Settling Clay that Doesn’t Want to Settle.

Settling Clay that Doesn’t Want to Settle.

This is my lightest colored clay. After processing and sieving, it can stay in suspension for months. I generally add something to help it settle (because waiting months to work a clay just sucks). I had been using Epsom salts.

However, a while back, someone mentioned that they use Calcium Chloride. I happened to have some calcium chloride (aka pickle crisp) so I thought I’d give it a try. It works really really well. Much better than Epsom salts, at least for this particular clay. It settles faster with only a tiny addition.

I used 1 tps dissolved in water for several large tubs. This 5 gal buck took about 1/4 tsp. The clay settled out in only a couple of hours. I didn’t even need to wait over night.

2 Comments

  1. Stephen

    This worked brilliantly for me. I simply added some of the “waste” water from one of those dehydration/dehumidifier contraptions for your wardrobe. They use calcium chloride to “soak up” water from the air – so I didn’t even need to mix mine!

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