Salt Firing and Soda Firing

In this section, ceramic artists will share the results of their experimentation with the salt and soda firing process. You’ll find everything from firing schedules to glaze recipes, to beautiful examples of salt and soda fired work.

Salt firing is a vapor-glazing process where salt (sodium chloride) is introduced into kiln firebox at high temperature. The salt vaporizes, and sodium vapor combines with silica in clay surface, forming extremely hard sodium-silicate glaze.

Soda firing has been touted as modern-day nontoxic replacement for salt firing, but has proven to be much more than that. Potters have discovered that soda firing has endless exciting aesthetic possibilities rather than just being a more environmentally friendly! In the soda firing process, soda ash (sodium carbonate) in water solution, instead of salt, is sprayed into kiln at maturing temperature, and sodium vapor combines with silica in clay to form sodium-silicate glaze. In these archives, salt and soda firing artists share practical technical information, salt and soda glaze recipes, atmospheric slip recipes, and salt and soda glazing and firing techniques. In these archives, salt and soda firing artists share practical technical information, salt and soda glaze recipes, atmospheric slip recipes, and salt and soda glazing and firing techniques.