Quicksand Fans

I would like to install a mud pit in my photo/video studio any ideas, suggestions, things to avoid.

I plan on using a Summer escape 30" by 8ft. quick set ring pool filled with water and Benoite.

Use pottery clay instead of bentonite. Bentonite is in clay, adding more can "stretch" your clay volume some but it comes at the price of making the mud more watery on your skin. However since your focus is primarily photography of someone else in the mud, that may not be of concern.

(Post revised to correct for my reading 30" as 30 feet!)

Given that you state this is to go in a photo/video studio I would suggest going with the bentonite. Keep in mind that wet clay is very heavy regardless of the kind of clay so be certain the floor can handle the weight. Remember also that you cannot dispose of the clay into the sewer system. If you try you will be facing an enormous plumbing bill for completely replacing your sewage pipes and system.And probably a heavy fine if it is to a municipal system. Be sure to consider how anyone using the pit will clean up - you don't want that clay going down a shower drain.

Jaemo Malec wrote:I would like to install a mud pit in my photo/video studio any ideas, suggestions, things to avoid.

I plan on using a Summer escape 30" by 8ft. quick set ring pool filled with water and Benoite.

Thanks for the help. the pool is 30 inches deep and 8 feet in diameter. I plan to move my studio from my basement to the garage for this shoot. I hadn't thought about disposal of the mud. I plan to make a pond in a corner of my yard. Can I use the mud to line pond?

Food grade Bentonite, though spendy, feels better.....(Cheapest I've found this is $59 for a 50# sack)
Not sure about the industrial stuff.
Also- some pottery clays are gritty and have impurities that I might not
want to be immersed in.

Jaemo Malec wrote:Thanks for the help. the pool is 30 inches deep and 8 feet in diameter. I plan to move my studio from my basement to the garage for this shoot. I hadn't thought about disposal of the mud. I plan to make a pond in a corner of my yard. Can I use the mud to line pond?

Bentonite is often used to line ponds.

Robert

The price where I live is more like 8.50 for a 50 pound bag. That stuff is intended for use a feed ingredient for cattle - not humans.

chefothefuture wrote:Food grade Bentonite, though spendy, feels better.....(Cheapest I've found this is $59 for a 50# sack)
Not sure about the industrial stuff.
Also- some pottery clays are gritty and have impurities that I might not
want to be immersed in.

Fred588 wrote:The price where I live is more like 8.50 for a 50 pound bag. That stuff is intended for use a feed ingredient for cattle - not humans.

The stuff I found actually is "Human Grade" LOL! From an herbal(or would that be "a herbal) company....
The really funny thing is, that's the only way I could get it here in the islands.
None of the ranch supply places had any; not even for sealing ponds.

I had one of my potter buddies look into getting some, but that's where I came up with stuff that was more intended for "drilling mud"...
Now I coulda got that for $800/ton.

At any rate Fred, you've listened to me gripe about some of the inconsistencies of island life LOL!....

At least 100# of human grade stuff fills a 150gal bathing tub quite well.....

Cleanup...hmmmph.

I would agree with Fred that it's inadviseable to send a clay-coated model inside to a regular shower stall. You can squirt girls down with a hose and we do that at Fred's and then we do the final cleanup in the shower...but by the time I get into Fred's shower, there's not a lot of clay actually on my skin any more. Very little clay actually goes down his drain.

I find it easier, to be honest, to clean up in a pond. Maybe you could get a kiddie pool and fill it with water. A model could get most of it off right there. She could just lay down in it and swish around a lot.

If you live in suburbia, though, then girls would be cleaning off in your yard unless you could hide it all in the garage. There's nothing really wrong with cleaning up in the yard so long as they keep a decent layer of swimwear on but depending on how close your neighbors are, you might have to be pretty immune to public opinion.

If I was the model, you could just dump me off at a lake for awhile but I don't know how a REAL model would react to that.

Nessie

P.S. Welcome to our forum!

chefothefuture wrote:The stuff I found actually is "Human Grade" LOL! From an herbal(or would that be "a herbal) company....

On that note, I know exactly where NOT to buy bentonite clay.

This little co-op which carries organic foods and bulk tea has a one-gallon jar of bentonite clay and they're selling it for $15.99 a POUND!

EEEEEEEK!

It's sold on the same shelves and in the same jars as the bulk loose-leaf teas. Surely they don't expect me to brew it?

Mystified,
Nessie