Liquid Quartz™ (affectionately referred to as LQ for short) is a food safe, permeating sealer designed for use on unglazed ceramic ware, rendering it waterproof, stain resistant, & yet completely unchanged in appearance.

Liquid Quartz™ can be applied to all unglazed, stable, porous surfaces; bisque ware, vitrified ceramic ware (yes, it is still around 2% porous) & alternatively fired clay bodies (pit, smoke, saggar, barrel, naked raku etc.) to create an invisible, long lasting, protective barrier against moisture, fats & oils, food juices, lipstick, & other contaminants. You can read the story of how it came to be on the about page HERE.

Made from SiO2 (or Silicon Dioxide/Silica), a naturally occurring oxide & one of the most abundant minerals found in the Earth’s crust, most commonly in the form of Quartz. It is used extensively in the production of glass, glazes, under glazes, clay body stains as well as terracotta, earthenware, stoneware & porcelain clays. It is highly abrasion resistant (7 on the Mohs scale) & thermal shock absorbing.

Liquid Quartz™ is certified food safe to stringent EU food safety standards (more info in the User Guide) & is completely skin neutral. It is hydrophobic & oleophobic (resisting staining from oil, grease, acids, alkalis & alcohol as effectively as any matte glaze) reducing the need for chemical cleaners & harsh detergents. Water will simply bead off, taking surface contaminants with it. (Note that just like a matte glaze, prolonged contact with some foods may still mark the sealed surface. To avoid this, plates should be rinsed or cleaned as soon as possible, as with all delicate ceramic ware.) It cures completely within 24 hours without firing or further treatment & is completely invisible once dry. It is dishwasher & microwave oven safe to 450°C (842°F) & also stable to -70°C (-94°F), making it popular for outdoor sculptural work in extreme conditions as well as tableware. It is also antibacterial & will help prevent the formation of algae, moss, fungus, scale & efflorescence. It is UV stable but may not completely halt the fading of all light sensitive finishes (this is being tested by time now).

While Liquid Quartz isnot designed for use over glazes, it has become very popular with artists who glaze only part of their work. It is very commonly used to seal the unglazed sections of glazed pieces, to prevent staining from lips & fingers, as well as the greying that can occur over time from repeated washing in dishwashers. It is proving invaluable in the prevention of water seepage under the glazed areas, which can cause water logging, weakening the piece & in some cases even causing the glaze to crack or lift. It has also proven very useful amongst the growing community of potters who paint with underglazes, which when properly cured& fired to the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure stability can be sealed just like a raw clay body. LQ will not affect the glazed sections of your work, (it will simply bead & run off a non-porous surface during application) nor will it change the look of your clay body or underglazes.

We have also had many reports of great results sealing leaky wares from wood-firings, getting in between the cracks of crazed & crawled glazes from both electric & gas firings, & on raku fired work (sealing the inside to make them watertight). Some of our customers even produce outdoor sculptures & others make mosaics…the possibilities are as endless as your imagination!

You can find the online LQ shop on the home page of this website -or by clicking HERE.

You can also find a list of our stockists HERE.

We ship globally from a warehouse in Melbourne, Australia, & we are also opening distribution centres around the world to facilitate faster, cheaper shipping to as many locations as possible. The shop will automatically direct you to the correct distribution point based on your geographic location.If we don’t have a distribution point in your country, you’ll be directed to our Australian shop, where shipping will be calculated automatically when you add your address. If buying for a friend in another country, you can change the shipping location to be redirected to the best warehouse to service that address.

Liquid Quartz™is a post-firing applied product, so it requires absolutely NO FIRING to cure it. Firing after application will remove the product.

It is applied by brushing, spraying, or dipping -see the HOW TO page for full details on preparing your surface & applying (or removing) LQ.

You can also download the Liquid Quartz User Guidebook in printable PDF format HERE for future reference.

Very little!

Every surface is different, but we’ll say that the average coverage is 50-75ml/m2 (around 2 fl/oz) if you have a very porous surfaces, & vitrified ware will absorb much less, so a little goes avery long way!

Let’s take a standard size dinner plate as an example. It would require no more than 5-10ml/piece to cover both sides, even when using the dipping method on an unvitrified piece. Remember that vitrified pieces or high-fired wares will require even less product to seal than that. Even at this maximum absorption rate, the product is more cost effective than glazing when calculating materials & firing costs (not to mention the labour involved with glazing).

Every clay body is different, & every firing can yield different results in regard to porosity, but this gives you a good indication of cost per piece compared with the cost of glazing (if you factor in labour/materials/firing costs/time for glazing, you’ll find it to be a considerable saving by comparison).

Liquid Quartz has been in use on ceramic plates, bowls, platters, cups, chopsticks, & more, in commercial restaurants using commercial dishwashers, since 2014. These same original pieces are still in use years later, & continue to be waterproof & functional to this day.

As with any food service item, glazed or sealed, your treatment of the surface will affect the longevity of the finish. Harsh chemicals, abrasives, or heavy cutlery scraping can alter or degrade the surface of any dinnerware item (this is visible even on many traditionally glazed plates), but if you take good care of the surface by washing with mild detergents & avoiding abrasives, the sealer could last longer than the plate itself. Note that if the surface you seal is not completely solid (low fired/bisque) the sealer will still fuse with the surface & be waterproof, but only for as long as the surface remains intact, therefore heavy scraping of cutlery on unstable bisque fired plates is not recommended. Earthenware clay bodies fired to their most vitrified temperatures (terracotta etc.) can be sealed with much success, but will remain more susceptible to chips & damage than high fired stoneware or porcelain, as the clay body itself is not suitable for restaurant quality plates, cracking easily & requiring very gentle washing & handling to prolong the life of the piece. This is the nature of the clay body &cannot be changed by sealing the surface. While your work will be waterproof & stain resistant, it will remain brittle & easily scratched if low fired. It is up to the maker to ensure the clay body is suitable for its intended purpose.

