White clay offers unique properties that make it ideal for certain ceramic applications. This article explores the characteristics and common uses.
While red and brown clays capture more attention, white firing clay bodies provide potters with distinct advantages thanks to their specialized makeup. Here is an overview of white clay’s defining traits and how they lend it to certain uses:
The white color results from low levels of impurities like iron and organic materials. Quality white clays are highly refined and filtered to remove colorants, increasing the concentration of pure white kaolin or halloysite minerals.
The pure white bisque color provides an ideal neutral backdrop for applying colored glazes, slips, underglazes, and stains. White maximizes the vibrancy and saturation of overlays.
Quality white clays are often high fire formulations, reaching cone 6-10 temperatures. This makes the body denser and less porous when fired.
White clay bodies exhibit very low shrinkage during drying and firing compared to red clays. This reduces cracking and warping stresses.
White clays typically hold their shape extremely well in raw unfired form with less deformation. This aids in handling delicate unfired pieces.
Absence of impurities creates an exceptionally smooth, plastic surface texture when thrown on the wheel. Fine details reproduce cleanly.
The high plasticity and low shrinkage enable throwing very thin-walled pieces and allowing more light to pass through translucent porcelain.
Whiteness provides a neutral tone for sculpture, allowing color to be added selectively by the artist. Details also reproduce sharply.
White clay’s purity at industrial scales enables applications like pharmaceutical containers, electrical parts, and labware where contamination is prohibited.
So while white clay may lack the earthy appeal of natural earthenwares, its exceptional refinement perfectly suits certain artistic and manufacturing ceramics needs where purity and performance are paramount.
