Hey everyone! Got an exciting weekend planned. I've got 50lbs of bentonite clay on the way and a pool that me and the gf are going to play in! I'm wondering how much clay I will get from this? I have a drill attachment for mixing so I'm ready and want to make it nice and thick! I will try to get photos if my gf approves of that but otherwise I will at least get some shots of the pool of clay!
Luv_Messy_Girls said: Hey everyone! Got an exciting weekend planned. I've got 50lbs of bentonite clay on the way and a pool that me and the gf are going to play in! I'm wondering how much clay I will get from this? I have a drill attachment for mixing so I'm ready and want to make it nice and thick! I will try to get photos if my gf approves of that but otherwise I will at least get some shots of the pool of clay!
We typically use 100-120 pounds of pottery clay in this tub. You will use less water than you might expect. The drill attachment is a what MPV uses and it works very well. Just be careful to stop the thing completely before you pull it up unless you want to sling stuff all over creation.
Not that you won't have a good time but you may notice something else about Bentonite versus pottery clay. Bentonite is self sealing and frequently used to line ponds. Pottery clay is "wammier" if not as slippery as Bentonite. If you want a visual comparison - MPV uses pottery clay and Studio 588 has a great hole full of Sodium Bentonite. It's easier to submerge in but doesn't coat as thick or completely as clay. In the photos below the three girls in the gray clay and the others are bentonite. Both are anaerobic and won't support the growth of bacteria or anything. We've never had a report of any issues other than cleanup with the stuff in private places. I'm sure you'll have great fun.
DuncanEdwards said: Not that you won't have a good time but you may notice something else about Bentonite versus pottery clay. Bentonite is self sealing and frequently used to line ponds. Pottery clay is "wammier" if not as slippery as Bentonite. If you want a visual comparison - MPV uses pottery clay and Studio 588 has a great hole full of Sodium Bentonite. It's easier to submerge in but doesn't coat as thick or completely as clay. In the photos below the three girls in the gray clay and the others are bentonite. Both are anaerobic and won't support the growth of bacteria or anything. We've never had a report of any issues other than cleanup with the stuff in private places. I'm sure you'll have great fun.
The tl;dr on this Bentonite sucks; don't use Bentonite.
Luv_Messy_Girls said: Hey everyone! Got an exciting weekend planned. I've got 50lbs of bentonite clay on the way and a pool that me and the gf are going to play in! I'm wondering how much clay I will get from this? I have a drill attachment for mixing so I'm ready and want to make it nice and thick! I will try to get photos if my gf approves of that but otherwise I will at least get some shots of the pool of clay!
We typically use 100-120 pounds of pottery clay in this tub. You will use less water than you might expect. The drill attachment is a what MPV uses and it works very well. Just be careful to stop the thing completely before you pull it up unless you want to sling stuff all over creation.
Cool thanks for the tips! I'll have to try pottery clay next time!
Luv_Messy_Girls said: Cool thanks for the tips! I'll have to try pottery clay next time!
Yeah it's generally easy to get at art/ceramic supply places. Two or three bags will fill a tub. Bentonite is nice and slippery. I can tell you from personal experience that it is fun stuff to share with somebody. Trust me.
What type of pottery clay are we talking? I mostly see moist clay in the description and tend to already be blocked and packaged at most supply places around here.
Flak said: What type of pottery clay are we talking? I mostly see moist clay in the description and tend to already be blocked and packaged at most supply places around here.
No, mix it yourself from 20kg bags of powder. Not very expensive depending on where you are. MPV has mixed a few. Somewhere you live is an art or ceramic supply place where they stock it by the pallet.
We use kaolin ourselves, specifically Edgar Minerals EPK Kaolin, and have never had a problem. As far as mixing goes, I've always found it was easier to mix by hand (and DEFINITELY use a mask, whatever type you get. You do not want super-absorbent clay powder in your lungs.) Consider eye protection, too. If you also get the time, let it sit for a day - it gets super-smooth.
Speaking of name brands, does anyone have suggestions for that ball clay? I know fuck-all about pottery, so have no idea what's out there besides this one (I've never needed another, but I'm curious to see what else is good...)
My favorite mix is 1 part Red Art ball clay by Cedar Heights and 2 parts C&C ball clay. OM4 ball clay is a good substitute if you can't find C&C. Red Art gives you that creamy red chocolate frosting look and feel. Mixing with C&C gives it a more playable (pliable) consistency. I like to use 50 pound bags of dry powered clay you can find at ceramic supply stores. I have mixed 3 gallons per 50# bag but start out with 2gal for thicker clay and add more to get the consistency you want. One bag makes about 5 gallons of clay around 75 pounds with 3gals of water. 1gal = 8.35# 450lb thick clay on 104 degree water bed. Now wouldn't you like to play in that?
Back in the day, we used about 350 lbs of OM-4 in the wading pool for https://mudwrestle.us
It was in a bar, so it kept getting beer spilled in it and we had to change it out every couple of weeks. It also got really thin and watered down because we had to hose the girls down while they were in the pool. The clay settles over time, so after a couple of days, we could use a wet/dry vacuum and take several inches of almost clear water off the top to thicken it up for the next mud night.
Admittedly, this was 16 years ago, but we paid about $6.50 per 50 lb bag from a Tacoma WA ceramics supply wholesaler. Haven't seen it anywhere else for that kind of money in a really long time.
I found that Newman Red stains you skin orange due to the high iron content or maybe it was just the creases in your skin. But it does stain the plastic buckets orange.
finflyer said: I found that Newman Red stains you skin orange due to the high iron content or maybe it was just the creases in your skin. But it does stain the plastic buckets orange.
Well ... er ... have I mentioned that I'm actually Donald Trump?
finflyer said: I found that Newman Red stains you skin orange due to the high iron content or maybe it was just the creases in your skin. But it does stain the plastic buckets orange.
Well ... er ... have I mentioned that I'm actually Donald Trump?
Then why aren't you misusing your executive powers and our tax dollars to produces TONS of WAM!?