May 10, 2024
Under the guidance of Healthy Home Artisans, Urban Tilth Staff and members of the community built Light Straw Clay blocks for use as insulation in the north wall of the Watershed Workshop! Light Straw Clay (also called Slip Straw Clay) is an all natural insulating building material made of…. straw and clay. It has an R-value of 1.5 to 2 per inch, compared to R-4 for traditional fiberglass insulation. But, it is all natural and we can make it ourselves!
To make it, clay is mixed with water to make a slurry, which is then mixed with straw in a rotating barrel. It is then packed into forms. After curing, the blocks are removed and can be set into the walls as insulation. You can also pack the light straw clay directly into walls, but due to a number of factors the brick method worked out better for our project.
