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If we make Paper Mache Clay without joint compound – will it come out just as good as the original recipe?
What about the Silky-Smooth Air Dry Clay recipe? (Same ingredients, different proportions…)
People kept asking me if it was possible, so I decided to find out.
Although we should do more experiments to get the measurements more exact, I think the result may be (gasp!) even better than the recipes that use the drywall joint compound.
It sticks to the armature as well as the original paper mache clay, holds really fine details just as well as my air dry clay recipe, and it dried hard as a rock.
But it isn’t easy to mix in the beginning while it’s still really sticky.
For this experiment I used:
- Newspaper (or you could use toilet paper if you can find any…) 24 grams dry, 120 grams wet.
- 1/2 cup (130 grams) Elmer’s Glue-All PVA glue
- 222 grams (approx) powdered marble/calcium carbonate
- 1/2 cup (approx) corn starch
The original recipes:
Where can you get powdered marble?
You can buy 4 pounds of powdered marble from amazon.com. That should be enough for over 8 batches of the air dry clay recipe.
If you need more than that, it’s a lot less expensive if you get it in bigger bags. Azure Standard sells 50 pounds for about $25 – but they have an unusual way of delivering their product, so read about that before ordering. That’s where I bought mine for an experiment I did several years ago. It’s a lot of calcium carbonate. You could make a whole house-full of sculptures with that much product. (Or share some with your friends.)
If you try this, let us know how it came out. And if you have ideas for mixing it without making a mess, let us know that, too. 🙂
Hi Jonni!
Long time listener, first time caller here lol.
I found powdered drywall joint compound at the local hardware store, I was wondering if you think that would be a good alternative to use in this recipe.
I would prefer to not use flour due to attracting small animals and insects, but for some reason I’m having a difficult time finding the calcium carbonate in powdered form locally,(pelitized is the only way I have found it so far) and I’m really not kean on the shipping costs lately to order it offline lol.
Anyway, thank you for all your wonderful videos, and sharing you knowledge withlop.
Hi Kathleen. Yes, you can use the powdered drywall joint compound. I haven’t tried it myself, be we have a guest post from someone who uses it all the time. You can read her post here.
Thank you for the link & info! I must have missed that somewhere along the way. I will be sure to check it out and get to experimenting over the next few days.
I was able last night (with the enlisted help of my husband) able to find ball field chalk that might be available simi-locally, if the powdered joint compound is a flop for me (I ended up carting home the ProForm 90 min quick set formula – as that was the longest set time between their availabe formulas). I am a slow worker as it is, so I am interested to see if I can pre-make some of your recipes with it and how long (if at all) I can keep it refrigeratorated for use throughout the week.
Just wanted to add: In german “powdered marbel” is “Kalk” and you can use “Gips” as substitute.
Have a nice time crafting!
Thanks, Anja!
Hi Jonni,
Longtime reader and lurker, just wanted to let you know the links to calcium carbonate supplier on Amazon are routing strangely – at least for me in southeast US – to an item surely NOT what you intend.
Any alternate product recommendations?
Thanks for your amazing videos and knowledge share.
Hi Elizabeth. Thanks for letting me know about that link. I fixed it, but you can also just do a search for calcium carbonate. They usually sell it on the Dick Blick website, too, but it looks like they’re out of stock. I guess that’s something we have to get used to… 🙁
Just thought I’d add that I think we call powdered marble plaster of Paris in Australia.
I don’t think that’s right, Bec. Powdered marble (calcium carbonate) doesn’t set into stone when you mix it with water. Plaster of Paris does. You can make paper mache clay with plaster, but there’s another video for that.
Hello! I was wondering, since egg shells are mostly composed of calcium carbonate, do you think it will work as a substitute for this recipe?
Thank you.
If you can grind them up as fine as flour, it might work. You would need to experiment with it. I’m too lazy to try it. 🙂
Thank you!
Hi, I would like to know if there was a substitute for calcium carbonate/chalk. Since quarantine started, I haven’t gone out much and I would like to find a recipe with things I have at home. Is that possible?
The calcium carbonate in this version of paper mache clay is a substitute for pre-mixed drywall joint compound used in the original paper mache clay recipe. If you have some joint compound out in the garage or in the basement, left over from a DIY project, be sure to use that. The original recipe is quite a lot easier than this one, but drywall joint compound isn’t sold in a lot of countries. I don’t have any variations that don’t use either the joint compound or calcium carbonate, but the traditional paper pulp is always an option. This website uses it a lot and they have quite a few tutorials.
