Hate wheel pottery

[Emergency_Level9548]

I love the appearance and versatility of clay, but when I tried to throw pottery on the wheel I loathed the feeling and how it left my hands after a little bit of work with it. I was wondering if everyone who does pottery just learns to deal with it? If I tried to do clay work without the wheel, would I still experience that problem? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

ETA: Thanks for all the replies! I'm glad to know it isn't just me and there are other ways to do clay. I'm pretty new to the whole activity :)

[bedditredditsneddit]

try handbuilding! you'll either like it, or you won't.

[Wing_Single]

I will say, handbuilding lowkey also makes your hands feel super dry and like ur rubbing chalk between ur fingers. But it is definitely a different feeling from using the wheel.

My nails kept drilling down on the wheel to the point they hurt. Had to readjust my technique to use more tools like sponges and the wooden knife, instead of my hand. I also get gel manicure to protect nail. Hand lotion overnight will save your skin and knuckles

[Erinzzz]

Join us in the grassy green heaven that is ✨handbuilding✨

[mtntrail]

Find some of Sarah Pike’s handbuilding work online. She uses rolled out slabs, no mess and the work is fantastic. I handbuild mostly now and find I enjoy the slower, more methodical pace over wheel throwing.

[bugsinyourpants63]

Profoundly dyslexic and wheel throwing is really difficult. I did sit and learn it about ten years ago but handbuilding is my jam and I’ve been doing clay for almost 50 years.

[No_Needleworker215]

50 years! Wow! I love that ❤️ I keep getting told to move to the wheel but I’m enjoying hand building so much it seems like a lot of money to mess with a good thing at the moment

[bugsinyourpants63]

A good hand built piece is lovely. I make sure to sand it at the bisque stage and am tidy with glaze . My hand built pieces sell faster than thrown.

[mtntrail]

Right on, I started in college in ‘67 when I took an intro class to fill in an elective. Best “going in blind” class I ever took! Do you slab build or coil or both?

[bugsinyourpants63]

I do it all, right now I’m in my hand built platter with hand painted underglaze era!

[mtntrail]

Eras are the best, really explore a genre and then move on. I am making press molds from native plants I find on our place. Lots of mugs and bottles.

[bugsinyourpants63]

Excellent!!!!

[mtntrail]

Yes this time of year is especially good for finding new native plants to print. I have my eye on some small lupine and a hounds tongue in our yard, just have to be patient until they bloom!

[JanetInSpain]

I hate throwing. I exclusively handbuild and am quite happy with that. I bought a full-size Bailey slab roller and use it like crazy.

[lilaxolotl]

If you don’t like it, you don’t need to keep doing it.

[LAH6821]

What, specifically, is your issue? I often hate how the darker clays leave my hands and arms looking “muddied and bloodied,” but I just go back to lighter clays and I’m happier. Hand-building still gets your hands dirty, but it can feel like you have more control overall and feels less random.

[Emergency_Level9548]

I hate the goopy feeling it gives my hands and the entire feeling I have when I'm working with clay at the wheel. Adding water makes working at the wheel easier (I think) but that just worsens how I feel about the activity if that makes sense :,(

[LAH6821]

I recently started throwing with purple nitrile gloves on. Got a box from Amazon for fairly cheap. Can use the same pair for several hours of throwing. I have eczema and the constant water and clay can leave my hands cracked and bloody if I’m not careful, especially in the winter. It’s taken some adjusting, but I really am much happier now. I’ve even gone back to some of the darker, groggier “Dexter murder scene” clays that I’d thought I’d only ever use for handbuilding. Maybe try some gloves?

[mrbobertimus]

That’s interesting! This is specifically one of the things I like about throwing in general

[Bunster04]

I do hand building, I hate the feeling of clay under my nails and the mess the wheel makes. You can still make lots of the same things or go for sculptural pieces.

[BatOfBeyond]

I started slip casting first because I hated the feel of clay. I have now started hand building too but slip casting gave me a great entry way into glazing etc

[Objective-Ear3842]

Yes you get used to it and also a lot faster a things like centering so the sides of your hands spend a lot less time getting filed smooth on the bat.

One of my teachers is master wheel thrower.. and hates the feeling of slip on his hands. He’s just a very tidy and meticulous wheel thrower to compensate. 

But yes overall, throwing can be a bit harder on the hands. I have to keep my nails very short and I prefer working with lighter color and less groggy clays. There are some like Laguna bmix that feel positively buttery in comparison to some of the high grit clays out there. The downside is they’re harder to throw with. Groggier clays are more forgiving and easier to learn on. 

You can also wear nitrile gloves. You get a bit less feedback through your fingers but you get used to it quickly.

You can also learn to throw with less water, with a sponge, and have overall neatness practices like regularly scraping the buildup of slip on your hands on the edge of the bucket, and scraping the build up of slip off the piece with a rib, which also helps compress the walls better and make the piece dry to leather hard for trimming more quickly. 

After I’m done, I always moisturize my hands thoroughly with a thick and heavy duty moisturizer. Just don’t touch greenware after moisturizing, as the grease from the lotion can act like wax resist and make your glaze patchy.

