Hi guys
Got the recipe for paperclay from my teacher on Friday and mended my low-fired pot with it tonight. But I have lots of leftovers. She told me that paperclay goes "off" pretty quickly, but if I dry it out, would it then be preserved until the next time I wet it - and the next?
Marianne
Yep it would probably work. I have heard of people putting a little bleach in paper clay which will keep it from going off quite as quickly. Only a little bit though.
In article , Xtra News writes
A drop of a good strong household disinfectant would also work. The same technique is used to preserve Brush-on glazes as they contain an organic Polymer as part of their makeup. We used a formaldehyde based preservative at work, without that they went *off* very quickly!
Several Paperclay workers I know make it up into thin sheets which they dry out until they're ready to use them. Wetting them up brings them back to a usable state quite quickly.
Steve Bath UK
If anyone is worried about using strong bleach or houshold disinfectant, a drop or two of 'Milton' fluid should do the trick; I believe there has been some research into the mould that forms on paperclay and they discovered that it can have some harmful effects, as Steve says it's best to let it dry in sheets for storage (even with the bleach it can get a bit 'wiffy'). Just one more word of caution; take care to ventilate well if you fire large amounts of paperclay the fumes are not good for you! Having said all that, it's fantastic stuff and you need obey few of the usual rules when using it, Iv'e just started slip casting with it and have had some good results. Andy
try graduating to saw dust clay one day!
i mixed up a batch of saw dust clay two weeks ago. prior i have made saw dust clay using coarse *pet bedding* pine wood chips. the batch hand built great, but because of the coarseness of the wood chips made cutting & drilling holes awkward.
it smelled great all the way until the batch was gone! nice pine forest. fires out & leaves a nice texture & LIGHT pieces.
i made another batch a few weeks ago using FINE saw dust. the stuff drawn off the sander via a vacuum. i can't dicern the saw dust in the clay except for the way it breaks when i tear it. it smells great & cuts, drills easy. ~ also throws well to some extent... get what they call "milk dust" from a local woodshop. it sloshes around in a bucket like milk.
i made it in the pug mill & it's about 50-50 by compacted volume. ie - the wet clay volume doubles when i add enough saw dust to the batch. 2 buckets wet, get 4 buckets with saw dust mixed in.
see ya
steve
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