Hi Jonni,
I love your sculptures and have been so excited to try your papier mache recipe. But I’m concerned about the toxic chemicals in the joint compound like fermaldehyde. I notice you apply it with bare hands. Are you not concerned about the toxicity of the product?
My sister yelled at me when I told her I was going to use joint compound to make papier mache sculptures.
What do you think?
Thank you!
Judy
If you’re concerned about the drywall joint compound, just use the recipe on this page. It doesn’t have any joint compound in it.
I love that we don’t need the joint compound. Now please find a substitute for Elmer’s glue.
That would be interesting, but I don’t have a clue how to do it. If you do some experiments, let us know how they turn out. 🙂
In the UK we call calcium carbonate chalk.
Thanks for reminding me! It’s called chalk here, too, when it’s purchased for putting lines on baseball fields.
Back in old days my grandmother used to make paper mache by using the water from boiled ric as a binding agent. It’s mainly the starch.
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing the idea. 🙂
Interesting experiment — I quite liked the details you were able to get, and how hard it was when dried. I’m curious now though — how was it to sand? (ie, did the powdered marble make it in anyway *too* hard to smooth effectively, should that be needed?)
Thanks for a fun new video, and — as always — the generosity with which you share your creative expertise 😀 Stay well!
Good question, Kim. I hadn’t thought of that so I went into the studio and tried to sand my little guy. The clay did have a texture after it dried, which didn’t show up when it was wet. Not much, but enough to notice. I tried sanding it with both a fine and a coarse sandpaper, and I can now say that it’s technically possible to sand it – but I can’t imagine anyone actually wanting to. It’s really hard. Maybe if you had one of those little electric detail sanders you could do it more easily. You’d want to wear a mask, of course.
I had a tiny bit of joint compound left in the bottom of my tub so I tried smoothing the little face that way. It’s much easier! You can sand the joint compound, but it’s easier and less messy to use a damp sponge. And DAP joint compound would work for that purpose, even though you can’t use it to make paper mache clay. Here’s how it looks with a small portion smoothed with the joint compound, spread on paper-thin with a finger and then smoothed off with a wet finger. Much easier. 🙂
Good to know — I love that the powdered marble makes it really durable! Thinking this might be helpful for all those folks who want to make something usable outdoors… Thanks for checking out the sanding options.
We have to do more testing to see if it’s waterproof, though. It would be interesting to try the powdered marble with Titebond wood glue instead of Elmers – that might make it more weatherproof – or it could turn it into something unusable. The only way to know is to try it. Unfortunately, I’m out of wood glue at the moment, so that experiment will have to wait.
I tried the marble powder with wood glue. durable or not outdoors, I do not know yet. but its smooth and and when it dried it became like stone.
How did you use it, exactly? Did you use it for paste, or as a final layer?
I wonder if calcium carbonate would also be a good additive to the silky smooth air dry clay recipe? It seems likely that replacing a small amount of the joint compound with the calcium carbonate would strengthen a project while still being easier to sand once dry than all calcium carbonate.
That’s an interesting idea. I can’t see why it wouldn’t work, but if you try it please let us know how it turns out.
Thanks Jonni- so one question-does the extra need refrigeration? Maybe yes because of the corn starch? Also, how long does it last while being stored before going wonky? You may need to add an addendum to this post! It would be a game changer if it lasts indefinitely.
I use calcium carbonate for my ph neutralizer for my well water(to raise the ph so the water doesn’t eat through the copper pipes)It comes in granules though as it is meant to break down over time. So people would really need to be cognizant of getting the powdered form. I wouldn’t try to break down or crush the granules as it would put out way too much dust. Great post!
Good questions, Eileen. I don’t know the answers, though, because I just did the experiment this morning. I’ll keep everyone posted as time goes by.
The calcium carbonate I got from Azure Standard is “Solution Grade … an ultra?fine, white, natural limestone powder with proven advantages far above standard Ag lime approved for use in organic agriculture.” For our purposes, “ultra-fine” is the important part. I think most lime found at farm stores isn’t ground up fine enough for these recipes, even if it isn’t granulated. I hope the finely-powdered marble is available in India, because it’s hard to find the joint compound in their stores.
I love your experiments. The fast face looked good; I like the way you slapped the eyebrows and nose on it. This is why you are the mentor — the horizons are always widening. Thank you.
There is definitely something appealing about saying, “I made this with powdered marble!”