Liquid 'N' brand Sodium Silicate is used as a major deflocculant in preparing slip. It reduces the amount of water needed, therefore reducing shrinkage. This is a pure sodium silicate and must be mixed with water to a 50/50 solution for most casting bodies.
Sodium silicate can also be used to create a crackled surface texture on pots:
- Brush the sodium silicate onto your cylindrical pot while it's still on the wheel.
- Use a heat gun to dry the outer layer of sodium silicate.
- Apply a layer of slip or underglaze overtop of the sodium silicate
- Use the heat gun to dry the layer of slip/underglaze.
- Draw or carve through the slip/underglaze layer to expose the clay, or you can leave the slip as is.
- The final step is what creates the crackle: place your hand back inside the pot and apply from the inside to open the vessel wider. The enlarging of the pot creates the crackling effect from the dried sodium silicate.
- Fire and glaze as normal.
