How to make decorating slip

There are many different recipes you can use to make a decorating slip.

The Simplest Way

Materials

Steps

1. Take your bone dry clay and place it inside the Ziploc bag
2. Use the mallet to smash the clay
3. Weigh out the amount of clay you want to make into slip
4. Add that to one of the containers
5. Weigh out 1-10% mason stain depending on how intense you want the color to be. Remember mason stains look closer to the final product unlike oxides and carbonates but it will be more dull than the finished product.
6. Add the mason stain to the clay and mix thoroughly
7. Add about 70% water to clay and stain to a separate container
8. Add the dry materials to the water and let it slake
9. Stir using the immersion blender
10. If it is still too thick you can either add more water or add a deflocculant to the mixture
11. Sieve (optional)

The other way you can do this is the exact same process but using a slip recipe instead of your clay body. If you choose this method you won’t need the mallet or plastic baggie.

Another note on decorative slip is if you want to you can use a flocculant to thicken up your slip. This will make your slip raised. You can create cool effects with flocculated slips. A cool technique using flocculated slip is apply a thick layer of flocculated slip and use a feather or sharper object to draw cool lines and effects. You can create sort of “mounds” and hills. You can make a rib by taking an old credit card, gift card, or hotel key cutting it so that it has teeth and swiping that through the slip.

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