I need your opinion on the colour and constancy of clay. I have built and used 5 Mud Pits with various types of clay and mixes of clay's. So there is two distinct ways to go when I make a Mud Pit, I can make an expensive fine, good coverage darker mix or I can make a cheaper lighter color that is easier to mix and also has good coverage. Let me explain the big difference between the two, COST!!! The light colored clay's are a third of the cost, where I live.
Talc, Kaolin and Red Clay's and usually quite expensive, much more difficult to mix (time/effort) especially if you use a lot. Bentonite and Ball clay's (Light Grey) are quite a bit cheaper and with an electric drill and mixing stick are much easier to be ready to use. The lighter clay's are also more resistant to drying out in the sun (I live in FL)
On a personal play note I actually prefer the red clay's, much finer, better body coverage, I have had both in this mud pit, the last load I gave to Penelope cos I thought my house was about to sell, alas the sell fell thru. Now I have the light stuff, models prefer the lighter clay, easier to wash off, get out of ears etc. Models don't like the red clay! Liz Ashley made me buy her a new hair do cos the red clay ohhh so lightly tinted her platinum blonde hair, so no profit on that video!
For you the customer its all about how it all looks, what do you prefer?
Personally for me: I like the light clay better because not only like you said it's easier to mix and a cheaper price. But it looks even sexier on the models when they play in your mud pit. Also I was first introduced to light clay courtesy of Mud Puddle Visuals when I watched Skylar and the Mud Bubbles for the first time. That mud is more smoother almost like pudding. So yeah I prefer light clay.
I've voted red clay. However, if the light clay is 1/3 of the cost, then I'd definitely argue the red clay is not 3 times better, and therefore wouldn't be worth it. Especially if the models don't like it either. The colour of the clay has never been the deciding factor in whether I buy a mud video or not.
The only time I would suggest light clay is an issue (and this may be just personal to me) is when filming in sunlight. The sun reflects off it and affects the visual. It looks better in shade.
I like the coverage of red's, if you look at the ass in front of Vika the coverage is perfect, look at Nyssa's shoulder, not the same coverage. But like you said at 3 times the price and being much more difficult to mix, is it worth it?
I'm a mud guy, my favorite is outdoor mud like Foxy's material. That being said, the color of the mud doesn't matter as much as the consistency. I dug the pits Rob Blain (RIP) used for 3 Deep in Mud, Mud Bondage etc. I like muddy hair, to the roots! The thinner the mud, the deeper the coverage!
I do like the consistency of dear Jayce's outdoor shoots, and the old Doronko clips were great.
For me it's going to come down to how it looks on the models clothes. I have zero interest in nudity so naked model, no sale, regardless of the quality or colour of the mud. So colour choice for me will be mainly affected by what the outfit looks like, not much point someone wearing red-brown overalls into red clay, there will be hardly any difference, whereas wearing the same overalls into pale grey clay could be spectacular. But generally as long as there's a very distinct difference in colour between the outfit and the clay, it'll work. The thing I would avoid with pale clays is white clothes, while there is a visible effect, its muted compared to what red or brown clays will do to the same outfit.
People seem to like darker colors more than lighter colors, and the regular brown color was the winner.
Why does it always have to be 1 uniform color? Why not have a pit filled with 2 or 3 colors? My fantasy is to see 2 models using 2 different colors and mixing them together. I got one custom of this where 2 models used 2 colors and mixed them with each other. It was a great result, but it didn't seem worth it to pay $$$ for mud to get one use of it though. Still, I could think of a lot of ideas that involve multiple colors, and I thought it would create really cool looks on models bodies when they have swirls and patterns of different color mud covering them.
LOVE my red..Bentonite is meh. Doesn't stick to skin well. Yellow art.
It's a processbut my hubby has it down finally oerfecto. I do like the red alone, it's a bitchhh to get off and out of places (like chick parts, check the new cleanup group please I host it...)
It's so smooth though.
The mud we use is perfect blend and coverage is amazing it's light and comes off easier.
Dirty Muse said: I would not know how to put different colors in the same pit? A stir and its all one color, a session and its all one color, how would you do it?
I don't have experience with mud pits. Could you make one half red and the other half gray, and avoid mixing in the center? The models would mix it, but I bet there would still be some unmixed after a shoot for a few shoots.
How about having a 5 gallon bucket of red clay mud and dump it in the center of the pit? Or give one model a small bucket of red clay mud to dump over the head of another? Or have them head dunk into a 5 gallon bucket of red clay mud?
Also voted red, I enjoy the lighter clay as well, but the contrast and consistency is more to my taste with kaolin and red art. Have you try cutting the redart/kaolin with some bentonite to create volume but keep the color and some of the thicker texture?
I need to restock my small basement setup and will go with the kaolin and redart, but I'm at a much smaller scale than you. 25 gallon that i keep in a bin with heated mats to keep it super warm and pour it in a nuru massage wrestling pit when its time to use it, Once done, it goes back in the bin.
Love you, too
