Why a few minutes of care saves hours of frustration

Pottery tools are small, cheap and easy to neglect. That is exactly why they cause so much trouble. A rusty rib dragged across a freshly thrown rim leaves grey streaks that fire to brown speckles. A blunt needle tears the clay instead of scoring it, so a handle falls off three days later. A gritty scraper can drop flakes of iron into a white stoneware body, and those flakes surface after the glaze firing as dark blobs you cannot explain to a customer.

None of that is caused by bad clay or bad luck. It is almost always damp storage and a forgotten bucket of water. Looking after your tools properly takes a few minutes at the end of each session and will add years to their working life.

Clean tools at the end of every session, not the next morning

Fresh clay wipes off in seconds. Dry clay needs soaking, and soaking is the worst thing you can do to a wooden modelling tool. Get into the habit of cleaning up before you leave the wheel, not the following morning.

A neat trick is to use a lump of scrap clay as your first cleaner. Push wooden tools into it and twist, drawing the slip off the surface, then rinse briefly under running water and wipe.

• Wooden tools and ribs: wipe with a damp sponge, never leave them standing in water. Boxwood and similar hardwoods swell, then split along the grain as they dry.
• Metal ribs, scrapers and calipers: rinse and dry straight away. A quick rub with a dry cloth is enough; carbon steel will start to bloom with rust within hours.
• Needle tools: push the plug of clay out from the handle end with a piece of wire or a spare needle, rather than jabbing it out from the tip.
• Sponges: rinse in clean water until the water runs clear, squeeze firmly, and let them dry in the open air. Never store a damp sponge in a sealed bag.
• Wire cutters and bows: wipe the wire clean and dry the frame, especially at the joints where the wire is fixed.

Dry everything properly — rust starts in hidden crevices

Drying is the step most potters rush, and it is the one that matters most. Rust does not need a wet tool; it needs a damp one and a few hours.

Never leave tools standing tip-down in a jar or bucket. Water collects at the bottom and wicks up into handles, ferrules and wooden ribs. Instead, dry each tool with a tea towel and then lay it flat on a rack, a clean board or a sheet of newspaper so air can reach every surface. Leave it overnight. If you work in a cold studio, bring small metal tools indoors in winter, or at least keep them out of the unheated corner where condensation forms on everything.

Wooden tools deserve a little extra attention. Once or twice a year, give them a thin wipe of raw linseed oil or a beeswax polish and let it soak in. It seals the grain against moisture and keeps the surface smooth against your clay.

Store tools dry, tidy and off the floor

Storage is where good cleaning habits either hold or fall apart. A tool roll made of canvas or thick cotton keeps points and edges apart and lets air circulate. If you prefer jars, store tools tip-up, or use a shallow tin so nothing stands in water.

Add a couple of sachets of silica gel to any closed tin or box of metal tools. It costs pennies and soaks up the damp that would otherwise become rust. Keep your main set of tools on a shelf above the wheel rather than in a drawer near the floor, where spills and splashes always seem to land. And do not store anything in a damp shed or garage unless it is in a sealed container with a sachet inside.

Keep glaze tools separate from clay tools

This is a rule worth being strict about. Anything that has been in a glaze bucket should never go back into your clay, and anything covered in clay should never be stirred through a glaze.

A rusty scraper used to mix a glaze will shed iron into it, which can fire out as speckles or blisters. Keep a separate set of scoops, sieves and whisks for glazes, and label them clearly with tape or a painted mark. Your clay needle should stay with the clay.

Sharpen, repair and replace before tools let you down

Tools are not meant to last forever, but most of them can be brought back. Steel scrapers can be refreshed on a diamond pad or a wet stone, and burnishing the edge to raise a slight burr makes them bite beautifully when turning. Wires on cutters stretch and fray; replace them before they snap mid-cut and leave a jagged line through a pot.

Wooden ribs eventually go furry at the edges. A light sand with 240 grit and a drop of oil will bring them back. Rubber kidneys crack and lift at the corners, and a cracked edge will gouge soft clay, so retire them. Replace throwing sponges every month or two, once they start to smell or crumble.

Make a habit of checking your tools once a month: a minute with a cloth, a look for rust and a quick sharpen. Your tools will repay you every time you sit down at the wheel.