FAQ

We ship within Germany and to many EU countries (zones as in the shipping cost table above):

• 🇩🇪 Germany
• EU Zone 1: 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇫🇷 France, 🇱🇺 Luxembourg, 🇳🇱 Netherlands, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇨🇿 Czechia
• EU Zone 2: 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇸🇰 Slovakia, 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇭🇺 Hungary
• EU Zone 3: 🇧🇬 Bulgaria, 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇲🇹 Malta, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇷🇴 Romania

Shipping costs and delivery time for your country are shown at checkout.

Some items are not permanently in stock. When you order such an item, we reorder it specially for you from the manufacturer – this extends the delivery time to 7-14 business days. You can always see the expected delivery time directly on the product and in the cart.

Yes. We always ship your order complete in a single shipment – not in partial deliveries. The delivery time therefore depends on the item with the longest delivery time: if your order contains, for example, a reordered item (7-14 business days), this delivery time applies to the entire order.

We ship with DHL. After dispatch, you will receive a tracking number by email so you can track your parcel.

Please photograph the damage immediately and contact us at info@mit-ton.de with your order number and the photos. We will quickly take care of a solution.

If you'd like to pick up your order from us or view our glazes on site, feel free to send us an email. As we have no fixed opening hours apart from Fridays 12–3 pm, we arrange individual appointments. That way we can easily find a suitable time for you to collect your products.

We recommend applying BOTZ glazes 2-3 times, unless the notes on the tub state otherwise. The two transparent glazes (9102 and 9106) and the two craquelé glazes (9351 and 9352), for example, are applied only once undiluted or 1–2 times slightly diluted. Red tones should generally be applied about 3 times to ensure an intense colour. For a better application, BOTZ glazes can be diluted very well with a little water.

After your purchase from us, the glazes last on average 2-3 years – some considerably longer. Good storage conditions, i.e. no large temperature fluctuations (no frost, no heat), extend the storage time. Thickened glazes can be stirred back to a brushable consistency with water.

Tip: after use, clean the rim of the tub well; adding a little water into the tub and only stirring it in at the next use, or pulling cling film over the rim of the lid, also helps prevent drying out.

The first firing (bisque firing) was traditionally between 850°C and 900°C. For powder glazes, a porous body was important so that the mixed powder glaze adheres to the body. BOTZ glazes, however, can be applied very well to ware fired at a higher bisque temperature, as they contain a binder that makes the glaze adhere firmly. Advantage of a bisque temperature of about 950°C: at a high bisque temperature the outgassing process of the clay is largely complete, and in the second firing the glaze is not "disturbed" by clay gases, i.e. there are fewer bubbles and craters.

You can achieve very beautiful results by applying one glaze over another. Stirring glazes into one another in the earthenware range does not give exciting results with all of them. Opaque glazes without effect are well suited (e.g. the matte glazes 9107, 9108, 9487-9491 and 9612), and especially BOTZ stoneware (see the notes under Stoneware tips in the current BOTZ catalogue).

Red and gold tones in ceramics are often sensitive. BOTZ red tones (9601 – 9605) and BOTZ Gold (9541) are very stable if you follow 3 rules:

1) apply thickly, 2) fire low (i.e. up to 1040°C), 3) allow oxygen in the kiln, i.e. don't pack the kiln too tightly so the air can circulate well.

With Lava (9606) and Koralle (9607) you can fire higher (optimally 1050°C), but you must watch the oxygen supply. White edges are part of the appearance of these glazes; a very robust red is 9611 Lackrot.

This usually works very well, especially if, for example, you applied too thinly and want to apply the same glaze again. The drying time on fired glaze is of course longer than on unglazed body. If you want to apply a different colour over a fired glaze, the result is not entirely predictable, but often exciting. For good adhesion, you can warm the fired ceramic again to 60 – 100°C before re-glazing.

It is very important to know that every firing in ceramics, i.e. also a bisque firing, releases gases that are harmful to health. You should extract these fumes with an exhaust system (e.g. at www.kerablu.de) or ensure good ventilation in the kiln room, and if possible do not work in the kiln room during firing. The sometimes strong smell of BOTZ glazes (roughly between 200 – 300°C) is no more dangerous than glazes that fire odour-free. Use the smell as an indication of insufficient ventilation. The odour load during firing decreases if you let the glazes dry very well before firing.

The term "food-safe" does not exist in ceramics. Fundamentally, it is important not to use lead-containing glazes for tableware and drinkware, and ideally only completely labelling-free glazes. We subject our glazes to an acid and alkali test according to DIN standard. Those glazes that pass the test receive the pictogram "Recommended for tableware and drinkware" – with these you are on the safe side. Some glazes are not acid-resistant, i.e. in contact with mild acids, substances can be released from the fired glaze. Therefore, as a precaution, we recommend not using these colours on the inside of tableware and drinkware. For hygienic reasons, effect glazes or matte glazes, for example, belong to this group, because food residues could also accumulate on them.

BOTZ liquid glazes (earthenware) can be fired very well with the firing schedules usually already pre-programmed in the controller; they do not require a specially entered firing schedule. If you set it yourself: heat up to approx. 600°C at about 150°C per hour, then full power up to the maximum temperature of 1020 – 1060°C with a hold time of 10 – 20 min.

All samples in the BOTZ catalogue are fired at 1050°C with a 15 min hold time (except red and gold). Please note that a kiln often fires hotter in the upper area than in the lower area.

Stoneware glazes are to be fired at the same heating rate up to 1220 – 1280°C with a 10 – 30 min hold time; an end temperature of 1250°C is optimal here.

Frost resistance is primarily determined not by the glaze but by the clay. If the clay is "sintered", i.e. it is dense and can no longer absorb water, it is frost-hardy. Please ask your clay supplier about the sintering temperature of your clay.

We have some glazes in our range that are meant to run (see the pictograms in the catalogue); in that case, please glaze only very thinly on the lower part of your object. However, if other glazes run, it could be due to too thick an application or too high a temperature. You may want to check the actual kiln temperature reached using Seger cones (or Orton cones). We recommend protecting the kiln shelves with a kiln wash (e.g. BOTZ kiln wash, art. no. 90108).