How to Flatten Clay in Pottery

Working with clay can be very therapeutic. It's a relaxing and easy way to craft art and depending on your desire, you can make practical items like ash trays and cup holders or kitchen items and bowls to hold desk items in your home office. Flattening out your clay is the first step to take before working with it and molding it into your masterpiece, and it's quite easy if you treat it the same way you would with your favorite dough recipe. Read on to learn how to flatten clay in pottery.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Potter's clay
• Rolling pin
• Hard surface
• 1 cup water
• Potter's knife

1. Begin with a clean, hard surface. Lay out a medium size ball of potter's clay directly in front of you and being rolling it down from a rounded surface into a flat one with the rolling pin.

2. Just like you do when you roll cooking dough, roll the rolling pin over the clay's surface diagonally and horizontally until you reach your desired thickness. Be sure to keep an even thickness all the way across your piece.

3. Along the way, add drops of water to the clay and continue rolling until all air pockets are out. You will know this when you don't see any bubble-like formations in your clay and it's completely smooth.

4. You've just completed your first step in hand-building within pottery. You can now begin to do the more fun work like trimming the edges for neatness with a potter's knife, or rolling it and sculpting it into your desired shape before baking it in the kiln.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear a smock when preparing your clay to prevent messes.
• Make sure to roll your clay out to an even thickness or it won't bake properly in the kiln.