When you are satisfied that your pot is complete, it is time to stop the wheel. Remove your bat from the wheel and set it on a shelf to allow the pot to dry until it is “leather hard.” When you make pottery at home you need to be careful to not shake or otherwise cause your ceramic pot to cave in on itself while moving it.
Put a bucket on top of your pot and let it dry for 24 hours or leave it uncovered for faster drying time. A pot is leather hard when it is hard but you can use ribbon tools to scrape away any excess weight in the bottom of the clay pot and to create a foot. At this point in making clay pottery, the clay pot has finished shrinking due to evaporation of water.