Shoutout to the weird red clay I found near my house in Knoxville

I tried to fire a piece of it in my kiln at 1,800 degrees, thinking it was just normal earthenware, and it completely melted into a glassy puddle. Turns out it's loaded with iron oxide and acts more like a low-grade flux. Has anyone else had a local soil completely ruin a pottery project because of its mineral makeup?

2 comments

2 Comments

norag3820d ago

That "loaded with iron oxide" thing is why I never trust local dirt.

rowan_black19d ago

But is it actually a problem?