Starting with a recipe published by the
Nature Lab at RISD, I experimented with different ingredients, ratios and cooking processes. I incorporated coloring agents like spices, coffee grounds, and spirulina, and added dried grass clippings and jute fibers. I started out using a microwave but quickly found that limiting and switched to the stovetop. When trying to scale up I found the mixture needed a fine grade of fiber reinforcement. Overall this made a passable clay, certainly not structural. But the mice in my house enjoyed the corn starch binder a bit too much, and the molded bears were nibbled in the dead of night. Definitely something to consider as we transition to more natural materials.
