Ceramic glaze is the glassy coat on finished pottery. You brush, dip or pour it onto bisque as a wet mix of minerals, and the kiln melts that mix into glass that seals and colors the clay. This hub explains what a pottery glaze is made of, how cones decide which glaze goes with which clay, what the food safety labels mean, and where home potters buy glaze in the US. At the end you will find organized links to every clay, glaze and underglaze page on Home Pottery HQ.
This guide is research-based. We compare maker spec sheets, safety pages and published references (Mayco, AMACO, Orton and others) rather than firing pots ourselves, and we name the source whenever a figure appears.
What is pottery glaze made of?
Every glaze, from a cheap class jar to a pricey crystal glaze, is built from the same three jobs. Lakeside Pottery's glaze primer and the general ceramics references agree on this split, and it explains most of what you see in the kiln.
- Silica (glass former): silicon dioxide from flint or quartz. Silica is what turns into glass. On its own it melts far too hot for a pottery kiln.
- Flux (melter): oxides of calcium, potassium, sodium, lithium, boron and others, supplied by feldspar, whiting, frits and similar materials. Fluxes pull the melting point of silica down to a temperature a kiln can reach.
- Alumina (stabilizer): aluminum oxide, usually from kaolin or other clays in the recipe. Alumina stiffens the melt so the glaze stays on the pot instead of sliding to the shelf.
- Colorants and opacifiers: metal oxides and stains such as iron, cobalt and copper for color, plus tin or zirconium to make a glaze opaque.
- Helpers in liquid jars: suspenders like bentonite keep the mix from settling, and gums help brushing glazes stick and dry hard.
The balance between those parts decides the surface. More flux and the glaze runs and gets glossy. More alumina and silica and it stiffens toward matte. Commercial glazes do this math for you, which is why most home potters start with ready-made jars.
Many fluxes reach a glaze through frits: materials that a maker has already melted into glass and ground, so they melt evenly and lock soluble ingredients into a stable form. Our page on frit explains how they work, and the glaze materials guide covers feldspar, whiting, kaolin, silica and the other raw ingredients by name.
Dust safety: raw glaze materials contain crystalline silica. Mayco's safety sheet warns that mixing dry glaze or spraying it creates dust or mist you can inhale, and says not to do it without a NIOSH-approved respirator. Clean glaze spills wet with a sponge or mop; never dry sweep.
Cones: matching glaze to clay
Potters measure firing heat with pyrometric cones, not a single thermometer number, because cones respond to both temperature and time. A glaze and a clay body each have a cone they are designed to reach. The table below uses Orton's chart for self-supporting cones at a final heating rate of 108°F (60°C) per hour.
| Range | Cone | Temperature (Orton, 108°F/hr) | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low fire | 06 | 1,828°F (998°C) | Earthenware glazes, Stroke & Coat, many school glazes |
| Low fire | 05 | 1,888°F (1,031°C) | AMACO low fire gloss (witness cone 05) |
| Low fire | 04 | 1,945°F (1,063°C) | Common bisque firing; one-fire Stroke & Coat on greenware |
| Mid range | 5 | 2,167°F (1,186°C) | Cone 5 to 6 stoneware glazes |
| Mid range | 6 | 2,232°F (1,222°C) | The most common home-studio glaze firing |
| High fire | 10 | 2,345°F (1,285°C) | Reduction stoneware and porcelain, mostly gas kilns |
For the full chart and why heating rate shifts the numbers, see our pottery cone chart.
Does glaze have to match the clay's cone?
Yes, in practice it does. The glaze should melt properly at the same cone the clay body matures at, because both go into the same firing. Fire a low-fire glaze at cone 6 and it can over-melt, run and change color: Mayco's own page for Jungle Gems Blue Caprice says that at cone 6 the crystals fade and melt and the glaze gains mobility. Fire a cone 6 glaze on low-fire clay at cone 06 and it will not melt into a sealed glass at all.
There are exceptions that makers test and print on the label. Mayco rates Stroke & Coat from cone 06 to cone 10, and AMACO Velvet underglazes run cone 05 to 10. Read the cone range on every jar, and check the clay bag too. Our guides to stoneware clay and the main clay types explain clay ratings.
Glaze fit, in one paragraph
Even when cones match, glaze and clay shrink by different amounts as they cool. If the glaze shrinks more than the clay, it cracks into a fine web called crazing. If it shrinks much less, it can flake off edges, called shivering. Commercial makers design glazes to fit common clay bodies, but a new clay and glaze pair is worth a test tile before you glaze a full set of mugs.
