Brushable glazes are easy to use and are especially great for sculptural pieces, detail work, or if you are in a studio that mixes small amounts of glaze that aren’t used for pouring or dipping.
Any ceramic glaze can be made into a brushing glaze with a few simple ingredients, such as CMC gum, Veegum, or Macaloid.
Here are a few easy recipes.
Super Simple Brushing Medium Recipe
Add 1% CMC gum by weight to a glaze.
In practice, this would mean that for 1000 grams of dry glaze, add an additional 10 grams of CMC gum.
Super Simple Brushing Medium Recipe #2
Also easy, this is what I use and love.
Add 0.2% CMC and 0.8% of Veegum or Macaloid. This is still equal to 1% of the total glaze.
Following the example above, for 1000 grams of dry glaze, add 2 grams of CMC and 8 grams of Veegum or Macaloid.
These recipes can be used for any glaze at any temperature.
Why Use a Brushing Medium?
Brushing medium slows the drying time of your glaze, allowing you to brush on a glaze more easily. It also can help keep a glaze in suspension and creates a “harder” glaze that is less likely to be knocked off while handling or loading your piece before the glaze firing.
If you have been buying pints of glaze or using underglaze, you are already using glazes with gum additives to make them more brushable. Using one of the recipes above, you can turn glazes you mix into brushing glazes. (Keep in mind that they are not as suitable for dipping or pouring if you add this.)
Recipe 1 vs. Recipe 2
Recipe #1 is simple and easy to remember. It’s also what you are making if you add CMC gum solution to your glaze. (Click here to read more on CMC gum solution.)
Recipe #2 is not as turbocharged and gummy, so it gives you more leeway if you make an error mixing your brushing medium or want a less viscous glaze. I have been using this recipe for more than a decade, and it makes for a very successful, brushable glaze. But either recipe will be fine.
How to Mix
Gums such as CMC or Veegum, and clay such as Macaloid (or Bentonite) will clump up if added directly to water. To successfully mix these, add the materials to your glaze batch while still dry and thoroughly mix. Then add the glaze batch to water. You will still need to mix and possibly let the glaze sit overnight to fully hydrate.
Where to Buy
CMC, Veegum, Macaloid, etc are available dry from your local ceramic supplier. You can also buy pre-made gum solution or check out our recipe. Some suppliers also sell dry brushing medium. It’s probably something basically the same as CMC + Macaloid, but they don’t share their recipes.
Personally, I like to know each ingredient in a glaze I’m mixing so I think it’s best to mix your own brushing medium, and at one or two ingredients, it’s very easy.
You might also enjoy:
How to Mix a Ceramic Glaze From Scratch
Best Glaze Mixing Tools and Accessories
Do you add brushing medium to your glaze? What’s your recipe? Let us know in the comments.