Choosing A Clear Glaze

Sometimes you want a clear glaze for your clay pieces, and finding the right one can be confusing. Let’s help you find the perfect glaze for your projects.

First, what is your firing range?

Low-Range firing

If you’re looking for a glaze for low-temperature (cone 06 to cone 1, or 1000°C-1137°C), you have 2 options.

For gloss use LG-10 Clear Transparent. LG-10 Clear Transparent has a wide firing range, from cone 06 to cone 1, but can bubble or blister when fired to cone 5 or higher.

LG-10 Clear Transparent over LUG underglazes

For a satiny surface at cone 05, we recommend using LM-10 Transparent Matte. It’s a lovely soft glaze. Matte and satin glazes can make some black and dark underglazes look faded because light is refracted at the surface of a matte glaze.

LM-10 Transparent Matte over Velvet underglazes

Mid to High range firing

If you’re looking for a clear glaze for cone 5 or higher (1186°C-1285°C), we have several options.

If you want a clear that you can dip and looks great with underglazes, use our new DL-10 Gloss Clear glaze. Shipped dry, just add a gallon of distilled water and mix to have a bucket of glaze. Makes glazing easy and fast. One quick dip and you’ll have a perfect coating. It's also zinc-free, making it perfect for green underglazes.

DL-10 Clear Dipping with Velvet underglazes

Our standard clear glaze is HF-10 Clear Transparent. It’s great for a variety of uses, is durable, and fires from cone 5 up to cone 10. HF-10 contains zinc, which can shift some underglaze colors towards brown, so it’s best for use without chromium green underglazes. Some underglazes, like V-388 Radiant Red and V-391 Intense Yellow, work better with HF-10 Clear Transparent than with some other clear glazes.

If you need a glaze for underglaze decorations, especially greens like V-333 Avocado, we highly recommend using HF-9 Zinc-Free Clear. Some chromium-bearing underglazes can shift towards brown in the presence of zinc, so we made Zinc-Free Clear to give the best results. HF-9 fires from cone 5 to cone 10.

Plus, HF-9 Zinc-Free Clear is a customer favorite! It's available in pints, gallons, and 25lb dipping buckets, making it perfect for production studio or classroom use!

HF-9 Zinc-Free Clear with Velvet Underglazes

HF-9 Zinc-Free Clear with Semi-Moist Underglazes (SMUGs)

Looking to mix or layer with Amaco Celadons? Use C-11 Mixing Clear, just 2 coats. C-11 Mixing Clear can be mixed with Celadons or layered with them for a watercolor look. It also functions well as a zinc-free clear glaze for underglazes, making it a versatile studio clear.

C-11 Mixing Clear with C-32 Ochre and V-370 Velour Black decoration

Are you looking for a satiny smooth glaze, not a gloss? Try SM-10 Clear Satin. We recommend using 1-2 even coats to prevent milky spots.

Tip: Satin and matte glazes can make black underglazes look faded. For best satin black results, we suggest using V-361 Jet Black and 1 coat of SM-10 Satin Clear (or 2 watered-down coats). Reminder: When adding water to a glaze, use distilled water.