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All dried up...

Dear all,

It is the height of summer here in Athens. I am the newbie who posted a few days ago with firing questions.

I have my clay [1] in big plastic bins, but it has (after about a month) got too dry to manipulate easily. Is there a short cut to getting the clay useable again, or should I get it totally wet and slurry-like pass it through seives and wait for it to re-condense again? I don't want it to dry completely as the bin shape will not allow it to come out easily.

Any thoughts are welcome. Thanks.

Cheers, Stelios Zacharias

[1] this is the clay I collected in dry form, and passed through seives, then decanted the top water off after a few days and left to evaporate to a useable hardness.
Reply to
Stelios Zacharias
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It depends on how dry it is. If it is just a bit too dry, you can just add a bit of water to the container and wait a week or so and rewedge. If it is fairly firm, but not yet leather hard, you can slice it 1" thick, dip the slices in water, restack, then wait a week and rewedge. If it's leather hard or beyond, you'll probably need to let it dry completely and then slake it down in water and start over. It is very difficult to rewet leather hard clay.

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Reply to
Dewitt

I too have the same problem. Let me know the answer you get. TIA Barbara

Reply to
Barbara Bowen

There are a few methods you can try for clay that has firmed up a bit much, but isn't at the dry or too firm leather hard stage.

remove the clay from the plastic and wrape a wet towel around it and then wrap in a plastic. A large plastic trash bag works well. Leave it overnight and it should be the way you want it in the morning.

Another method is to slice the clay about 1/2 - 1" thick, dip each slice in water and put it all back in the bag. This will do a fast job of bringing it back to a soft stay.

Another easy method it to fill a 5 gallon bucket with water. Put your bag of clay in the bucket and open the top of the bag to allow the water to move into the bag and cover the clay. Let sit a few hours or overnight till it is the consistency you want.

Regards, June

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Reply to
ShambhalaPottery

I thought you had said that your clay was in a container that didn't allow you much access to removing it. You might try my method. I have a very long screwdriver which I force almost to the bottom of the clay making multiple holes. The dryer the clay, the more holes. Fill the holes with water and let set a few days. I do this with my bicks standing on end. Some have been unworkably dry but were reconstituted in this manner. Leather hard, though? I doubt it. Can't hurt to try. Catherine in hot Yuma, AZ

Reply to
Cee White

It's in a plastic bin which holds about 60 litres. The removing it problem is because the bin flares out at the bottom. If it dries, it will be too wide to travel up and out of the bin. Not leather hard yet, but certainly lost plasticity.

Thanks to all for the replies. If I don't manage to save it by wetting overnight, I'll let it dry out and slake again.

Cheers, Stelios

Reply to
Stelios Zacharias

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