How I Recycle my Stoneware Pottery Reclaim

[@TheBushdoctor68]

I don't know why, but somehow it's very satisfying to see somebody not waste a single crumb of something.

[@ericsprouse4549]

Hi Florian, I don't even do pottery and I watch your videos all the time. You have a great voice and your editing skills are spot on; they are very relaxing and artistic. Sometimes after work I'll just sit on the couch, watch your vids and chill to decompress. Thanks for the efforts, you never know who will be impacted by your skills... Cheers, Eric

[@buddhinieperera1314]

So True

[@ddtuss2585]

He could narrate books

[@kaitlin6184]

It’s so cool to see how clear the water was when the clay settled in the bucket!

[@garchompy_1561]

metalworking and machining also has a similar appeal in that any scraps can be reused or recycled in to stock for later projects, but its a lot more work to do so, with seperating different types of metals, heating, forging/casting/refining, and so on different crafts all making different art, always fun to see.

[@Preacher65]

I've just started my journey into woodworking, and have started the habit of saving as much wood waste as possible. Solid pieces are kept in a bin, as even the smallest fragment can have some utility. Shavings and sawdust are bagged up and donated to local gardeners for use in landscaping and adding to soil if required. I see so much wastefulness in life, so it's important to me to try and minimize as much as I can. I've got a long way to go. This was a great video to watch, as it gives me perspective to see parallels in different creative disciplines.

[@lil_mocha3772]

Using reclaim is really cool, the thought that there still may be clay left in the reclaim mix years down the line from when it's bought is nice.

[@lil_mocha3772]

@@emilwandel its rather about the principle rather than the literal but thanks.

[@jiminilf]

thank you so much for uploading another clay reclaiming video. Your videos are so peaceful to watch I watch them everyday before going to bed. I really wish to attend a pottery workshop someday :)

[@floriangadsby]

Welcome! Thanks for watching and I hope they help you ease off to sleep.

[@mothwaltz4163]

This method is so useful and sustainable. And the way you clean up is admirable.

[@duckypickett9754]

I discovered you randomly one night when I couldn't sleep, and your videos helped me so much! Your voice is so soothing and even though I've never been interested in pottery your videos are so interesting and informative

[@LC-le9ew]

I really loved this video. I can’t help it but I keep hearing Ben Whishaw in this voice.❤️

[@marktaylor865]

The doggo though. Awwww. Good content again Florian. 👍

[@internetshaquille]

SURELY it's possible for KitchenAid to create a pug mill attachment for their mixers... right?

[@bubblegumplastic]

It makes me happy knowing we enjoy the same pottery channel

[@thesmiffable]

KitchenAids are good, but they're not that good

[@jerrykinnin7941]

The only pug mills I've seen are in rock quarries. They use DGA rock. (Dust Gravel Aggregate) or # 9, 10, 57, size rock. Mixed in a slurry with water. It's used as Road base.

[@mikepetersen7319]

It must be satisfying to work with a Material that's so good to recycle and leaves so little Waste.

[@nathanr5737]

This makes my autistic heart so incredibly content and happy.

[@evhoRoLL]

You could’ve left out the autistic part. Really no need to make that a focal point of your comment. Im on the spectrum and that part of the comment feels incredibly unnecessary. This should make anybody’s heart happy… your comment, however, made me feel like my heart is different than everybody else’s. It’s not.

[@buggpuzz]

Your puppy was adorable!!!! 🥹 What a great surprise!!

[@alexandraframe6493]

I haven’t worked with my clay for about three years and it’s still usable. I keep the clay is tightly closed plastic bag. I check them every few mouths, keeping them workable. I love that we all can save that extra clay and all the other clay leftovers. Best advice ever. This is the time to really save.

[@celinavivian1162]

I have no idea why I watched this entire thing, as I have never even seen a potters wheel in person, but I thoroughly enjoyed your soft voice and repetitive movements

[@ninjabaiano6092]

It's cool that a learned a bunch of things. Incidentally i finally understand why clay is used as one of the step in water purifying.

