$10.85
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https://www.etsy.com/shop/NorthernWestStuff?ref=hdr_shop_menu&search_query=vermiculite
Please note not all sizes are shown. We now sell it in 200 gram quantities which, volume-wise fills an 8" x 10" zip lock bag.
This "fine" grade vermiculite is less dense and therefore feels "lighter" than our "very fine" grade. They both function in the same way.
They have many uses (see below).
Vermiculite is an interesting material with a really long official name: "hydrated magnesium aluminum iron silicate". Some shorter synonyms are: a hydrous phyllosilicate, exfoliated hydrobiotite, and the brand names "Zonolite", "Microfil", and "Microlite".
It's kind of like "popcorn" made from a rock. This is a finer grade, smaller particle than you'll usually find. It's a very common material, sold online to gardeners for adding to soil.
But it has many other uses. One is to add to concrete, gypsum cement, or plaster to make those materials lighter weight. It can also be added to resins for the same purpose. Gardening shops carry it and so does Home Depot, although usually the kind you get for gardening is much coarser that this.
It's extremely light weight, inexpensive, very absorbent, and can withstand high temperatures (useful for a refractory material and a fireproofing one and a high temperature insulating material). It's a natural product made from a mica-like mineral by heating, during which it expands greatly in volume. The mineral it's made from has a water bearing laminar structure (flat sheets like mica) which "exfoliates" when heated: the laminar sheets are separated into loosely bound very thin, pliable layers, which results in soft and light particles.
The CAMEO art materials database has some good information { http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Vermiculite } :
"Vermiculite occurs naturally as a compact ore. It is mined in Russia, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, and the U.S. (Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wyoming, Colorado). When vermiculite is heated to about 300 C (570 F), it expands to form highly porous, worm-shaped curls of connected mica-like plates. Expanded vermiculite is used as a fire-resistant insulator, spill absorbent, and packing material. It is also used as a lightweight filler in plaster, concrete, brick, rubber, soil, paper, paint, and plastics.
Other Properties are:
--Unaffected by water, acids, alkalis or organic solvents.
--Can expand 6-20 times when heated.
--Expanded vermiculite can absorb 200-500% of its weight in liquid.
--Noncombustible. Resistant to insects, bacteria, and fungi."
The Digital Fire ceramics materials database notes it is from clay-making minerals, and Wikipedia says that "Vermiculite clays are weathered micas....[that have] a limited-expansion [with] medium shrink-swell capacity".
A lot of other uses are listed in the Wikipedia article, some of them in ceramics, glassblowing and lampwork, and casting, the ones listed below are just a few-
{ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiculite } :
"--useful as a lightweight aggregate for plaster, proprietary concrete compounds, firestop mortar, and cementitious spray fireproofing: Exfoliated vermiculite is used in both hand and spray-applied general building plasters to improve coverage, ease of handling, adhesion to a wide variety of substrates, fire resistance, and resistance to chipping/cracking/shrinkage.....
--to permit slow cooling of hot pieces in glassblowing, lampwork, steelwork, and glass beadmaking.....
--moulded shapes: this process involves mixing exfoliated vermiculite with inorganic bonding agents such as sodium silicate and potassium to produce an 'earth damp' mixture. This material is then hydraulically pressed into shape in a mold and then heat cured at temperatures up to 180 °C for up to 24 hours, depending upon the thickness of the moulded part. Such parts can withstand service temperatures of up to 1150 °C and are often used in the aluminium smelting industry as back-up insulation behind the carbon cathode in the potcells which contain the molten mixture of cryolite and alumina. The moulded shapes and boards are used in high-temperature or refractory insulation...
--Calcium silicate boards: exfoliated vermiculite is added to a calcium silicate slurry. This is then dewatered by pressing or by using one of the Fourdriner/Magnani/Hatschek processes to form a flat board which is then heat cured under pressure (typically 10-15 bar) for periods of up to 24 hours....
--as a packing material, valued for its high absorbency".
It should be noted that prior to the early 1990's a mine in Montana produced large amounts of the precursor to vermiculite and it was discovered that particular mine had asbestos contamination with the precursor. The mine opened in the 1920's and many homes had loose filled insulation used with that vermiculite (the loose fill has much larger particle sizes). Thus a major legal and government action was taken both to clean up the site and to remove the material from homes.
Vermiculite produced now is required to be pure and free from contaminates. From Wikipedia:
"Vermiculite mines throughout the world are now regularly tested for it [asbestos] and are required to sell products that contain no asbestos. Pure vermiculite does not contain asbestos and is non-toxic. Impure vermiculite may contain, apart from asbestos, also minor diopside or remnants of the precursor minerals biotite or phlogopite"-
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1-2 business days
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This problem usually occurs with multiple items. We have free shipping on many of our items. In your cart items will have the sum of all embedded shipping costs. If you place an order for 3 or more "FreeShip" items, you will receive a "rebate" for the excess shipping. The more items you have the greater the shipping refund will be. You can also message us to ask what the total cost of your order will be when excess shipping is refunded before you purchase.
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Mar 17, 2022
everything is perfect 🥰
Eric Moss
Mar 2, 2022
Arrived super quickly, looks great!
David Peacock
Jan 14, 2022
just what i needed, thank you!
Haley Dobbs
Nov 4, 2021
Just as promised, fast ship.
jane miller
Aug 10, 2021
My plants will love it!!!!😊 I would recommend this to all of you plant lovers!
Michael Dow