Question about adding clay

[La.misty]

Happy Friday everyone.

I notice that there are many ways to add clay.
So lets say If I were to add clay in a tiny cup, can i use additional distill water to mix it in Or do I use some of the distill water from the recipe? ... please Help.

 

[atiz]

I just use some additional water -- since you only need so little, I figured it wouldn't matter much. But you could also take it out of your total liquid.

 

[amd]

Depends on the type of clay, how big your recipe is... Some clays absorb a lot of water before they become wet, and if your recipe is small it might tip your water % up. Why not add it to your water before you add the lye?

 

[La.misty]

I just use some additional water -- since you only need so little, I figured it wouldn't matter much. But you could also take it out of your total liquid.

Thanks for the tip! I made a small study batch today and i tried adding a little distill water To the clay. It blends perfectly with no clumps.

 

[La.misty]

Depends on the type of clay, how big your recipe is... Some clays absorb a lot of water before they become wet, and if your recipe is small it might tip your water % up. Why not add it to your water before you add the lye?

i’ve been making small batche studies (500g) of oils. I haven’t try the method you mention yet, but i will try it next time. Thanks for the tip

 

[lsg]

You might try saving a bit of oil from you recipe and mixing the clay with that before adding it to the rest of your oil.

 

[atiz]

I also should've said it depends on how you use the clay. If I only have 1 clay added to the whole batch (like white kaolin clay), then I just stick-blend it with my oils. The little cups with added water method I only use when I use the clays for colorant.

 

[La.misty]

You might try saving a bit of oil from you recipe and mixing the clay with that before adding it to the rest of your oil.

Okay, thanks. I’ll definitely try that in the future.

 

[Nona'sFarm]

I

You might try saving a bit of oil from you recipe and mixing the clay with that before adding it to the rest of your oil.

Am definitely no expert, but I have read it is best to mix clays with water before adding, rather than oil. I haven't added clays that often, but when I do, I use a little of the water intended for the lye mixture. Works well for me.

 

[lsg]

You can also mix clay with oil as several of us have stated in the following thread: Kaolin clay forming white specks