Wrap Your Edges!

Thinner, or completely surrounded by air, edges are a vulnerable area where fast or uneven drying can cause warping and cracking. To protect thin edges, tear up plastic strips and place them on the rims of still damp pots, thereby slowing the drying process. Pottery with a level rim can even be inverted to rest on its rim, effectively turning the whole piece into an edgeless closed form (though this can obviously be hazardous for very delicate, unbalanced forms, or not-quite-level rimmed pieces).