Glaze vs underglaze in brief
Underglaze is closer to colored clay slip: it is used for painting color and designs and usually fires matte unless a clear glaze goes over it. Glaze melts into glass and gives the shine or satin surface. Overglazes such as lusters and china paints go on top of fired glaze in a third, cooler firing. Our page on underglaze vs overglaze covers the difference in full, and the underglaze buying guide compares brands.
Types of glazes for pottery
Glazes for pottery are usually sorted three ways: by cone, by surface and by how they behave in the kiln.
- Clear glazes: transparent coats that seal underglaze and show the clay. Most studios keep a clear for each cone they fire.
- Opaque and gloss colors: solid colors such as Mayco Foundations or AMACO Low Fire Gloss. Predictable and good for beginners.
- Mattes and satins: softer surfaces. Some are dinnerware safe and some are labeled decorative only, so check the jar.
- Reactive and flowing glazes: AMACO Potter's Choice, Mayco Stoneware and similar lines that break over texture and change where they pool. They also run more.
- Crystal and specialty glazes: glazes with glass frit chips (Mayco Jungle Gems), crackles, crawls and textured surfaces. Many are decorative only.
- Raku glazes: low-melting glazes made for the fast raku firing, where pots come out of the kiln red hot and go into a reduction can. They crackle and flash in ways an electric kiln cannot copy, and they are decorative rather than for food. See raku glazes.
The three types of glazes by firing range
When people say there are three types of ceramic glazes, they usually mean the three firing ranges, because the cone decides everything else about the jar you buy.
- Low fire (about cone 06 to 04): bright, predictable colors on earthenware. Mayco Foundations, Stroke & Coat and AMACO Teacher's Palette and LG live here. The clay stays somewhat porous, so the glaze does the sealing.
- Mid range (about cone 4 to 6): the range most home electric kilns are bought for. AMACO Potter's Choice and Mayco Stoneware glazes fire here on stoneware and porcelain that vitrify into a dense body.
- High fire (about cone 8 to 10): traditional stoneware and porcelain glazes, often fired in gas kilns with reduction, such as classic celadons and shinos.
Some teachers use "three types" for underglaze, glaze and overglaze instead. Both splits are useful; the cone split is the one that keeps glaze for clay matched to the kiln. Our low fire glazes, cone 6 glazes and cone 10 glazes pages go range by range.
Pottery glaze colors and color charts
Pottery glaze colors in the jar look nothing like the fired result. A wet glaze can be gray or pink and fire bright blue. Use the maker's fired chip as your guide, and note what cone and clay it was fired on. Mayco, for example, fires its cone 06 chips on white earthenware, its cone 6 chips in oxidation on white stoneware and its cone 10 chips in reduction on white stoneware. Your clay color, coats and kiln will shift the result, so the honest answer is to fire a test tile.
Is pottery glaze food safe?
Some pottery glaze is made to be food safe, but no glaze is food safe on your pot just because the jar says so. The label describes a result under the maker's conditions. Mayco, for instance, sorts its glazes into three groups: suitable for dinnerware when fired as directed, suitable for dinnerware only with a compatible clear on top, and decorative use only. Mayco also says food-contact surfaces should be on mid-range or high-fire clay bodies (cone 5 to 10) and points to US FDA guidance (CPG Sec. 545.400 and 545.450) on lead and cadmium release.
Results depend on firing to the stated cone, using a compatible clay, applying a sensible thickness and avoiding crazing. If you plan to sell dinnerware, Mayco suggests sending finished pieces to a testing lab such as SGS, Bureau Veritas or Intertek.
Labels to know: an ACMI "AP" seal means a toxicologist found the wet product non-toxic when used as intended. It is about handling the jar, not about whether a fired mug is safe to drink from. Dinnerware labels are separate, and some AP-labeled glazes are still marked decorative only.
Our upcoming food safe glaze guide goes deeper into testing and liner glazes.
Where to buy glaze for pottery
Pottery glazes for sale in the US come from three kinds of seller. Each has a place.
Pottery supply dealers
Local and online ceramic suppliers carry the full lines from Mayco, AMACO, Coyote, Spectrum and others, plus dry materials and test tiles. Staff can tell you which glazes their customers fire on which clays, which is useful local knowledge.
