Cleaning, drying, biscuit firing

Once the articles are semi-dry or dry, they can be cleaned by various methods, depending on their form, size and structure.

Cast articles in the raw state have to be dried out completely before they are fired, or the sudden evaporation as the temperature rose in the kiln would blast them apart. Drying occurs naturally in the workshop.

The dried porcelain articles are fired before glazing at 980°C. This 'biscuit' firing causes the kaolin to break down and lose its plasticity, so that it can never be formed again. Without biscuit firing, thin walled articles would dissolve in the glaze slip, and it would be much harder to apply the glaze without causing deformation.