Care · Jul 11, 2026

Caring for unglazed rims

Some of our pieces leave the studio with bare clay showing. Every foot ring is unglazed, and a few shapes, like the Tide bowl, get the glaze wiped back from the rim so the warm clay shows through. The foot has to be bare: glaze melts in the kiln, and a glazed foot would weld the pot to the shelf.

Fired to cone 6, our stoneware is vitrified, which means it barely absorbs water. Barely is not never. Raw clay is a touch more open than glaze, so it can pick up coffee, tea or beet stains over time, and it stays damp a little longer after washing.

The fix is boring. Wash it like anything else, then give the bare edge a quick wipe with a towel instead of leaving it in the rack overnight. If a stain does set in, a paste of baking soda and water and a soft brush lifts most of it. Skip bleach; it doesn't hurt the clay but it isn't needed.

We sand every foot ring with a diamond pad before a pot is photographed, so it shouldn't scratch your table. If one ever feels rough, a piece of fine sandpaper or a sharpening stone will smooth it in a minute.

Over a year or two, bare clay darkens slightly where hands and lips touch it most. We think of that as the pot getting broken in, the same way a wooden spoon does. It isn't damage, and it doesn't affect food safety.