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Mud BricksAlso commonly called Adobe Bricks, mud bricks can be used to build taboon ovens, buildings, benches, walls, anything really!  An igloo made of mud bricks in the eco garden on Lotan. Mud bricks are made from earth that has a certain ratio of clay. The clay acts like natural glue, gluing all the components in the soil together.  A bench made of mud bricks inside the Lotan tea house. Sometimes chopped straw is added to mud bricks for tensile strength.  A wall in Lotan's ecological garden made from mud bricks. How To: Make Mud BricksStep 1First pour water into a mixing container then sprinkle the soil into the water until it reaches the surface. The water to soil ratio is about ½ volume water to 1 volume soil, add more water as needed. Leave the soil to soak up the water this helps separate the clay particles & makes it easier to mix. If the soil is fine in texture it may be 2-3 minutes if more lumpy or clayey it may take 8 - 12 minutes or even more.  The earth around you has different proportions of sand, silt and clay. Clay is an important ingredient to building strong mud bricks. Step 2Mix the soil until it is smooth. At this stage we mix in sand because our soil is rich in clay, the mud's natural glue, which alone has a tendency to crack when dry.  Sand is another important ingredient for building strong mud bricks. Step 3After mixing the sand and adding water as needed till a smooth consistency similar to hummus we mix in straw. Also mixing and adding water as needed till a stiff hummus like texture.  Straw adds tensile strength to the mud bricks. Step 4The mud is now ready to put into clean and wettened mud brick frames and immediately pulled off so leaving a beautiful mud adobe brick ready to be dried in the sun.  The finished product. Happy building! Resources:
Contact Lotan Center for Creative Ecology |
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