[@antoniomromo]

I'm not a person that can do pottery, but I love videos like this one. Where people go through the trouble of developing and sharing ways to do resource conservation in a hobby.

[@steisishain7888]

This video just gave me so much inner peace

[@BlueMoonCircus]

That seems pretty efficient! Thank you! Also, I’ve never seen anyone wedge that much clay at once. Impressive!

[@carolynpearce4829]

It is so rewarding to watch you use the same processes I use in my studio. I don’t use a pugmill either. Did make a large plaster bowl modeled after one I saw at the pottery studio at our local university. I use three different color clays - a white, a speckled clay similar to yours and a red. I don’t worry about a little bit of the clays mixing together. I also dry my plaster bats by leaning them against my kiln or putting them on the lid.

[@jeffso]

Always such a joy watching your richly informative videos, thank you Florian ☀️

[@TheSamSamShow]

This is the first video I’ve watched regarding clay pottery making and I love the recycling. It’s a beautiful thing. The amount saved And reused 👩‍🍳 💋

[@gottagift]

You are obviously more than a hobbyist. You are a consummate Professional.

[@bingbing4332]

I remember in high school when I was in a ceramics course we were often tasked with breaking down large chunks of bone dry clay to be mixed into our communal slip bucket. I definitely know what I’m doing if I can afford a studio one day.

[@shosihansen9371]

Loved seeing Ciro's cameo 💛

[@lindatortorice9356]

Appreciate the repeats. Always something new to pickup.

[@cyberware5323]

Probably the happiest reclaim bucket in history!

[@n76543]

the video i was waiting for, the whole process looks so satisfying to me

[@lunarose9]

as a fan of all things eco very exited to watch this

[@credenza1]

Excellent presentation, and a good example to all potters..

[@Thelivingcorpse897]

so satisfying to watch

[@paulavb7596]

Excellent!! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, Florian. 🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@0FlowerPop0]

his videos have become equivalent to a snack before bed for me 🤣🤣

[@karri8998]

I am dreading doing this as I don't have a big work table like you or the slabs to dry it on, I am just squished into the corner of my laundry room. Thanks for showing this.

[@SilverScaleMA]

I kind of did this over the last half of a ceramics class solely to prove that it could be done to a classmate that said clay scraps wasn't reusable. The clay was a mix of red, ivory, and black clays and had an interesting slight marbling effect that I made into a small bowl at the end of the semester. Unfortunately during the last firing everything in that batch got destroyed by someone putting an item that was supposed to be fired separately in and it exploded and destroyed everything in the kiln (and I believe may have also cracked some of the side panels in the kiln).

[@drakekoefoed1642]

your system is well organized. a couple of things that might be tried: i put the clay water outside, in a bucket where a piece of shock cord holds flyscreen over a bucket top. that prevents leaves or bits of junk getting in. i tilt it and dump the clear water whenever i feel like doing it, right on the ground where it blocks no drains. another bucket just out the shop door gets the junk clay from the pan i put under the wheel. i can put water in there and leave it a week to get soft, and then dump it in the cement mixer. i have a couple of short videos about this, nowhere near as nice as the great gadsby.

[@celticchrys]

@@emilwandel I imagine this must vary greatly by location. Where I am, the entire landscape is wet clay much of the year naturally, and pouring out a bit of water with some slip residue will not make a noticeable difference from the natural ground surface. Very different from if it were flowing into sewer pipes or covering public pavements. Water that has anything else it besides pure clay (such as diluted glazes) would be an entirely different thing, though.

[@jaredlodico]

It's nice to see the process evolve. Question, how do you deal with the smell? Does the air flow in your studio not really cause the bucket of water to go moldy so quickly?

[@tanzidaify]

Genius. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[@Raandd]

So pretty 😍 i make homemade bread sometimes and the height of the table IS important! My shoulder be dead if i knead the dough on the counter. Love your videos.

[@eaglpaul1]

I wish it was this easy to recycle leather scrap and turn it back into a whole hide. It's really cool to see a craft where there is no waste and everything gets used in the end.

[@miklin6203]

The great thing with reclaiming clay is the material itself, it can be use over and over with no degradation in quality.

