Mold making and Casting products through EnvironMolds, LLC

I always thought that water glass or sodium silicate is mainly used for making sand mold castings and getting an antique finish on ceramics. I had vaguely heard that it works as a high temperature adhesive too, but was not aware of its binding and sealing properties.

However, it was only when I started working on clay slips for ‘gluing’ my clay pieces together, that I came to know that the same sodium silicate is the most powerful, economical and commonly used deflocculant for clay.

Sodium silicate will work to thin the clay or reduce its viscosity by dispersing its particles. This allows the slip to be produced with minimum water so that drying shrinkage can be curtailed as much as possible. This may sound hazy, but the simple effect is that sodium silicate works like magic! You have to see it to believe it.

However, you need to keep in mind that after a point sodium silicate starts having an opposite effect, i.e., it actually makes the clay thicker or flocculates it. This is why you need a precise formulation of clay, water and water glass, with the latter never exceeding0.5% of the entire formulation.

If you are wondering where to source this clay slip deflocculant, just turn to EnvironMolds. This leading manufacturer and supplier of all kinds of mold making and casting products and equipment also offers the versatile ArtMolds Liquid Sodium Silicate to suit different applications.