Terry Hunt on wed 12 may 99
After I prepare a glaze batch I drain the cleanup water into my garden, in
an effort to reuse the water and hopefully provide plants with good
minerals. I do the same with buckets of clay water from mopping up.
Are some of these minerals actually noxious to plants, or downright toxic?
And are any of them really beneficial? Help from you savvy biochemist types!!
NakedClay@aol.com on thu 13 may 99
Hi Terry!
I'm not a chemical expert, but I'm a avid gardener. I recommend that you
refrain from watering your plants with waste water of clay and glazes. The
additive minerals found commonly in clay and (especially) glaze recipes may
not only be harmful to your plants, but more importantly, to the pets and
children who may be around these plants.
The best thing to do with clay waste water is to use it when making slips
(let the clay settle--use a sieve to keep the settled clay out of the water
when pouring it). Or use it to recycle unused clay scraps.
Glaze waste water is moreso problematic, since the oxides and other chemicals
are considered "heavy metals," and are "hazardous materials" in some
communities. Willfully pouing this kind of waste water in one's outdoor
garden might set one up for a hefty fine! What to do with this waste water?
At one studio, the ceramic artist simply let the water evaporate, then he
low-fired the dried-up "sludge" in his kiln, and disposed of the fired mass
at the local dump. At another setting, the waste glaze bucket was labelled
"try your luck," and often created unusual glazes as is.
Good luck to you! And happy (glaze-free) gardening!
Milton NakedClay@AOL.COM
Don & Isao Morrill on thu 13 may 99
Many toxins can build up in plants and not harm them, however, if you are
eating anything from that area, you may be killing yourself.
chemicals such as barium, lead, copper, manganese, cadmium (many others)
which are found in clays, or used in pure form to design glases take a few
years to build up in your system, and before you know it youll be chucking
the food overboard and dragging your piano off into the snow (an example of
accumulative lead poisoning).
Kai Morrill.
PS
(there are other lives which also use the same habitat as you, its
generally not a good idea to toss glaze waste anywhere... at the very
least, let the particulates settle out before you dump the water).
At 11:49 5/12/99 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>After I prepare a glaze batch I drain the cleanup water into my garden, in
>an effort to reuse the water and hopefully provide plants with good
>minerals. I do the same with buckets of clay water from mopping up.
>
>Are some of these minerals actually noxious to plants, or downright toxic?
>And are any of them really beneficial? Help from you savvy biochemist types!!
>
Susan Fox on thu 13 may 99
Oh my gosh! I pour my glaze cleanup water on the driveway because it is
so good for KILLING weeds and grass. Definitely NOT good for making the
garden grow.
I'm no chemist, but I see instant results from this experiment.
Susan
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Joy Holdread on thu 13 may 99
> After I prepare a glaze batch I drain the cleanup water into my garden, in
> an effort to reuse the water and hopefully provide plants with good
> minerals. I do the same with buckets of clay water from mopping up.
>
> Are some of these minerals actually noxious to plants, or downright toxic?
> And are any of them really beneficial? Help from you savvy biochemist
types!!
>
>
Lots of chemicals are bad news for plants, especially copper. Consider
what may be absorbed into the plant, do you want to eat that. What about
working the soil in dry conditions, do you want to breath that stuff?
Glaze wash up water. Years ago I talked the clay artist I worked for into
letting the glaze wash up water settle & testing it when we had a good
amount. At that time she used an Albany slip with cobalt. Mixed with the
other glazes we had a great sea green glaze. She was amazed at the amount we
salvaged. Within a year we had over 12 gallons & used it on a large public
art mural. Cut her overhead & increased her profits. At my studio I run the
wash up water threw a screen then let it settle. If I'm glazing with one
glaze I pour the settled glaze back in the glaze bucket. I've heard you
might loose some of the soluble ingredients but I've never noticed a
difference. Reduce reuse & recycle.
Clay wash up water. Save in jugs. Let it molder, makes great starter
water for recycling dry clay, it ages quicker. I also use the settled clay
as experimental slips for sculpture. Add oxides to suit your self.
The amount of time you invest to salvage these raw materials provides
you with useful slips & glazes in less time than it takes to mix them from
scratch or run off to the store to buy them.
Joy in Tucson
Betty Morgavan on fri 14 may 99
Terry...
I just wanted to add to Milton's already good response.
Some plants can absorb toxins from the soil and hold them in their cells.
Certain plants are actually used to clean up toxic soils previously used as
factory by-product dumping grounds (some plants have an affinity for
certain toxins....ever heard of loco-weed?).
The point of this being... besides the contamination issue already stated
by Milton... if you grow any of your plants to eat, pouring possibly
chemical-laden water on your plants is not a wise idea. Do you know how
long can these chemicals be held to the clay and organic matter in the
soil? Will they still be there next year when you plant a garden, to be
taken up by the plants you grow?
Too many questions.
Betty Morgavan
Greenhouse Manager
Central Michigan University
betty.m.morgavan@cmich.edu
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