Without getting too technical, here's how it works: We all dump our scraps into a bucket. Periodically someone adds water to soften everything up and holes are poked if needed so that everything really breaks down into kind of a slime. (It's delightful really--especially in winter when it is cold slime.) When the clay is pretty consistently slimy, it is ready to go. I recommend working it up when the bucket is about half full. Trust me, you do not want to do more than about half a bucket at once. Dry clay is added and it all gets stirred around until it looks more or less like what you see in the picture below. Notice that this looks like more than half a bucket. It grows when you add the dry clay to it.
Now the real work begins. Pull up your sleeves because it is going to get messy. Pull out about 3 or 4 pounds of the mess and wedge it in more dry clay until it is kind of crumbly. Then move to the pounding board and wedge until all the dry clay is worked in, some of the moisture is worked out, and the entire lump of clay is still soft but is no longer too mushy. (You love this super technical language that I use, right?) The softer the lump, the more wedging it takes. Repeat over and over until the bucket is empty. Periodic rest breaks are permitted. When I finished with this bucket, I had 47 pounds of clay, my arms were sore, and I'd sweated through my t-shirt.
Then the clay is sealed up in plastic bags and stored for a couple of weeks before it is ready to use. Even after all this work, there may be parts of the clay that are more firm than others. Sealing it all up in plastic allows the moisture from the softer parts to transfer to the harder parts.
I've done this twice now and this is my stash of reclaimed clay. I think the bags on top should be ready to use now. When I get back in the studio (have I mentioned how I am working too much this semester?), I will let you know how I like throwing reclaimed clay.
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