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Troubleshooting Pottery: Dealing with Air Bubbles in Your Kiln Creations — Spinning Pots

Terry Connor
3 min readJan 20, 2024

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Pottery is an essential human art that demands precision and attention to detail from everyone who takes it up. However, even this unique art is not free of various problems. Amongst the many challenges obstructing the perfect piece is the issue of air bubbles, whether during shaping, kiln firing, or glazing. This article shall help potters learn the complementary art of “troubleshooting pottery,” which shall help them deal with air bubbles in their kiln creation by taking pre-emptive steps.

Understanding Why Air Bubbles Form in the Pottery

Before understanding the how, what, and where of the air bubble problem in pottery, we shall first understand why air bubbles may form in your creations. Air bubbles are amongst the most annoying and persevering problems in pottery pieces. While we understand that air bubbles are nothing but trapped air, we shall also know how they come about:

In pottery, there needs to be a proper foundation for your creation to be sustained. For this, you shall employ proper wedging and kneading of the clay. If you do not wedge or knead the clay enough, it can lead to many air bubbles.

How you prepare your clay plays an essential role in the final product. Less…

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Terry Connor
Terry Connor

Written by Terry Connor

I'm someone who is always looking to improve my life and others. Looking to be a better person spiritually and financially. Plus I love pottery and Cats.

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