Lava Cloth is an exciting product which provides a textured finish to either side of fused glass. This "look" is much more professional that just firing on a kiln shelf.

Lava Cloth does not stick to glass, kiln shelves, kiln brick, or fiber board. You place the Lava Cloth directly on the surface you wish to fire on, then place glass on top of the Lava Cloth for firing.

Lava Cloth is non-carcinogenic.

Lava Cloth is a fiberglass product and carries the standard warnings for fiberglass material, like the pink fiberglass insulation used in homes. These warnings are: Contact with fibrous glass may cause temporary irritation. Wear long sleeved loose fitting clothing when handling any fiberglass material. Gloves and eye protection may be appropriate in certain applications.

Do not fire Lava Cloth above 1700ºF. Firing above this temperature will result in the glass being so soft and liquid that the Lava Cloth will become part of the glass and you will not be able to remove it from the glass. The hotter firing temperature will reduce the number of firings possible on the cloth before it breaks down.

Lava Cloth is tan before firing, but turns white after firing. On some occasions you may see white powder on the kiln shelf. This does not stick to glass and is not hazardous. If you have a kiln which has a glass view window you may notice a white coating after repeated firings with Lava Cloth. This coating simply wipes off with a paper towel.

Artists have told us that they have achieved 12 firings at 1485º before the Lava Cloth started to breakdown. We have been able to duplicate this in our studio. We were also able to obtain 2-3 additional firings by turning the Lava Cloth over and firing on the other side.

Another artist who fires float glass to 1600º is obtaining 5-6 firings.

Lava Cloth comes in a bolt, which is 36" wide and 50 yards long. We offer Lava Cloth in various sizes. It cuts easily with a pair of scissors.

Store the Lava cloth rolled or flat. Do not fold it. A fold will leave a crease which will not go away. Repeated folding will cause the cloth to break at the fold.

This material shrinks in the first firing. A 12" square will shrink to an 11⅜". A 24" square will shrink to 22½".

We recommend pre-firing the cloth with this schedule: Ramp at 500°F / hour to 1400°F soak for 10 minutes.

Fuse directly on Lava Cloth. During the fusing phase glass expands, then during the cooling phase glass contracts. As the glass contracts it tends to stay in the weave of the cloth. The Lava Cloth does not move with the glass; thus the glass has a tendency to curl upward at its edges.

If you are going to slump the glass after fusing the curled edges of the glass will not matter. If you want the glass to remain flat you need to weight the Lava Cloth edges to hold it in place, permitting the glass to retract a little out of the cloth weave so it will not curve upward at the edges. A kiln shelf support works well for this.

Allow the glass and Lava Cloth to cool to room temperature. Cloth will peel off the glass easily when cool. Removing the glass while it is still hot may cause the Lava Cloth to tear.

As Lava Cloth breaks down from the multiple firings it becomes fuzzy. You simply discard it in the regular trash when the texture no longer provides the finish you want. There is no hazardous cleanup with Lava Cloth.

If the glass has too rough of a texture after fusing you can simply buff the glass with a diamond sanding pad under running water and the roughness will easily change to a smoother texture.

If you want to reduce the amount of texture you can sprinkle dry kiln wash directly on the Lava Cloth using a flour sieve. This will fill the deeper crevices and reduce the degree of texture.

If you sieve mica powder onto the cloth you will reduce the texture a little plus you will get the pearl effect of the mica as it fused into the textured surface of the glass.

If you fire iridized glass with the iridized side down on the cloth you will get the texture plus the iridized surface will remain bright and shiny. The iridized surface is stiff and does not sink deep into the Lava Cloth.

You can cut Lava Cloth into various shapes and place it on top of the glass. Place a weight on top of the cloth which will press the texture into the surface of the glass. One artist fired the Lava Cloth on top of a large landscape tile with the Lava Cloth providing the appearance of a flowing riverbed.

Fire clear glass on top of the Lava Cloth and you will get a prism effect from the light passing through.

If you want to line the inside of outside of a curved surface, cut the cloth into pie shaped pieces, like a parachute, this will give you straight seam lines where pieces join. If you do not want the seams to show, use pinking shears, then line up the pattern with the saw tooth cut, thus hiding the seam.