Instructions and Policies
Customer must notify East Orlando Ceramics of the type of clay and glaze being fired in order to assure it is fired to the proper cone (temperature) and to assure that no hazardous materials are being fired. If you do not know this information, please bring the packaging and/or containers from the clay and glazes used. Bottoms of pieces must be free of glaze or additional stilting charges of $0.50-2.00 per piece may apply. Customer assumes responsibility for damage to kiln or kiln furniture due to running glaze or mis-identified clay. Customer agrees to pay for cleanup or replacement costs as follows: Cleanup of minor melting or glaze drips $5. Stilt replacement is $1.50 each. For extensive damage, cost for replacement of each damaged half shelf is $65 per shelf.
East Orlando Ceramics reserves the right to refuse to fire any work based on the judgment of the person loading the kiln. If a piece is too thick, poorly constructed, or gives other cause for concern, it will be returned to you unfired.
If you are new to glazing, I strongly suggest that you bring cookies to put under your work. A cookie is a piece of clay that is larger than your work and will catch glaze drips. Ideally, you should apply kiln wash to your cookies so that your work can be easily separated from the cookies. I can sell you a pint of kiln wash if needed.
Shelf firings may require patience until a full kiln is achieved, which could take two to three weeks. In the event customer has only a partial kiln load, expedited firing is available at the full kiln load price, or customer may choose to wait until the rest of the kiln is filled. Since 2022 this has never been a problem. Our firing schedule is very busy.
East Orlando Ceramics reserves the right to add additional work to kiln loads, whether “full” or “shelf” loads. Every effort will be made to isolate customer work from other customer work, but no guarantees can be made with respect to damage to work from another customer’s work. If this is an issue for you, please discuss with studio.
All firing fees must be prepaid. Work must be completely dry before it is fired; firing of damp work will be delayed until the piece is dry. We will schedule your completed item pick up at drop-off. Items must be picked up on the scheduled pick up day. Items not collected within 30 days will be considered abandoned and will be disposed of.
Firing service fees are non-refundable. Fees do not include loading or unloading of your pieces. Customers with specific concerns about handling of their work are encouraged to load the kiln at drop-off time. East Orlando Ceramics will handle your work with the utmost care, however, we are not responsible for breakage or unexpected results.
Shelf firings are allocated 15 minutes to load and 15 minutes to unload. Full kiln firings are allocated 30 minutes to load and 30 minutes to unload. This is generally adequate. If your work requires more time to load or unload, time beyond the allocation will be billed at $25/half-hour, payable at drop-off.
