About Ball Clay

Ball clay and China clay differ only in the degree of plasticity. China clay is less plastic than ball clay. Ball clay is a highly plastic variety of kaolin having high binding power, tensile strength and shrinkage.

Ball clays or plastic clays are fine grained, highly plastic sedimentary clays, which fire to a light or near white colour. They are used mainly in the manufacture of ceramic white ware and are valued for their key properties of plasticity, unfired strength and their light fired colour. Ball clays exhibit highly variable compositions and consist of a mixture, primarily of kaolinite, mica and quartz, with each contributing different properties to the clay.