Art and craft chains and school suppliers
Blick, School Specialty and similar suppliers stock the popular jars and class packs, especially Stroke & Coat, AMACO Velvet and Mayco Fundamentals.
Amazon
Amazon is handy for starter sets and kits, such as the Mayco Stroke & Coat 12-color kits, and for supplies like wax resist and glaze brushes. Check that the listing names the exact color code and size, and compare against the maker's page.
Buying glaze: brands, jars and dry mix
Pottery glaze brands in the US
Most ceramic glazes sold to US hobby potters come from a handful of glaze brands. Mayco and AMACO are the two you will find on almost every dealer shelf; the others are smaller or regional.
- Mayco: Stroke & Coat, Foundations, Elements, Jungle Gems, Stoneware and Fundamentals underglazes. See our Mayco glazes review.
- AMACO: Velvet underglazes, Potter's Choice, Celadon, Shino and other cone 5 to 6 lines, plus low-fire gloss and matte. See our AMACO glazes review.
- Coyote: an Albuquerque, New Mexico maker of glazes and underglazes.
- Spectrum: a Canadian maker with cone 06 to 04 and cone 4 to 6 series, plus raku glazes.
- Speedball and Duncan: common in schools; Duncan products are now listed on Mayco's site.
Jars vs dry glaze
Liquid jars (2 oz, 4 oz, pints and gallons) are ready to brush, which suits home potters who glaze a few pieces at a time. Brushing glazes contain gums so they can be layered with a brush without lifting the coat underneath.
Dry glaze comes as a powder you mix with water, often for dipping buckets. Mayco sells many Stoneware glazes as 10 lb dry bags (SD codes), and AMACO sells some clears and its Dipping and Layering line dry. Dry mix costs less per pot once you glaze in volume, but it needs a bucket, a scale, a sieve and a respirator while you mix. Most beginners should stay with pints until they glaze often enough to keep a bucket in use.
Start small: one clear for your firing cone, two or three colors you like from the fired chips, and a jar of wax resist. Fire test tiles before buying gallons.
How much pottery glaze costs
Commercial pottery glazes are priced by the jar, and the price per ounce drops sharply as the jar gets bigger. At the US dealers we checked in October 2026, a 2 oz bottle of Mayco Stroke & Coat typically ran about $4 to $7, a pint of a Mayco color about $13 to $25, and a pint of an AMACO cone 5 to 6 glaze such as Potter's Choice or Celadon about $20 to $40. Specialty glazes cost more: Krueger Pottery listed an AMACO Cosmos pint near the top of that band. A gallon of Stroke & Coat was listed above $100 at Clay-King. Check the live price, because dealers change prices and run promotions often.
What matters more is cost per pot. Brushing glazes need two to four coats, so a pint covers fewer pieces than you might expect. A starter set of 2 oz bottles is the cheapest way to test colors; pints make sense for colors you use on every piece; dry mix in a dipping bucket is the cheapest per pot once you glaze in volume.
Reading a glaze label before you buy
A good label answers five questions. Check each before you add a jar to the cart.
- Cone range: does it match the cone your clay and kiln fire to?
- Application: is it a brushing glaze (with gum) or a dipping glaze, and how many coats does the maker ask for?
- Surface: gloss, satin, matte or textured, and does the maker warn that it moves?
- Dinnerware status: dinnerware safe, safe only with a clear, or decorative only.
- Safety seal: AP (non-toxic as a wet product) or CL (cautionary labeling; Mayco says CL products are not for artists aged 12 and under).
If any of these is missing from the jar, the maker's product page usually has it. Mayco and AMACO both publish per-color pages with fired chips and notes.
Test tiles: the cheapest insurance
A test tile is a small piece of your own bisque, ideally with a vertical face and some texture, glazed with one, two and three coats. Fire it in a normal load. It shows the true color on your clay, whether the glaze runs on a vertical surface, and how it breaks over edges. Label the back with an underglaze pencil so you know what you tested. A dozen tiles cost almost nothing compared with a ruined set of bowls.
Applying glaze, in short
To glaze pottery you clean the bisque, wax the foot, stir the glaze, then brush, dip or pour it to the thickness the label gives. Brushing glazes usually need two or three coats; dipping takes a few seconds per dip. The same steps apply when you glaze ceramics bought as ready-made bisque and when you glaze pots you threw yourself, and most glazes go on bisque rather than raw clay; only products labeled for it, such as Stroke & Coat, can glaze clay at the greenware stage. The full method, with thickness checks and fixes, is in our guide on how to glaze pottery.
