How can I resolve crazing?

Crazing takes the form of fine cracks spread throughout the glaze. Craze lines may be so fine that they're difficult to detect with the naked eye. Evidence may be present in the form of a ring of moisture under water-filled vases, for example.

Crazing is always most pronounced in thickly glazed areas so the remedy is to reduce the glaze thickness. The thinner the glaze coat, the better the craze resistance.

Sometimes crazing can occur where the clay has been underfired (insufficient heatwork). The ware can be refired to increase the heatwork - a higher temperature and/or longer firing time - to mature the clay, provided that the glaze will withstand the higher temperature.

It should be noted that some glazes will inevitably craze due to their components. For example, raku glazes are typically high in free alkali contents and these increase the thermal expansion of the glaze to such a point where they no longer fit the clay. In this case, crazing is used as an intentional design feature and is a characteristic of raku-fired ware.