How to process wild clay. Processing wild clay can seem like a daunting task, but after reading this article you’ll have a better understanding of how to process clay quickly and efficiently. To learn how to forage raw clay, read our latest article on the subject “How To Forage Wild Clay“.

The first step in processing your wild clay is to take out any of the big organic and inorganic materials that are noticeably visible. This could be anything from large twigs, leafs, rocks or any other material that is bulky and out of place. Make sure to wear the proper protective equipment (gloves) if you think there is anything sharp or hazardous in the samples you collected.

As you are taking out all of the bigger materials from the clay, begin adding the clay into a clean 5 gallon bucket.

After getting the bigger pieces of debris out of your clay, you can begin adding water to the bucket. Preferably until the water covers the top of the wild clay you foraged.

The next step would be to mix your clay into a thick slurry. This can be done a number of ways, but the easiest way is to use a mud mixer and a power drill. For this article we’ll assume that you don’t have these tools yet. Instead you could use your hands to mix the clay and also pull out more debris at the same time.

If you’re not feeling up to using your hands, you could always use a long sturdy stick, a shovel, or the hand shovel you used to collect the clay.

After mixing it thoroughly into a thick slurry, your next step will be to pour the slurry into another clean 5 gallon bucket, through a sieve or strainer. A sieve could be made with some 2×4, wood screws and a window screen, or you could opt into buying a sieve from amazon. To watch how the 2×4 sieve was made, click this link “How To Make a Sieve“.

Pour the mixture through the sieve slowly, pouring too fast could cause a build up or over flow. If a build up happens because there is too much debris in the clay, then shake the sieve to get the debris to form in the middle, allowing the finer clay slurry to seep through the screen. 

Use your hands to gather up as much debris as you can and/or flip the sieve over into a garden bed or compost pile. If you find shaking the sieve difficult or ineffective, try spraying the slurry with a high pressured hose with a spray nozzle attachment. This method will ensure the clay gets through, but it will also add a lot more moisture to the mixture, giving it a longer drying time.

Repeat the process of pouring the mixture through a sieve and dumping out debris until you feel as though you have gotten out all of the large organic and inorganic materials. The last pour should be through the sieve and into a pillow case that is secure in a 5 gallon bucket. You could also use any fine mesh cloth that can be tied up to hold the slurry in.

Make sure that the pillow case or cloth is securely in a 5 gallon bucket, and that it will not pull or fall into the bucket once you pour the slurry into it. Tie off the end of the pillow case or cloth with a piece of string.

After tying off the pillow case/cloth it should be good to let sit or hang. Make sure that if the slurry bag is not being hung, that it is sitting on something porous and breathable. You do not want your bag sitting on something that cannot absorb moisture as it will take too long to dry or dry un-evenly.

Keep an eye on your clay as it is drying. The drying time depends on the climate you place it in. Clay that is not hung usually has longer drying times than a bag that is hung because there is more airflow to the hung bag. Check periodically by looking to see if the cloth is wet or dry. If the entire cloth holding the clay is dry than your clay will most likely be too dry to work with.

You should see part of your cloth bag still wet, this is where the clay should be, push into the clay to get an idea of how firm it is. A workable clay would be at the firmness of play-doh.

Open the bag and push into the clay with your fingers. If it holds an imprint and can be rolled into a coil then CONGRATZ! you just made your first batch of clay. 

To learn more about clay and how to create with it, visit “Higher Perspective Art” and start your art journey today!