Every clay, glaze and underglaze page on Home Pottery HQ
Pages that are not live yet show as plain text and will become links as they publish.
Clay: buying and types
- Best clay for pottery
- Types of pottery clay
- Stoneware clay
- Porcelain clay
- Earthenware clay
- Low fire clay
- Terracotta clay
- Raku clay
- Speckled clay
- Dark and black clay bodies
- Paper clay
- Ball clay
- Grog in clay
- Clay for hand building
- Porcelain throwing tips
- Laguna Clay
- Laguna B-Mix 5 review
- AMACO No. 46 buff stoneware review
- AMACO No. 38 white stoneware review
- Standard 266 clay review
- Speckled buff clay review
- AMACO air dry clay
- Stoneware vs earthenware
- Stoneware vs porcelain
- Air dry clay vs kiln clay
- Air dry clay on a pottery wheel
- How to make clay at home
Clay: stages, prep and reuse
- How to wedge clay
- Greenware
- Leather hard clay
- Bone dry clay
- Clay slip
- Terra sigillata
- Marbled clay
- Clay shrinkage
- How to reclaim clay
- Clay mixers
- How to dry pottery
- Nerikomi (colored clay)
- AMACO Bisque Fix
- Clay dust safety
Glaze brands and lines
- Mayco glazes
- Mayco Stroke & Coat
- Mayco Stoneware glazes
- Mayco Foundations review
- Mayco Elements
- Mayco Jungle Gems
- Mayco Black Walnut
- Mayco Mood Ring
- Mayco Copper Adventurine
- Mayco Opal Lustre
- AMACO glazes
- AMACO Potter's Choice
- AMACO Celadon glazes
- AMACO Shino glazes
- AMACO Satin Matte glazes
- AMACO Cosmos glazes
- AMACO River Birch
- AMACO Blue Rutile
- AMACO glaze names roundup
- AMACO Teacher's Palette review
- AMACO vs Mayco glazes
- Coyote glazes
- Spectrum glazes
- Speedball glazes review
Glazes by type and cone
- Clear glaze for pottery
- Zinc free clear glaze
- Low fire glazes
- Cone 6 glazes
- Cone 10 glazes
- Cone 6 vs cone 10
- Crystalline glaze
- Salt glaze pottery
- Raku glazes
- Food safe glaze
Glaze materials
- Glaze materials (ceramic raw materials)
- Frit
Glaze combinations
- AMACO glaze layering
- Honey Flux glaze combinations
- Seaweed glaze combinations
- Ancient Jasper glaze combinations
- Running Hot Chowder glaze combinations
Glazing methods, firing and faults
- How to glaze pottery
- Dipping glaze
- Brushing glaze
- Wax resist
- Mixing glaze from powder
- How to glaze inside a mug
- Glaze tongs
- Glaze firing
- Pyrometric cones
- Kiln wash
- Glaze crawling
- Glaze pinholes
- Glaze crazing
- Glaze running
Underglaze
- Best underglazes
- What is underglaze
- Underglaze vs overglaze
- How to use underglaze
- AMACO Velvet underglaze
- AMACO LUG underglaze review
- Mayco Fundamentals underglaze
- Mayco Designer Liner
- Duncan Cover-Coat review
- Velvet vs Stroke & Coat
- Underglaze pencils
- Underglaze crayons
- Underglaze transfers
- Sgraffito pottery
- Beginner sgraffito designs
- Mishima pottery
- Slip trailing
Sources: Orton pyrometric cone temperature equivalents chart (self-supporting cones, 108°F/hr); Mayco fired color line pages, Dinnerware Suitability and ACMI page, and Consumer Product Information Sheet (maycocolors.com); Mayco product pages for SC-15 Tuxedo, CG-718 Blue Caprice, SW-104 Black Walnut and SD dry glaze sizes; AMACO glaze line pages, HF-9 Zinc-Free Clear and Wax Resist (shop.amaco.com); Lakeside Pottery "Understanding Glazes"; Wikipedia "Ceramic glaze"; Digitalfire glossary on glaze thickness; Spectrum Glazes and Coyote Clay & Color home pages; dealer price listings at Clay-King (Mayco SC-15 Tuxedo sizes), The Ceramic Shop (Mayco pints and 4 oz) and Krueger Pottery (AMACO pints); AMACO shop "Most Popular Products" list. Specs checked October 2026.