‘Collected Wisdom’ Waterproof Your Pots

April 2013

This is a reliable way to waterproof pots which are to be used as vases (e.g. raku, crazed earthenware, pit pots, sawdust fired pots). Chop or grate candle or paraffin wax into small pieces. Put these into the pot to be waterproofed (you will have to estimate the quantity to be used). Place the pot in the oven and turn on heat. When the wax has melted, using oven gloves or potholders, lift pot out. Turning the pot as you do when glazing the inside, tip wax out into a bucket or dish of cold water. The inside of the pot will be completely wax lined. The wax tipped out will have solidified when hitting cold water and can be lifted out ready to be used again in the future. More than one pot can be put in the oven at a time, and if at any time the wax liner is perforated, it is a simple matter of putting it back in the oven again, remelting and swilling about.