Steps | Palat Pottery

Processing Our
Wild
Clay

By digging up and processing locally sourced clay, we are preserving an age-old craft that connects our tiles to the place were they were made and its geological history.

A little over 12,000 years ago, during the ice age, the glaciers had retreated northeast of our location. The glacier-fed water of Lake Ontario was much higher than it is today and over many centuries ground up rock (clay) from glacial runoff settled to the lake bottom. This clay is a blend of igneous rock from the Canadian Shield to our north and local limestone.

This earthenware clay that we dig up today was used in the 19th Century to make the red bricks for Victorian-era buildings.

Looking down into a freshly dug hole, you can see the bed of clay

A. Harvesting the raw clay

from our yard. Layers of clay deposited over centuries can be seen. There are large deposits of lacustrine clay ( lake bottom clay) in our area.

Here, the clay is being thoroughly soaked in water

B. Slaking the Clay

in water buckets. After a vigorous stirring it sits for a couple of days. Soluble salts are skimmed off the top of the water.

Here are samples of gravel at the bottom or harder clumps of clay in the mixture

C. Preparing the clay

before screening. We break up the larger clumps and remove twigs and other organic debris. Finer sand is left in the clay.

This image shows the remaining gravel after the liquid clay water is poured through the screen.

D. Screening the Clay

through two layers of mesh. The clay is poured through the screens, removing gravel and remaining organics.

The clay is very wet at this stage and is poured into pillowcases to dry overnight

E. The pillowcase method

is used to remove excess water from the clay. Filled with the wet clay, the water drips out.

The wet clay is tied up a pillowcase and hung to dry

F. Drying the Clay

for a couple of days. The pillowcases are hung in the sun and wind.

the clay from the pillowcases is spread out on plaster slabs

G. Finishing the Drying

on plaster slabs to remove all the remaining moisture from the clay.

We break the bone dry clay into smaller pieces and store it

H. Storing Clean Clay

once it has dried fully. This clay will be become 60% to 75% of our tile clay body.

Our clay recipes took three years of research and test firings to develop. This video shows the entire process we use to refine and blend our tile clay.

Processing Our
Wild
Clay

A. Harvesting the raw clay

B. Slaking the Clay

C. Preparing the clay

D. Screening the Clay

E. The pillowcase method

F. Drying the Clay

G. Finishing the Drying

H. Storing Clean Clay

A video showing how we make our clay

Cross-section of a cut tile

Processing Our Wild Clay

A. Harvesting the raw clay

B. Slaking the Clay

C. Preparing the clay

D. Screening the Clay

E. The pillowcase method

F. Drying the Clay

G. Finishing the Drying

H. Storing Clean Clay

A video showing how we make our clay

Cross-section of a cut tile

Processing Our
Wild
Clay