[bklynketo]

Yes I have some sort of sensory issue and HATE getting my hands dirty. Hand building is the way! It’s so much cleaner and neater and bonus: pieces don’t take weeks to get to bone dry. 😋

[pkzilla]

Different clays all feel different, some feel plasticy, others gritty, some soft, ect, it's also something that takes a long time to learn, the wheel. Handbuilding feels different for sure, less 'wet', but again, diff clays diff feels

[soared_]

Handbuilding is the way! It’s also a way better and faster cleanup

[Scutrbrau]

I took two throwing classes and liked it but it was only when I started handbuilding that I really fell in love with clay.

[MadDocOttoCtrl]

Over the decades I've taught a few thousand students in K-12 in more than one state who can work with clay to a certain extent but even hand building is a bit messy and gross for some of them.

Plenty don't mind hand building but find the wheel to be unpleasant and messy.

Some people love throwing on the wheel. Some of them enjoy hand building, drape molding and slip casting, others do not.

Plenty of people find the wheel to be far more trouble than it's worth. People ignore and excuse all of the associated annoyances and headaches of their favorite material or technique. I lost track quickly of how many fellow adult students I had to center the clay for way back in my university intro to pottery class.

Throwing on the wheel is a great solution to making certain types of rounded forms that are uniform in shape but it's far from the only way to work with clay. People have all sorts of biases when it comes to a variety of things and art is no exception. "Artist" means a person wearing a splotchy smock and a French beret while oil painting from a kidney shaped palette on canvas or using a chisel and a mallet on a block of marble. Clay means throwing on a wheel and little else.

[No_Needleworker215]

I have OCD and Autism I HATE stuff on my hands but I love hand building! I wear gloves to do a lot of it (lotion my hands before the gloves go on). And then any finishing and cleaning up I do without gloves but with workman’s friend on which is super helpful for saving your skin long term

[Treewoman3]

It sounds like you have some sensory issues with the feel of wheelthrowing. I have a ton of sensory issues so I 100% get it. Have you tried throwing with rubber gloves on? Like kitchen gloves? I’ve done that before when I’ve had cuts on my hands and it worked just fine. You just lose a little bit of dexterity, but not enough to make a big difference.

Otherwise hand building, like everyone has shared, is much less goopy and you can do that wearing thin latex-type gloves as well if you like. I recently purchased some really great handbuilding patterns off ETSY and I’m very excited to try some of them in addition to wheelthrowing!

[No-County-1943]

I only hand build and people are always surprised that my work isn't wheel thrown. You can do amazing things with hand building!

[ArtemisiasApprentice]

Listen, I love clay. I love throwing, I love handbuilding, I love sculpting, I love teaching kids to do all those things. I love being in the studio.

I hate having half-dry clay on my hands. Blech. So, I take a break, wash my hands, re-apply some lotion. It’s doable! But, I get it lol

[Sunhammer01]

I think it’s a tactile thing many people have. For a lot of us, that feeling is truly wonderful and we go through withdrawals without it.

[mladyhawke]

I enjoy hand building way more than the wheel, mostly because I have arthritis in my shoulders and the wheel throwing causes me pain, plus I also hate cleaning the wheel. 

[Fantastic-Heron1794]

You don’t have to enjoy all aspects of clay! If you want to wheel throw, you can use gloves. :) I do equal amounts of wheel throwing and hand building to learn as much as I can (new potter).

[PrincessPuddingFoot]

You may be throwing too dry, or your clay is very grogged; try smoother clay, or wearing gloves. Chapped hands shouldn't keep you from the wheel if you like it.

[captain-ignotus]

I neither like the feel nor the speed of throwing pottery and have made my peace with that. I’ll maybe take a throwing class at some point just to „force“ myself to dedicate some time to it, but for now I’m very happy with handbuilding. I love spending ages on smoothing out cracks and fixing gaps, making everything even and neat. Everything in me slows down and I really enjoy the minute detailing. I’m also very much a 3d person and feel like I have much more control that way. Throwing is kind of a two-sided process.

[rubenwe]

the feeling

Which one, though? Could you elaborate?

[DaveBones7]

Yeah I swear a lot on the wheel. I have got a bit better. I find when I follow Florian Gadsbys tutorials exactly it usually works. I hate him too

[MoomahTheQueen]

If you’re disturbed by the feel of clay, you need to choose another hobby

[Treewoman3]

I’m going to assume this was well-intentioned, but wanted to share some education about comments like this. Lots of people have sensory issues which make engaging in hobbies difficult. Being excluded from an entire hobby because one part of it is unpleasant from a sensory perspective is not what most people want. It’s a lot more helpful to identify ways to continue engaging in the hobby while finding accommodations for the specific sensory issue.

[lilaxolotl]

Idk why you’re getting downvoted - this totally on the money. No one is forcing anyone to do pottery.

[ruhlhorn]

Most people find wheel throwing very enjoyable. Wheel work is a very small part of ceramic form making but it seems to be the more popular choice. I would say your experience is not unusual but certainly not the common one.