[@guppyfeesh]

Wedging is my least favorite activity in ceramics, watching you spiral wedge is nice.

[@nickkujawski7635]

Love your videos Florian. It occurred to me while watching you scrap your hands on the bin - do you have any skincare tips or routines? My wife is a baker and similarly, her hands are wet and covered in something for long hours. Thanks for all the hard work!

[@floriangadsby]

Moisturiser when it gets bad, that’s it! Truthfully there’s probably more I could do to look after them but they’re fine for the most part.

[@0_clover740]

8:50 this is his real speed, he leveled up his pottery skill to the max and decided to stop slowing down the video to flex a bit

[@1976LFonseca]

Always informative ♥️♥️♥️ Thank you.

[@MaryAnnNytowl]

I've been watching recycling videos, and yours came up. I'd reuse that water from that bucket, and pour it into another bucket. Just trade them out every other day. It would save water, as well as clay.

[@weignerg]

4:12 Yum! Delicious chocolate frosted cake.

[@johnnyzhu5601]

Thank you for the video. Excellent work as always.[ but I’m wondering how to determine the maximum amount of much clay that can be put in the plaster with out the plaster become too soggy

[@floriangadsby]

Thank you! You'll learn through experience I suppose, if they do get too soggy just make sure they have time drying out in-between being used, or make two sets and rotate them, so as one plaster batt is in use the other dries. It's easier in the winter as I just lean them on the radiators to dry out.

[@teifan6674]

My brain: that's clay. That's literally just domesticated mud. Please stop Also my brain: I bet that thing is *delicious*

[@ellaisplotting]

When it was being smeared on the batts it looked just like chocolate ice cream, the good kind, absolutely mouthwatering

[@karenak968]

I can relate to this. In my early twenties, I worked in a paint shop, and I always thought that the outdoor acrylic paint that we sold smelt delicious. I never got up the nerve to taste it, but I wanted to

[@varlotto]

Love the puppy cameo

[@Smallathe]

Very smart recycling!

[@letswatchtrash]

you must dread recycling day 💀 so much work

[@floriangadsby]

Indeed! I don’t mind usually, it’s worse in the cooler months when the clay takes ages to dry out but I think I’ll purchase a pug mill soon to speed up the process.

[@letswatchtrash]

@@floriangadsby mad props to you, all the best my man 🤍

[@joaky1989]

proper work ethics!

[@j10001]

If you feel you can speak to the topic, I’d be interested to know about different types of clay, both those used in pottery (which become shard when heated) and those used in sculpture and bronze casting (which I understand melt when heated). I once visited a bronze casting factory to see all the steps in the process and was surprised to find the clay melted when heated, quite unlike pottery!

[@geekswithfeet9137]

I find rolling out into sheets, folding and then wrapping/spiralling them around the roller to combine them is not only much faster, but the air content is essentially zero with the right technique. Also throwing the lump in a garbage bag for a couple days after slabbing it out (I just do this on the concrete floor of my shed, I’m in a very dry warm climate, the slab resets moisture content well before I need it again) homogenises the mix completely

[@Scott_C]

I enjoy your videos. But seeing the Dachshund made me a subscriber. Thank you for the great content.

[@floriangadsby]

He makes some good appearances in my video that goes live tomorrow!

[@sneakysnowman5150]

Would like to see river clay being used one of these days to see the difference in product .

[@littlevivi]

Thank you for the informative video!

[@Mithre]

KZbin randomly recommended this to me, but I'm glad it did, because this was really interesting! How much of your clay would you say is recycled/reclaimed? It seems like it takes a lot of work and time to do so, and there must be a break-even point with the cost of the clay and your time where it becomes worth it.

[@michaelgrice9172]

Hi Florian, wondering how you handle processing porcelain and the red stoneware in the same studio. Do you have a separate work table, bats, etc.? Your porcelain work always seems to be so "clean" if that makes sense.

[@floriangadsby]

I clean a lot when switching between materials!

[@ThePurpleCheesecakeZebra]

in theory there could be particles of clay from the first pot in the last pot you ever make.

