Conditioning Crumbly Clay...

I have a small plastic bag full of crumbly clay. I made a mistake of wrapping them with wax paper before our stuff were shipped out. So when they arrived a month after..the wrapped clays were so crumbly! All the plasticizers in the clay where gone. I have to revive them again so that I can use them. I'm really a scrooge when it comes to clay LOL! I always see to it that I don't waste any. It's also my way of helping Mother Earth.:)

I just want to share with you how I revive old and crumbly clay. I don't use clay softener or liquid clay to make them soft and come together. I don't like the mess that it creates..the color of clay staining your hands and the squishy/mushy feeling LOL!:) Here's what I do..

Tips:

1. As for the color combination that you want to make. It's nice to follow these color mixes. (this is from Donna Kato's Millefiori Techniques Book)

2. You can also use scrap clay as long as it is still fresh! What do i mean by fresh? It is still easy to condition and still soft!

3. flatten, add crumbly clay, fold and then flatten again, add crumbly clay, fold, flatten...you have to do this over and over again until you see that the two types of clays are mixing well together. It is less messy if you do this with the roller instead of passing it through your pasta machine already. I really don't like clay crumbs falling everywhere!! LOL! When you see that you can already pass it through the machine with no crumbs falling then go ahead use it already :P

Hope my tips can help you say hello to your crumbly clays again! :)