Pottery making

Question

Again about pottery making:
I have no good feeling, even if my daughter wants very much to do it.
Clay is a humid material, that can only be processed if it is still humid. If a piece in the lesson is not finished one day, it is covered with a plastic sac and is finished one week later. At least at that timepoint, that humid germs can have occurred?

Answer

Hello,
in the scientific literature there are no investigations about the risk of Pseudomonas when doing pottery. If pottery is done with tap water, the danger of humid germs is probably very low.
The by you mentioned situation is of course something different, if the pieces are stored in a plastic sac for several days and after that the work on them is going on. With this, the formation of humid germs can be supported, that may be a potential danger via the formation of an aerosol when working with them. Two possibilities are possible in order to avoid this danger: always finishing the working pieces and not storing them, or doing pottery with a face mask, what however can impair the integration in the group and the self-confidence.
Over all, I think, one should weigh the risk-benefit ratio. If your daughter really wants to do pottery, one should make it possible.
Best regards,
Jörg Steinmann

03.10.2015