[@Zeldur]

Seeing all the reclaim and how thin your pieces are, how long does it take you to go through a normal (for you) amount of clay freshly purchased?

[@whatthefunction9140]

I didn't know this. I've been flushing my scraps down the toilet 🚻 😪

[@celticchrys]

Watch some videos about building clay traps for your sink. Flushing it, you are likely to eventually kill your plumbing pipes.

[@ASenseofwood]

It was a beautiful video 😍

[@lLadyAszneth]

@Florian Gadsby To the end again, Darlin'... Boom! Rock on, 😀🤘 Aszneth "Asz" (Tallahassee FL)

[@kwiknkleen]

Is there any point when the clay cannot be recycled anymore? Very interesting videos.

[@floriangadsby]

It can get tired eventually, then it’s best to age it or even add grog to it, but theoretically it should be reusable in some way shape or form indefinitely.

[@littlereco]

This is so interesting. Do you have a basic list of tools for starting clay?

[@najibar.1135]

At 6:01 there’s a slab with a patches of blue(?), why is it that colour, is that mould?

[@sleether4049]

Cool video

[@joakimpedersen561]

Hi Florian, I have a question! As a cook, I can see that your wedding technique is similar to kneading a dough. If you spend a lot of time wedging clay (which I guess you do), would it not be a good idea to invest in a big industrial mixer with a hook attachment, or would that not work so well on clay?

[@fpoastro]

I always reclaim similarly trying to catch all the fines I can. Do you ever find that you loose a lot of the fines in this process? My typical approach has been to add my reclaim in small amounts (perhaps 25% or less) to fresh body. It seems no matter how meticulous you are there is a loss in fines. Great work.

[@paul_zqm3296]

Very cute dog

[@theflaneur6663]

Hi Florian, I am new to ceramics and am worried about getting clay down the drain. I have a clay water bucket but dont think the clay really settles to the bottom , it just looks cloudy all the time? Is there any reason for this. Maybe there isnt enough clay in the water? Thanks for your insightful videos!

[@JenniferSmilesNow]

Your plants would love the water that is above the clay slurry… please pour that water on them :-)

[@brando3312]

Do you find that your reclaim bucket smells really bad when you start to mix it up? I have to wear an N95 mask when reclaiming clay because it smells like a mix of sulfur and dead animals. I really don't know why but I've only ever experienced this at my home, even though I've done it many times at the studio at the school.

[@linda-gx4ur]

florian: "i will CAAAREFULLY pour away the water" also florian: pursue to just dump the water out super fast 🤣🤣🤣

[@MoshiAngelic]

Whelp florian You did it to me. I've signed myself up for a pottery class at one of my local studios. covid restrictions means they arnt open yet but once they do well I'mma get down and dirty My boyfriends blaming you :P

[@icebluscorpion]

Do you filter your clay, or doesn't it matter when you scrap some wood chips from the wooden table that you are scraping of it?

[@tarynmansour7323]

Dry cleaners plastic! That is brilliant

[@ClownWhisper]

I have a completely different method recycling clay and I never really have to touch it. I keep four or five buckets four different types of clay and clay at different stages stiffness I start out with a bucket half full of water I put all scraps coming off the wheel in that bucket until it gets full I whip it up into a slurry until we get turns into a perfect slip and then I let it dry down until it's into a thick mass sour cream. All the while I keep a large paint make sure in it and every time I walk by I pull the trigger for a few seconds. When it gets down to where it gets difficult to spoon out with a large panel that's when I throw it on my canvas covered table and work it down from there it's so easy. I never have explosions for whoever took the whale and it's always perfect I never have to touch it just pull the trigger when I walk by to keep it mixed up nice and smooth

[@sierra565]

I can't even IMAGINE not recycling clay scraps when it amounts to THAT much.

[@sorushflummi411]

Thank You for the great Video!! Can burned Clay also be recycled? Like if Something breaks during the Firing or afterwards?

[@Not-Sorry2011]

You could always break it in smaller pieces and add textures.

[@njmcliffe]

Florian's clay, Trigger's broom, Theseus' ship ...

