Have you ever wondered about how clay can be recycled? Well, it is one of the most interesting properties of clay. I believe ceramics is one of the least wasteful art forms. I am going to walk you through the basics of reclaiming clay, whether you want to try it for yourself or are just curious about the process! Follow along in the slides below to walk through the steps of reclaiming clay.
The bone dry clay might be your trimmings (as shown here) but it could also be some clay that you had forgotten about and need to rehydrate. If it is a large solid chunk, try to break it up before the next step.
Put your bone dry clay into a container (preferably one with a lid to prevent spills!) and add enough water to cover the clay. Let it soak for awhile so that the clay becomes soft. This is why breaking up the large clay chunks is very helpful.
Once the clay is softened, it is a great idea to mix up the clay. This makes it more homogenous for the next step. I use an immersion blender to mix the clay thoroughly in the container that is is in.
Once your clay is blended, you will have made slip (yogurt like consistency of clay to bind attachments together). Lay the slip out onto a surface to dry. A plaster mold works the best as the plaster wicks the water out of the slip faster. If you don’t have plaster, a wooden board covered in canvas can also work well.
As your slip dries out, it will become more like normal clay again. It can be rather sticky in some places and dry in others so I like to scrap it up and mix it around so that it dries out more evenly.
Once the clay has dried out, it is time to wedge. Wedging is very important as it squeezes out the air bubbles in your clay. (If you have air bubbles in your clay, it will explode in the firing process) Continue to push down and squeeze those air bubbles out until your clay becomes less sticky.
The clay will become less sticky as you wedge. If it is really sticky, wedge on canvas or plaster to help the excess water to get absorbed.
Finally, you have created clay! Throw it on the wheel or roll it out to make your next masterpiece!
Here you can see the steps that we just went through, from the shavings through the finished clay.