Over time the tiny particles of sealer on the surface that facilitate beading (via the lotus effect) will flatten out with everyday use (from the constant wiping with cloths & sponges during cleaning with regular use), & the surface will demonstrate less beading of water & other liquids. This is normal & in no way affects the water resistance or food safety of the surface, as the sealer has fused deeply with the clay body & will continue to form a barrier long after the surface has become worn with use & age.

YES!

Since 2014, Liquid Quartz™ has been committed to providing a high-performance solution to the age old issue of making unglazed ceramics suitable for food service.

Liquid Quartz™ was designed to protect your food service surfaces from stains & contaminants whilst ensuring they still remain free from harmful substances that could impact your health or the environment in the short or long term. It utilises advanced nanotechnology, specifically nano particles of SiO2 (silicon dioxide), which, if you are a potter you will probably already know, is a naturally occurring mineral found in sand & quartz (& so of course also found in your clays & glazes already). Nanotechnology offers numerous benefits, including superior protection & durability, whilst being safe for both the person applying the product & the end user.

Unlike the many conventional coatings appearing on the market since the conception of Liquid Quartz™, our formulation contains no alcohols, fluoropolymers, or “forever chemicals” such as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl & polyfluoroalkyl substances). PFAS are notorious for their persistence in the environment (& our bodies!) & can cause significant known & potentially unknown health risks.

Additionally, Liquid Quartz™ contains no petroleum-based compounds, ensuring it is safe for use on surfaces that come into contact with food, even for people with petrochemical intolerances/allergies, like our founder, who engaged with specialist manufacturing partners specifically to combat all the health & safety issues raised here.

We take pride in creating a product that is not only very effective but also safe for use in your home or restaurant. We are serious about taking care of the health & well being of ourselves, our customers, our families, & our pets alike.

Liquid Quartz™cannot seal an unstable surface (still powdery or crumbling after firing), or a water sensitive surface, like an air dried clay body or ink/paint decorated finish, as it works by soaking in to the surface, creating a root system within the clay body & fusing with it, rather than creating a separate strata like an epoxy or varnish that can hold an unstable surface together (but is not food safe).

It cannot make your underfired/toxic glaze food safe, as it cannot seal over a non porous surface like a glaze.We do however have customers who seal obvara finishes & other soft matte (porous) glazes & treatments with success. Go ahead & experiment & let us know what else it works on!

If you use a post firing chemical (like ferric chloride) or any potentially toxic ingredient in the firing of your work that will not burn out at the temperatures you fire to &/or has nano sized particles, you should test your work to ensure no leaching occurs before selling it for food service.

Liquid Quartz™ is effective because the particle gap is nano sized, prohibiting the passage of larger particles like water or other liquids. This is why it is also important to seal only completely dry work, as trapped water will not be able to escape when heated (think “kaboom” in a microwave when it tries to get out though!).

It cannot stop underfired clay from being susceptible to chipping & cutlery scrapes. While it will render them waterproof & impermeable, the integrity of your clay body remains largely unchanged with application, so use a suitably durable clay body for your intended application. A steak knife will destroy a low fired terracotta plate no matter how you finish it, but low fired wares may be perfectly durable enough for a vase or cup.

It cannot seal a dirty/greasy/dusty/contaminated/pre-treated surface. As with any product, the effectiveness will only be as good as your pre-prep & application. Please download the Instructional PDF below & read how to best prepare & apply the product. (Don’t just pull that 30 year old pot off the top shelf of your studio, the one with three decades of dust on it, or drag a pot from the fire, blow it & give it a quick tap while you cough from the clouds of crap now floating around your face, then apply LQ without washing off the caked on layers of neglector process waste! Later you’ll wonder why the sealer washes off with the dirt the first time you use it (& then bad-mouth us & say the sealer doesn’t work…we’re talking to you Mr!). Don’t be the guy who paints over wallpaper or rust & then wonders why it peels off. Read the instructions in the User Guide for full preparation tips & tricks, we didn’t write them just for fun!

Head to our GALLERY page to see the latest images & videos, taken by our diverse customers globally using Liquid Quartz on their functional ware & ceramic artworks. This is a live feed of our Instagram account, where we select the best images from around the world to showcase the diverse applications for Liquid Quartz.

If you’d like us to share your LQ sealed work with the world, please tag us @liquid_quartz_sealer in any images or videos that show your Liquid Quartz sealed work so we can find them easily & repost them on our Instagram& Facebook pages for all to be inspired by. You can do this by either mentioning us in the caption, or in a comment after posting, or tag us in the image itself. We won’t share your work without your permission, so you must tag us so we can find you & your work. Alternatively you can share your image with us in a direct message on Instagram.

Some customers report being discovered & making sales directly from our social media account, so tag your work to get featured & discovered by the world!

Any customs duties or import taxes are the responsibility of the importer. Please contact your local customs office for information on any fees or taxes that may or may not be applicable in your country. We cannot advise you on this because local laws change constantly & we don’t have the capability to check every country’s rules daily.

The H.S. Code for Liquid Quartz is 38249090.We have provided it here to help you make any enquiries about applicable duties with your local customs office.All international orders are shipped with this code & a copy of the SDS to facilitate fast & easy delivery through customs. Product safety information (like a copy of the SDS) can also be downloaded from the home page if required before ordering.