[@xslearalt1574]

oh i didnt see it was 1 minute ago lol and , and then i went away i came back and saw it was 1 minute ago but it was really just 30 mins bcz i clicked on it fast :)

[@DoryHayes]

Question for you concerning water. I'm in a small town with city water, which I use a reverse osmosis system for cooking and drinking to have the cleanest water possible. Do the minerals and chlorine cause any concerns for the clay?

[@lindaparisi6744]

Do you use the reclaim as is or do you blend it with new clay? In the last video it looked like you blended the reclaim with new clay but here it sounds like you’re using it as is.

[@lizzynoel239]

Would it be easier to use your foot for wedging? Or at least mixing them together at the earlier stage. Not sure how that works but I’ve seen some videos of people using this method when making large Korean traditional vats. Thought body weight would make things easier(:

[@katepowers2316]

I am a chemist and a potter. In both practices I love the manual labor of a task that sets you up well for the next day. Turn your brain off and just do your future self a favor.

[@Jacob_graber]

Florian, absolutely perfect timing! I just yesterday put a potters’ wheel in my studio, and now after a day of experimenting I have a half gallon of clay paste and a half dozen practice cups that need to be slaked. Did you cast your plaster bats yourself, or purchase them?

[@floriangadsby]

I cast them! They aren’t particularly well made but they certainly do the job well.

[@horainzahra4802]

You are using recycle clay but I really want to know from where you get clay how you refine it for first use.

[@sarahwerk8995]

Hi Florian, I want to ask you about something, clay expires in any case?

[@floriangadsby]

Not really. If I’m a bag it might turn solid and dry out but that can be reconstituted and made usable again by adding water. Clay is essentially formed from raw materials that are tens or hundreds of millions of years old and it’s basically stone and glass. Even if mould grows in it it’s fine to use, it might smell a little but the clay itself hasn’t gone off. Clay can become short, which means it loses strength, but you can get it back by ageing the clay.

[@sarahwerk8995]

@@floriangadsby Many thanks!

[@th3narrat0r5]

Thanks!

[@orangerightgold7512]

is there a specific reason to wedge it by hand instead of putting it through a pug mill?

[@floriangadsby]

Well, knowing how to wedge by hand means you aren't reliant on a machine. I simply don't have a pug mill at the moment, and can I can wedge by hand quite quickly, so I don't see the need for one, yet. (My back might thank me though if I do get one).

[@orangerightgold7512]

@@floriangadsby Ah okay, I thought it was a special method that can only be done by hand. Thanks for the quick reply.

[@TECHNOBROTHER-UA]

Good work!!!! I have a q What u do when clay starts smells not good?

[@floriangadsby]

Clay won’t go off, there might be some mould in there but it just burns away during the firing - some potters add some vinegar or a tiny, TINY bit of bleach and give it a good mix. They say the microbes that eat the clay and then dispose of it actually make the clay better to throw with as they make it more plastic, but do what you want with that bit of information.

[@ragnkja]

@@floriangadsby That sounds like a reasonable explanation for why letting the clay rest for a while makes it more plastic again.

[@gwingcommander]

it's kinda weird to think that there might be bits of clay that get recycled, discarded during trimmed, and recycled again over and over again. he might have bits that have been recycled 4-5 times, or maybe even more, just constantly rotating around his studio for weeks and months. pretty cool

[@korniestpatch]

So you just make things everyday? That’s really cool

[@floriangadsby]

A little less these days, with KZbin and a few other projects. I wish I made more!

[@korniestpatch]

@@floriangadsby that’s a little sad. I love making things, but I don’t really have the time for that anymore.

[@braddukeart]

Is your wedging table varnished, or is it just plain plywood?

[@floriangadsby]

Plain! I sand and oil it once a year though.

[@braddukeart]

​@@floriangadsby What kind of oil do you use? Mineral oil? Thanks again for the answer.

[@nottelling6598]

Are you planning on making the pocketed drying bats like you planned any time soon?

[@floriangadsby]

Not just yet, maybe for when I work with porcelain next. Maybe later this year, will film it if I do!