show through glazes and underglazes applied over this clay body but it will bring the color of glazes down.
Cone 6 Shrinkage 13.5% Absorption 3.0%
Brooklyn red. Standard 308.
This is one of the most widely used clays in public studios for a reason. It is a brick red stoneware body with fine sand and fine grog. Very resistant to warping and bloating. Yields a beautiful dark reddish brick color and can bring depth and richness to the glazes applied to it.
Cone 6 Shrinkage 12.5% Absorption 2.0%
Dark Brown Clay.
People love this clay because it is so dark. This clay creates major depth and richness in color as it greatly affects the glazes applied over it. The clay is smooth and plastic and good for all techniques. It may take longer to clean up your wheel splash pan with all the iron in this clay.
Cone 6 Shrinkage 13% Absorption 1.0%
Porcelain. Wins most vitrified award meaning that this clay is nonporous and very food safe even without glaze. Porcelain boasts a super smooth and creamy texture and contains no grog. Glazes are bright and brilliant on this clay especially semi translucent glazes like celadons. Its a great choice if you are staining clay bodies with mason stains or oxides (Nerikomi/Agateware). It is however more prone to cracking while drying and warping than other clays but worth it to obtain the super white color. Recommended for intermediate to experienced potters.
Cone 6 Shrinkage 13.0% Absorption 0.3%
White Stoneware. Fires a bright warm off-white color. This is a good clay for beginners because the glazes show up on it with very bright colors. This clay has some of the finest grog we have ever seen which enhances its throwing qualities and strength while leaving the clay feeling smooth.
Cone 6 Shrinkage 10.0% Absorption 0.75%
Sculpture clay. Standard 420.
A highly grogged body, formulated for sculpture. Yellowish tan color at C/6.
This clay is a beautiful gray color when wet but don’t let that fool you, the clay fires a light straw tone. This clay is full of sandy gritty grog which can hurt some peoples hands when they throw with it. For this reason we do not recommend it for throwing (although some do). This clay is highly moldable and sticky. It is an excellent sculpture clay, producing works that dry evenly with less cracking and low shrinkage (only 8% vs the usual double digits).
Cone 6 Shrinkage 8.0% Absorption 1.5%
Speckled clay. Standard 112.
This clay is definitely having a moment. This is THE most popular clay at Mouse Ceramic Studio. Maybe its because the speckles in the clay show through glazes and underglazes, effectively making every glaze you apply to it into a speckled glaze. This clay will not reveal its speckled surface until its fired to glaze temperature.
C/6 Shrinkage 11.0% Absorption 2.25%
Terra Cotta Sculpture Clay. Standard 108.
This clay gives the lovely earth tones associated with terra cotta but its actually a high fire stoneware. Great for sculpture, very rough for wheel throwing although we have seen it done. This clay is rough and not recommended for wheel use (although we have seen it done (Matt K!)).
Cone 6 Shrinkage 10.5% Absorption 5.0%
Hazelnut Brown. Standard 211.
Lisa Common turned us onto this clay, she uses it a lot in her test tiles. It is maybe one of the most beautiful brown clays available, not to light and not too dark, full of rich deep tones that really bring out the beauty of glazes. The grog is light and the clay is dark, producing a brown surface speckled with light dots.
Cone 6 Shrinkage 12.5% Absorption 2.0%