Quick facts:

10 Lbs. of dry glaze needs approximately one gallon of water (every glaze is different, check the label) and will yield about a gallon and a half of glaze.

25 Lbs. of dry glaze needs approximately two and a half gallons of water and will yield between three and four gallons of glaze.

Quick mixing instructions:

Wear an appropriate respirator and gloves, and use adequate ventilation when mixing.

Measure the amount of water recommended on the label (or just a bit less) into a clean bucket.

Slowly add the dry glaze while stirring continuously. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bucket and mix thoroughly.

Screen through a 60 mesh sieve.

Dip and fire a test piece; if too thick, add a little bit of water and retest.

About our glazes:

When mixed with water, Coyote dry glazes are suitable for brushing, pouring or dipping, and do not require the addition of any suspension or brushing ingredients; if they need it, it's already in there.

Because most of our dry glazes include CMC and bentonite they may take a little longer to dry than you are used to with dipping glazes, but they dip very well, stay suspended in the bucket and can also used for brushing. At Coyote Clay School & Studios we dip everything, with excellent results.

More good information:

Don't be tempted to add more water than is suggested on the label without testing! Every glaze is different, and each label has a suggested water content for that glaze. Some of our glazes will be quite thick when mixed according to the instructions on the label. Glazes that work best with a thicker application will be thicker in the bucket, and glazes that work well with a thinner application will be thinner.

Some of our glazes, especially the Mottled Glaze series, gel when left undisturbed. Mix them vigorously and they will thin out with no additional water. We highly recommend a drill with a mixing attachment for mixing glazes.

Specific gravity and glaze thickness:

The Celadon, Archie's, Satin, Matt and Miscellaneous glaze series should be an average thickness (half and half consistency). The Shino and Gloss Glaze series should be slightly thicker (heavy cream consistency). The Mottled series should be quite thick, and the Crawls even thicker (yogurt consistency).

There are a lot of variables in how much glaze ends up on a dipped piece, so mix up your glaze, then dip and fire a test piece! You may find that you prefer your glaze a little thicker or thinner than we do.

By keeping accurate records of how much water you use, you can reproduce your preferred glaze thickness well.

How we do it:

Because hydrometers are misleading when measuring thick materials, here at Coyote we determine specific gravity by weighing a particular volume of glaze. If you want to reproduce exactly the consistency of our liquid glazes as we sell them, you will need a 500 milliliter flask and an accurate scale.

To measure the specific gravity of a glaze:

Tare (subtract) the weight of your flask from the scale.

Fill the flask exactly to the 500 ml mark with glaze and weigh it.

If your glaze is heavier than the target weight, add water and re-weigh.