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Finding and Testing Clay

By Charmaine Taylor

If you'd like to begin experimenting with natural clays for plasters and building, then learning how to test soil for proper clay-to-sand ratio is important. Very sticky, rich clays will need sand added to them to make good plasters, cob or adobe-type bricks. Silty, sandy soils which have less than 10 percent clay in them will need to have clay added from another source. Ideally a 15 percent-35 percent clay ratio to sand is desirable for most projects. Too much clay in a plaster will allow it to crack extensively; and too much sand will be weak and gritty, and not bind together. A high amount of silt will also produce a weak mix, because while it may feel sticky, it will not adhere to sand very well, and will fail. All this being said, people have used the clay under their feet for centuries without extensive testing and ratio charts. They depended on their elders' wisdom to know where the best clay pits were, and their own experience to know how to use the clay once found. You can do the same. Where To Find Clay The clay we are talking about is harvested from the ground, not purchased. Basic clay can usually be found one to two feet under the topsoil just about anywhere in Humboldt County, and probably in your yard. Streambeds and riverbanks are a good spot to find clay closer to the surface. Wherever you see horsetail or skunk cabbage plants will usually have clay in the immediate vicinity. Road cuts (or hillside cuts) where construction is taking place may have visible clay. I have seen our local striated gold-and-gray clay where equipment has dug into road banks. House-building sites will usually have clay piled to the side during the foundation digging process. Clay can also be seen in the earthen cliffs near the beach. Topsoil will be dark and rich, full of organic matter, earthworms and plant roots. Dig underneath this part to the harder soil below. The color will be different, often shiny, and more difficult to shovel. Be careful collecting soil at road or hillside cuts, there may be broken glass, rusted metal or other sharp debris, so wear gloves while you examine the material.
Photo courtesy of and copyrighted by Charmaine Taylor

A sampling of colored clays. Clay samples shown: A local gold-gray high sand clay; B local blue goo silt -clay; C pink kaolin clay, Bishop; D green clay, San Diego; E pale beige Muddox kaolin mortar clay, Sacramento; F deep red clay, Rough & Ready; G aged green clay, Eureka.

You can also buy many different commercially produced artist and pottery clays; and low-cost mortar clays can be obtained at a building supplier; such as Hensell Materials on Broadway in Eureka. (Supplier name: H.C. Muddox, Mortar Clay, a high silica kaolin clay, pale beige in color, $4 for 50-pound sack.) Clay Comes In Many Colors

Clay can be found in many colors. Clay can be purple, brown, tan, red, white, orange and many shades in between. But color alone does not define good clay, or poor silty soil. We also have a local soil called blue goo a grayish-blue clay, which has been reported to be both a very sticky, almost pure clay, and also pure silt. Technically, the sticky version may be Gumbotil clay, one of the richest clays of all. But the silt version, while good for wattle and daub mixes, is not good for load bearing uses, such as cob, as it adds no binding ability. I've only experimented with this clay-silt a few times, so I don't have more information about it. If you do have technical knowledge please email me at: books@dirtcheapbuilder.com.

Photo courtesy of and copyrighted by Charmaine Taylor

Tools Needed Take gloves, plastic bags, buckets or tubs; a small shovel or garden spade with you when you search for clay away from home. Another useful on-site testing tool is a glass jar with tight-fitting lid, filled half full with water, with one teaspoon of salt added. Basic testing methods Gather a small amount of what you believe to be clay. It should be slightly moist, but not wet. Roll a small ball of it in your palms. Does it stain your hands? If yes, it may be clay. The clay stain is temporary and washes away easily. Clay feels sticky and greasy as it slides between your fingers. Next, roll a long snake tube of clay until it breaks. The longer and more pliant the roll, the higher the clay content will be. Bend the snake tube around your finger until it breaks; high clay soil will not break quickly. Make a bigger ball, the size of a golf ball and hold it at elbow height, drop it to a paved surface. If it splits and cracks easily it may have high sand content. If it splats flat, but stays together it may be too high in clay. A ball that just flattens out on the bottom, but retains its shape has a good clay-sand ratio. The jar test: Take the jar with water and salt, and place a small handful of clay in the jar. Shake the jar very hard for one minute. Set the jar down and watch the sand and gravel settle quickly to the bottom in about 40 seconds. Next, finer silt will settle out, this takes about half an hour. Lastly, the clay will begin to settle. The remaining water with any organic debris sticks, leaves and fibers will float over the clay. Observe for a few minutes. If the water stays muddy, that is OK. Clay is in suspension due to its fine particle size. Use a felt pen to mark the jar where you see a sandy gravel layer, the silty layer and the clay layer if you see one. Clay will always settle at the top. If you Photo courtesy of and copyrighted by Charmaine Taylor see only two layers you may have just sand Clay will temporarily stain your hand. and silt or sand and clay. This is why other testing methods are needed to determine clay percentage.

Local blue-goo clay.

Once you have marked the jar, shake the contents again, very hard, for at least one minute. Then set the jar in a windowsill or easily viewable spot, and let it rest, undisturbed for 24 hours. When you view the jar contents again you will be able to see clear water on top, with defined layers underneath. Again, this may provide tricky, if you have not worked with clay before; what looks like a clay layer may be only silt on top of sandy gravel. If the water turns clear in less than 30 minutes you may have no clay. To read the results of your jar test, look at the amount of separation marked between sand and clay. If the sandy layer is three times taller than the clay layer you have a good mix to begin working with. You may not need to add any clay to the soil mix. If you see a ratio of 50-to-50 you have too much clay, and it will crack easily when made into plasters, so you will need to add sand. Usually 25 percent clay to 75 percent sand-silt ratio is considered perfect. If you have all silty sand, this is where you can buy mortar clay and add it to the mix; or keep hunting for sticky clay you can harvest for free. There are entire books dedicated to the testing and understanding of clay. The study of clay science is extensive and very specialized. Clay varies greatly all over the world, and even in your own back yard, so test in several areas about 30 feet apart. You may be surprised by what you find. For your purposes these simple tests will give you a good start to using clay for green home projects. Project Now that you know where to find clay, and how to test it, what's stopping you? I recommend collecting several clay samples, and testing them in glass jars. Leave the test clay in the jars and line them up where you can show others what you are doing. Clay with no organics in it will not mold or change color. Ask friends from far away to bring you colored clays too. You only need a few pounds of good clay to paint a large room. (Charmaine Taylor is a writer, mad scientist and online bookseller. She experiments with natural materials, lime and clay paints and plasters, and researches low-cost and recycled products for home renovation. Charmaine is currently greening a 1940s' fixer-upper cottage in Eureka, where she lives with a nervous Border collie and two lazy cats. E-mail books@dirtcheapbuilder.com, and visit her Web sites at: www.dirtcheapbuilder.com and www.papercrete.com.)

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