The four types of clay are Earthenware clay, Stoneware clay, Ball clay, and Porcelain.

What is the purest form of clay? The purest clay is kaolin, or china clay. Called a primary clay because it is found very near its source, kaolin has few impurities and is the main ingredient used in making porcelain.

Clay is a sedimentary rock made of tiny particles which come from the weathering of other rocks and minerals. The particles can be transported by rivers or ice and then deposited. Clay is high in nutrients and is not eroded easily.

Clay comes from the ground, usually in areas where streams or rivers once flowed. It is made from minerals, plant life, and animals—all the ingredients of soil. Most clay minerals form where rocks are in contact with water, air, or steam.

What are the characteristics of clay?

• Plasticity – sticky, the ability to form and retain the shape by an outside force, has a unique “crystal” structure of the molecules, plate like, flat, 2 dimensional, water affects it.
• Particle size – very tiny – less than 2 microns, 1 millionth of a meter. (

Kato Polyclay

There are three essential properties that make clay different from dirt. These are plasticity, porosity, and the ability to vitrify.

Clays have thin plate-shaped particles held together by electrostatic forces, presenting a cohesive plastic mass when wet. Few clay particles are larger than 5 microns. The same chemistry that makes it plastic and slippery when wet makes it easily picked up by flowing water.

Which is stronger silt or clay? Silt and clay are both the result of the physical and chemical breakdown of the minerals in rocks. They main difference is in chemical composition and particle size. Sand particles are larger than silt particles which are in turn larger than clay particles.