PSC Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 So i was recycling some clay today and drying in my usual way of filling old pillowcases with too wet clay and putting it out on the driveway to dry up. I forgot about it and went out after dark to flip the bag. So i picked it up flipped and smashed down on the ground and i did it once more to mixed in the drier portion with the wet. Only after the two smash downs did i realize the pillow case had split the seam and extruded clay all over with each smash...now i have a lovely clay slick in the driveway to deal with in the morning. Thought y'all would understand and enjoy my cautionary tale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 This sounds like a dry hot climate deal maybe only in Florida can you do this in winter?? Pillowcases in the northern climes would be a frozen mass ( I have dried clay by freezing the water out) in my part of the world a slimy moldy mass of wet goo until spring. I try to keep my clay off the ground as I do not want to bend over to pick it up. I like the plaster elevated slab drying myself. You could practice spin outs in you car on that goo. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Maybe you've got the potential for a new sport there....... clay skiing or clay-boarding. best, ..............john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJR Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 I agree with Mark. Put asheet of canvas on a plaster batt. Pour clay slurry on to said canvas. Fold up the canvas and flip over. Next day place in plastic bags. double bag them. Let age for a couple of weeks. No wedging required until you are ready to throw. TJR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bciskepottery Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 And I can bet your spouse still says no, as you eye the nice pillow cases in the linen closet and try to make the case your reclaim clay really deserves 400 or 500 thread pillow cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted January 20, 2015 Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 Reminds me when a local club came and carted away buckets of my softened reclaim clay to empty onto a small incline, their kids had a great time sliding down the slope onto the beach and then rolling in the sand and into the ocean. a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSC Posted January 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 In florida winter is the best time to recycle clay as it doesn't rain everyday like it does in the summer and its not too hot, in the summer if you forget your drying pillowcase clay out on the concrete you end up with a solid lump of hard clay. I had a student take her clay home to reclaim and told her my pillow case method. She came back the next week telling me i should have told her to use cheap pillowcases cause she had used an old stained case she had from her kids bed and when the water didn't seep out like i told her it would she figured the thread count was too high. Sadly i had to inform her that i didn't realize that as all my pillowcases are cheap...i buy my clay cases when goodwill has a 50% off sale. I learned something today tho ...when clay dries on concrete and you peel it up it also remove that icky mildew/mold that grows on the concrete too. Its always good to learn something...no such thing as a mistake just learning opportunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted January 20, 2015 Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 great idea to clean the icky mildew/mold that grows everywhere in florida! the first thing i planned to do when i got here in december was to power wash the house (tiny trailer) the sidewalks, cement patios and the studio. since then my professional crastinator has been at work ignoring it. everything is still covered with dark, yucky stuff so i guess i will get out the huge bottle of bleach and clean it up. then remove the lizard poop from the studio corners. i got the stuff that was on every horizontal surface right away. tip...store all shelves on top of each other so lizard poop is only on the top shelf. covering stuff with plastic only gives them another dark place to hide. and yes, the doors and windows are closed. tip...leaf blowers work to get the oak leaves, lizard poop and acorns out of the studio. then i will finish the coral reef pot i started sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSC Posted January 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 My studio seems to be lizard free but it gets those gigantic wolf spiders, maybe i should let the lizards in to get the spiders. when i get my studio moved to my fathers old garage i'll likely have a lizard problem and a spider problem when looking in there now it has both. I don't mind the lizards its those spiders that give me the heebeegeebees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isculpt Posted January 26, 2015 Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 I've never believed in killing other creatures except in self defense, but those wolf spiders are so big and fast that it's a kill-or-be-killed situation if ever there was one!! Before I had a clay studio, I had zero kills on my record. Now I'm pretty sure I'm Spider Enemy #1 in South Carolina! jayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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