Kiln wash sticking to wine bottles

potter · Post by **potter** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 2:26 pm

I am actually a potter but read in the archives of this site how to flatten wine bottles in my kiln and sold quite a few at my last pottery show. Some of them turned out great but some have tons of kiln wash stuck to the backs. Any thoughts on why or what I can do to prevent it from happening. I followed the temperature instructions posted in the archives and I have a computer controller. I make my own kiln wash, 50% silica and 50% EPK. Any help would be greatly appreciated. You all have a great board here.

Brad Walker · Post by **Brad Walker** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 2:47 pm

Try a different kiln wash formula (or buy kiln wash made for glass).

50% alumina hydrate, 50% kaolin is probably a better mixture than the one you mention. The finer the particles the better.

Judy Schnabel · Post by **Judy Schnabel** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 4:41 pm

Of course Brad's not going to tell you to buy 110-J from him, but I will.

I have found 110-J sprinkled with dry BE kiln wash is THE answer. You can order it through the warmglass board. It will last a LOOOOONG time and the backs of your bottles will be very smooth. The only bottles that will eat up your 110-J are bottles like Belvedere, Grey Goose, Corona (you get the picture). When removing these from the kiln they take a lot of 110-J with them. However, you can save your almost worn-out pieces for these special firings. Even the scraps can be re-used by continuing to sprinkle the dry BE kiln wash over the bad areas.

Is this clear as mud?

Judy

potter · Post by **potter** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 5:25 pm

Thanks for the tips. My only concern is that I also use the same kiln for pottery and I'm not sure about the formula with clay.

Dale Bradford · Post by **Dale Bradford** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 8:17 pm

I had a problem with kiln wash sticking on my bottles until I lowered my firing temp, I have not had a problem with it sticking since. I use Bullseye Kiln Wash, and I have used both Super Spray and Fuse Master Clear Coat Overglaze to prevent devitrification, both have provided great results.

Carol · Post by **Carol** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 9:32 pm

potter wrote:Thanks for the tips. My only concern is that I also use the same kiln for pottery and I'm not sure about the formula with clay.

When you're going to fire glass you'll want to scrape your shelves down and apply kiln wash so why not apply BE then. In general, glass requires a much smoother kiln shelf than clay (hence the finer kiln wash), as glass will pick up any little imperfection in the kiln wash. With glass, you'll be scraping and reapplying kiln wash much more often that you're used to.