How To Make Clay Out Of Cat Litter

Are you looking to get creative with your cat litter? You might be wondering if it is possible to make clay from cat litter to use for a project. In this article, we will answer how you can make clay out of cat litter and more. 

You can make clay out of cat litter. To accomplish it, follow these steps:

  1. Place clay or clumping litter into a pan
  2. Add sodium silicate
  3. Allow the mixture to sit
  4. Sprinkle magnesium oxide over your mixture
  5. Knead your clay

Now you know the basic steps to making clay out of cat litter. Keep reading as we discuss these steps in-depth and provide you with cat litter brands that include bentonite clay specifically. 

A blue litter box with cat litter, How To Make Clay Out Of Cat Litter

How To Make Clay Out Of Cat Litter

You can get creative with cat litter. The many uses behind this household item may surprise you. Making clay from your cat litter is one of these unsuspecting uses. The process can be completed in just five steps. 

A small pile of cat litter

Making your own clay allows you to create a DIY project from start to finish, including the base materials. Let's take a closer look at the process of turning your cat litter into malleable clay. 

1. Place Clay Or Clumping Litter Into A Pan

First, you are going to need the appropriate cat litter. Clay-based litters, especially clumping brands, are great for making clay. The most popular clay you want to look for is sodium bentonite

Sodium bentonite will give you a pleasant light color and a high absorbance rate, essential for the next steps. However, you can find other types of clay in your litter depending on which brand you are looking at. 

Bentonite clay in a bag

Other clay ingredients you will see include sepiolite, montmorillonite, and kaolinite. You want to use a sodium bentonite clay-based litter, as this will give you the best results. 

Place 600 grams of your bentonite clay litter into a pot or pan. You want the pan choice to be big enough to mix in other liquids and powder. 

2. Add Sodium Silicate

Next,  you will add 120 grams of sodium silicate to your pan with your cat litter. Your sodium silicate should be in a liquid state. You can buy sodium silicate gel and mix it with water or buy a premade solution. 

You can find a sodium silicate solution here on Amazon.

3. Allow The Mixture To Sit

With your two ingredients in your pan, allow the mixture to sit for about a half-hour. This gives your litter time to absorb all the moisture and sodium silicate. Once your litter has had the chance to absorb all the liquid, it should look more like clay. 

At first, your mixture may appear like liquid clay. The following steps will get your clay to look more like formed dough. 

Absorbent cat litter with copy space

4. Sprinkle Magnesium Oxide Over Your Mixture

The next step is to sprinkle 500 grams of magnesium oxide over your clay. This substance is a component in cement and provides heat-resistant properties. The magnesium oxide will turn your liquid clay into more of a thick paste. 

Amazon offers magnesium oxide powder here.

5. Knead Your Clay

With all your components in your pan, you can start to knead your clay. You can wear gloves for this step, as your mixture should become very sticky. Once your clay forms into a dough consistency, you can remove it from your pan. 

Continue kneading your clay on a flat surface. Laying down more magnesium oxide on this surface will prevent your clay from sticking. Once your clay has been thoroughly mixed and kneaded, it is ready for use. 

Woman making a clay mixture for her project

If you don't plan to use your clay right away, you can store it in a sealed plastic bag until later. Otherwise, you can begin to craft with your freshly made clay. 

Watch the video below for a complete visual step-by-step process of creating clay with cat litter. 

Read more on our blog post, "What Is Cat Litter Made Of?"

Can You Make Pottery With Unused Clay Cat Litter?

Pottery is the craft of forming items, like pots, cups, vases, and more, with materials like clay. So, yes, you can make pottery with unused clay cat litter. Using the steps above, you will have pottery-ready clay to work with. 

Woman preparing clay for her project

Working with unused cat litter right from the bag to make your clay is ideal versus using unused cat litter leftover from the box. This is because even the unused litter may hold certain bacteria that can be harmful to humans. 

Don't make a cup you'll use to drink out of clay from your litter box. Stick to the clean, untouched litter from a bag. While it is tempting to want to use every bit of litter with no waste, you will end up having to throw some litter out, always. 

Read more on our blog post, "Is Clay Cat Litter Compostable?"

Bentonite Clay Cat Litter Brands

Remember, bentonite clay cat litter is what you want to look for if you intend to use it to make clay. Most clumping litters will contain bentonite clay versus non-clumping litters, including other types of clay or stones. 

Some clumping brands do not contain bentonite clay, though. All-natural brands, like Naturally Fresh, is a clumping brand made from walnuts, containing no bentonite clay. 

Any biodegradable cat litter will not contain bentonite clay. This is because bentonite clay does not break down further in the environment.

Additionally, the environmental impact of mining methods used to gather bentonite clay has raised questions among environmentalists. 

It is important to look for that bentonite clay base to make clay from cat litter. We went ahead and found some brand examples for you.

Specific brands of clay litter made with bentonite include the following:

  • Dr. Elsey's Precious Ultra Cat litter

Find this cat litter here on Amazon.

  • Purina Tidy Cats 24/7 Performance

See here on Amazon.

  • Arm & Hammer, Clump & Seal Platinum

Amazon offers this product here.

  • Precious Cat Classic Premium Clumping Cat Litter

See this product here on Amazon.

When picking out your cat litter, you may be tempted to reach for the cheaper bags. Unfortunately, cheaper brands may contain sands, rocks, and other minerals outside the bentonite clay or entirely made with a different type of clay. 

You may end up picking these other materials out of your clay as you are making it. Left in, you might have a lumpy final product that is hard to work with. To avoid this extra step, it is better to go with a higher-grade clay cat litter. 

Read more on our blog post, "Clay Litter Pros And Cons."

How To Use Bentonite Cat Litter

Bentonite cat litter can be used the same way you would use other cat litters. Since bentonite is the base of most clumping litters, you can fill your cat's litter box and not have to change the litter entirely for a couple of weeks. 

Inspect your cat box every day to remove clumps of liquids and solids. This will keep your box as fresh as possible. However, there are many other uses for bentonite cat litter that you may see as helpful or even frugal. 

Woman molding a clay pot

You can use bentonite cat litter to clean oil spills, deodorize trash cans or your fridge, fill in holes in your backyard, de-ice sidewalks, and more. Bentonite cat litter is useful in many aspects, thanks to the ability to absorb and deodorize. 

Furthermore, bentonite clay can benefit you health-wise by treating minor cuts and filtering water. 

Keeping bentonite cat litter in the house may save you in a time of need and even save you money. On top of that, many cat owners enjoy bentonite clay litter for its intended purpose, and your cat will too. 

Learn more on our blog post, "33 Ways To Use Cat Litter [Other Than In Kitty's Box]."

In Summary

A blue litter box with cat litter

You can make workable clay out of clay cat litter. You can even use this clay to make pottery. Always search for clumping litters with a sodium bentonite clay base. We hope you found this article insightful when making your own batch of DIY clay. 

Are you wondering what to do with your used cat litter? Have a look through our blog post, "How To Get Rid Of Used Cat Litter The Right Way."