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while we are on the porcelain subject.....................

updated sat 21 aug 10

 

Antoinette Badenhorst on fri 20 aug 10


We moved into this house in a unincorporated area north of Chicago =3DC2=3D=
A0ju=3D
st over a year ago. With my studio still in the making, with no running wat=
=3D
er in there ( the house is still in the making.......), I started to find s=
=3D
erious discolorations on my clay. I often "cut and paste" my bowls and ofte=
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n from offcuts from previous projects. It is those "pasted" areas that disc=
=3D
olor. So I found myself making sure that I work from one batch ( thought it=
=3D
might be batch differences) =3DC2=3DA0to create pots, but the discoloratio=
n ke=3D
eps coming back.=3D20



A week or two ago we installed ( actually re-installed) the smart water sys=
=3D
tem and as a starter used the rust remover salt and a day after we had it u=
=3D
p and running, all the water from the coldwater taps=3DC2=3DA0turned orange=
for=3D
a while, before returning to normal.=3D20



I think I found the culprit: I have to keep wetting the clay, particularly =
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in the hot weather we all had lately. I also reclaim the porcelain off cuts=
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after every 5 gallon bucket and of cause I use water to throw pots with. =
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=3DC2=3DA0I am almost 100% sure that the rust in the water contaminated my =
very=3D
white and expensive porcelain clay. I also think that the tiny black specs=
=3D
that I get from time to time comes from the water, so I will have to consi=
=3D
der an alternative filtering system.=3D20



I will have to=3DC2=3DA0mix all the opened bags into one consistent mixture=
.(fo=3D
rtunately the discoloration is slight so I will not trash it=3DC2=3DA0.....=
....=3D
........=3D20



Antoinette Badenhorst (telling this story in the hopes that I might help so=
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meone else..............)=3D20
www.porcelainbyAntoinette.com=3D20