Please allow 2–4 weeks after your course for ceramic work to be fired. You may be contacted by email when your pieces are ready for collection, although often it is better to discuss collection during the session.

Courses may include glazing options, please check in advance. Courses which include a return glaze visit, such as Halloween and Christmas events will offer return dates on the day of build by negotiation. Choosing not to return to glaze will require advance warning, particularly if staff are to be asked to glaze. Please see our glazing terms in the terms and Conditions section of the website.

Ceramics is an unpredictable process and all fired work is created at the participant’s own risk. Despite best practice and experienced kiln management, pieces may crack, warp, glaze imperfectly, stick to themselves or kiln shelves, or fail completely during bisque or glaze firings. Common risks include trapped moisture, uneven thickness, weak joins, insufficient scoring and slipping, or glaze application issues.

By booking a course, you acknowledge that firing failures are an inherent part of ceramics and are non-refundable. Staff reserve the right to decline firing work that poses a risk to the kiln or other pieces.

*The Legal Bit - please read before booking, as booking is to accept the terms below:

At Clay and Craft Cowbridge, every piece made in our studio is handmade, individually handled, dried, fired and glazed. Ceramics is a natural and sometimes unpredictable process, and while we take great care with every item, there are risks involved at every stage.

By booking or attending a class, workshop, pottery course, paint-a-pot session, school holiday club, return-to-glaze session, or leaving work with us for firing, you agree to the policy below.

Pieces of pottery made during classes are usually ready either for collection or to return for glazing within approximately 10–14 days.

This timescale may be longer during busy periods, school holidays, high-footfall times, or where pieces are particularly large, thick, fragile, uneven, heavily joined, or slow to dry.

Clay must be fully dry before it can safely enter the kiln. Firing pieces too early can cause cracking, breakage, explosions in the kiln, or damage to other work. For this reason, we will not fire work until we believe it is ready.

Where possible, especially for one-off classes and children’s school holiday clubs, we may offer a WhatsApp group dedicated to your session so that we can let you know when pieces are ready for collection or ready to return for glazing.

Once your work is ready to glaze, please visit the Return to Glaze section of our website. This can be found approximately halfway down the home page.

You must book a return-to-glaze slot before attending. This helps us manage seating, staffing, materials and studio capacity.

The return-to-glaze booking fee is £2.50 per person and is non-refundable. This fee books your seat for your chosen date and time and includes glazing your first piece.

Any additional pieces glazed during the same session are charged at £5 per item.

Once your work has been glazed, we usually anticipate a further 10–14 days for firing to be completed and for your item to be ready for collection.

You will not usually receive a separate notification after glazing. Please return after 14 days to collect your work unless we have specifically advised you otherwise.

During very busy periods, or where work requires additional drying time, refiring, or specialist handling, this may take longer.

Completed glazed items will be stored for 6 weeks from the date they are expected to be ready for collection.

Due to limited storage space in our small studio, we cannot hold finished work indefinitely.

If work is not collected within 6 weeks, it may be disposed of, recycled, donated, or otherwise removed from the studio without further notice.

No refund, replacement, credit or compensation will be given for items not collected within the stated collection period.

Ceramics involves heat, moisture, clay, glaze, air pockets, chemical reactions and significant temperature changes. Even when work is made carefully and handled correctly, it can crack, break, warp, split, blister, crawl, shiver, pinhole, discolour, or fail during drying, bisque firing, glaze firing, cooling, or handling.

Pieces can break for many reasons, including but not limited to:

• trapped air within the clay;
• clay being too thick or uneven;
• pieces drying at different speeds;
• joins not bonding fully;
• handles, limbs, decorations or attachments pulling away;
• heavy glaze application;
• glaze running, bubbling or reacting unexpectedly;
• thermal shock during heating or cooling;
• weaknesses that are not visible before firing;
• the natural stresses caused by kiln temperatures.

The kiln reaches extremely high temperatures. During firing, clay changes permanently and glazes melt to form a glass-like surface. This process is inherently unpredictable.

We take reasonable care when drying, loading, firing, unloading and storing work, but we cannot guarantee that any handmade item will survive the ceramic process.

Glaze results can vary significantly. Colours may appear lighter, darker, brighter, duller, patchier, more textured, more matte, more glossy, or otherwise different from samples, photographs or expectations.

Glazes may react differently depending on:

• the thickness of application;
• the clay body used;
• how dry the piece was;
• the shape and texture of the item;
• kiln position;
• firing temperature;
• glaze combinations;
• overlapping colours;
• fingerprints, dust, oils or residue;
• uneven application by the maker.

Because of this, we cannot guarantee exact colours, finishes, patterns, effects or results.

Glaze movement, crawling, pinholing, crazing, speckling, bubbling, dripping, running, colour variation and uneven coverage are accepted risks of the glazing and firing process.

No refund, replacement, credit or compensation will be given where:

• a handmade piece cracks, breaks, explodes, warps or fails during drying or firing;
• glaze results are different from expected;
• colours or finishes vary from samples or photographs;
• work is not collected within the 6-week storage period;
• a customer misses or cancels a return-to-glaze booking;
• a customer fails to book a return-to-glaze session;
• a customer does not return to collect finished work.

The making, drying, glazing and firing of pottery is part of the experience purchased. Due to the handmade and unpredictable nature of ceramics, finished results cannot be guaranteed.

If we believe an item has been damaged solely because of a clear handling error by Clay and Craft Cowbridge, we may, at our discretion, offer a goodwill gesture, replacement session, partial credit, or alternative solution.

This does not apply to normal ceramic risks, kiln failures, glaze reactions, drying cracks, firing cracks, customer-made structural weaknesses, uncollected work, or results that are simply different from expected.

Any goodwill gesture is offered without admission of liability.

By booking or attending a session, leaving work with us, returning to glaze, or asking us to fire your work, you confirm that you understand and accept the natural risks of ceramics and agree to this policy.

Clay and Craft Cowbridge will always do our best to care for your work, but pottery is an unpredictable process and no finished result can be guaranteed.