What will happen to water-based clay if there is no kiln to fire it with?

Question

I teach elementary school and have 2 twenty-five pounds bags of clay. I am now teaching at a school with no kiln. I do not want the clay to go to waste. Can I just let their projects air dry? I live in AZ, so it is plenty dry and hot. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. The children love working with the clay, but I can't afford to have all their work fired at a commercial kiln.

Answer 1

The clay will break once it is dry if it is not fired. Your best bet would be to look around the community to see if there are privately owned ceramics shops who will be willing to donate the use of their kilns, or at least let you use them for a lower price than commercial. Another option you have would be to talk to the local junior high or high school, they should have art classes and the other instructors might be willing to let you use their kilns. You could always do a proposal to the school board for getting a kiln put into the school. Your last option would be to just let the kids have fun with the clay and keep it moist so it is reusable and they can use it throughout the year. Just some ideas for you to ponder, I hope something will work out for you. Good luck!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Any ceramic clay requires firing to bisque temperature in order to preserve it. The only thing worse than giving children clay to work with but not fire it is to watch the inevitable disappointment when their piece eventually breaks. You would do better to give your students polymer clay or some other air-drying paper clay that at least has a bit more resiliency, than to try to save the $15-$20 worth of clay you've got. Clay used in ceramics is meant to be sintered and vitrified. If it is not, it poses a health hazard as crumbling bone dry clay will release fine silica dust. Air drying the clay only removes the water of plasticity; you still have the atmospheric water and chemically bound water, both of which need to be removed before the clay particles begin to fuse and achieve structural integrity. This sintering temperature exceeds 1600 F, so don't even try using a conventional oven. A kiln is required. I do not recommend pit firing for the inexperienced, as it is dangerous, heavily polluting and can release uncontrolled toxic gases. If you don't design the pit properly, you won't reach the required temperature anyway.

Answer 4

Well, I've been working with ceramics and children for a number of years, so here goes...

Okay. Number one, pit firing doesn't release anything dangerous except smoke - the same smoke that would be released by burning a pile of leaves and wood. Raku firing with heavy metals, on the other hand, is quite toxic and shouldn't be attempted unless you actually know what you're doing.

Number two: Greenware (clay before the first firing) is quite fragile, as you know, and I'd say all of the pieces would break within a few weeks - kids' backpacks and such - so you should at least try to fire them.

I'll assume you teach all of the subjects, and pit-firing is a great science (geology) lesson. I'd love to chat with you about how to arrange this so the kids would get the most out of it. You can reach me at vitrowsky at hot mail dot com.

Veronica

Answer 5

Without the package or being able to see and feel the clay we will all be guessing. If the clay oily if so then it is a artist plastiline clay and it Will not dry out. It will stay oily forever because it is meant to be that way so the artist can work on it over a long period of time. If it is not oily it may be on of the poly clays, which means it may dry out quite Hard I would suggest you tke a small piece and let it dry out and see how hard it is. Most clay are not hard when they dry with the exception of some of the poly clays which can dry very tough. If you find that your clay will dry, then make your item and punch your holes and then let it dry. If is usually best to lay a damp towel over it while it dries so it doesn't dry too fast.. When the water evaporates the clay will shrink and cause the clay to crack. And you can mix the color by kneeding them together to get other colors. (red and blue= purple, red and green= brown, red and yellow= orange and so on)

Answer 6

I agree with your first poster, but you MIGHT check to see the firing temperature of the clay. If it has high Kaolin content, then forget it. The temperature to reach even bisque-ware will necessitate the use of a kiln. If the clay is an ironstone, then perhaps you can lower the firing temperature with mineral additives to the point where it can be fired in a wood burning pit like that of a "terra -cotta." at any rate. try reading up via google... there may be a recipe... find a nice low-fire reduction glaze, build a big bon-fire, and thus, problem solved!

Answer 7

We here in Mexico usually fire our simple work in simple fires. You can just build a campfire, stacking them intermixed with the firewood. If you do this at night, you can see that the work is fired by the fact that it begins to glow. Another way that takes a couple of days and isn't so fun, but works just fine too, is to pack them into a large burn can, like a 55 gallon drum or a galvanized trash can packed full of sawdust. If the sawdust is good and dry, it will burn by simply placing a piece of newspaper on the top when the can is full and lighting it with a match. You place the lid back on, check back in a day and see if it burnt. The pieces that the kids make will not be real stong, but a whole lot more so than if you do nothing in the way of firing at all. Good luck!!

Answer 8

If you let it air dry it will crack wide open, so that is not plausible. You need to go to an art store and talk to an art supplier. I know there is something that you can paint on the clay to keep it from cracking, but I cannot remember what it is.

Answer 9

Hello to a fellow AZ art teacher!
Water based clay will harden and become relatively stable. However, it will not withstand alot of use and abuse. It will crumble just like dried mud. It could be fun for a temporary sculpture. Also, have you thought of roku firing? That might be easier and more affordable to do.

Answer 10

Usually if it is not fired it will take a very very very long time to dry, and when it does it becomes very fragile, and if you dont make clay correctly like putting peices together it will fall apart very very easily!