8 Ways to Use Clay as a Natural Remedy

This post was originally published in August of 2012, but the tips and advice are still timely, especially in the summer months!

Of all things, did you ever think that I would tell you to go eat some dirt?

Well, mark your calendars. Today’s the day. Stephanie has officially gone off the deep end.

Bizarre as it may sound, clay has actually become one of my favorite go-to remedies for health and healing over this past year. This summer I have been surprised to find myself reaching for clay more and more frequently, as I realize just how useful this “dirt” can be. 

Mind you, this isn’t just any old clay that you can shovel up somewhere. The clay I’m referring to is bentonite clay, and it comes from pure sources of undisturbed deposits in the ground. What is special about bentonite clay is that it has two ways of drawing toxins out of the body.

I’m going to get very practical in a moment, sharing exactly how I’ve been using clay in our home, but first I think it’s helpful to understand just a little bit of the science behind how and why clay works.

1. Adsorption

This isn’t a typo. The word is aD-sorption, not aB-sorption. They are two different things (more about absorption in a minute). Although I understand this concept, I’m not much of a scientist, so I’m going to borrow this helpful explanation of what adsorption is and how it relates to clay:

At a molecular level, the formation of bentonite resembles tiny business card shapes with the wide surfaces having a negative charge and the thin edges having a positive charge. Nature hates a lonely ionic bond, so each negatively charged ion seeks to satisfy its bond by pairing with a substance carrying a positive ionic charge. As luck would have it, many toxins, heavy metals, and free radicals carry a positive charge. The negative ions in Redmond Clay are eager to attach to these toxins, swapping negative ions for positive, and creating a bond that keeps the toxin and clay together in suspension until the body eliminates the pair together.

If you’re a visual thinker, it’s a reasonably accurate metaphor to imagine Redmond Clay as a magnet, and toxins as little bits of metal. Once the two become paired, it’s simple for your body to dispose of the magnet, and the metal bits along with it. (source)

Who knew, right? Amazing!

2. Absorption

This is the word we’re more familiar with, and of course, it’s natural to think of how a sponge absorbs water. Clay does essentially the same thing, absorbing not only water, but also other harmful substances like toxins, infection, etc.

Due to its capacity for absorbing, you need to avoid using clay internally at the same time as other medications or supplements, because it can interfere with their use by (what else?) absorbing them. It’s best used alone.

Additionally, clay has one more thing going for it when it comes to natural healing…

3. pH

We all know that pH is a measure of acidity, and with a pH of around 8.7-9.8 (at least, this is the pH of Redmond clay, it would vary slightly from clay to clay), that makes it on the alkaline side.

Alkalinity is a useful thing, because many health problems in the body arise due to acidity, and clay is able to neutralize that acidity. This is particularly helpful for ailments like heartburn, because the clay can neutralize the excess stomach acid that is causing the discomfort.

Phew… now that we understand the basics of how clay functions, allow me to share some practicaul uses for it.

8 Ways That Our Family Uses Clay as a Natural Remedy

Insect stings and bites

I discovered firsthand this summer that a bit of hydrated clay on a mosquito bite helps to relieve the itching and swelling quickly.

We also found out last winter that it helps with spider bites. My husband noticed a fairly large spider living in the light on our deck. He took a long stick and tried to knock the spider out. The spider dropped itself down on its thread and I wish I had filmed this little man vs. spider duel! They literally lunged at each other back and forth until my husband succeeded in knocking it out of the light, but not before the spider gave him a good bite on the arm. It didn’t appear to be a particularly poisonous spider, but nonetheless, the bites do hurt and it was swelling up. We slathered the bite in clay and within a short period of time, the pain had subsided and the swelling went down.

On the subject of stings and bites, a product that has proved SO useful to me this summer are the tubes of hydrated clay from Redmond. When I first saw them I thought “why don’t I just mix it up myself? It’s only powder and water.” And I can do that, and yes, it’s pretty easy. But squeezing it straight from a tube when I need it quickly is just so darn easy, I find myself using clay more frequently as a result.

Stomach problems

This is probably the most common way that our family uses clay. Whenever one of us complains about an upset or sour stomach, this is what we take. You can either put the powder into capsules (or even buy capsules pre-made, but I just make my own), or you can liquify the clay and drink a spoonful or two (this is easiest for kids). You know that yucky feeling you get when you eat something that’s gone bad, or your stomach just has an out-of-sorts day? Clay really helps to absorb whatever is bugging you.

I’ve even used it when I’ve had what was probably mild food poisoning that kept me up in the night with stomach cramps, and within 30 minutes it helped to start calming my stomach down so that I could go back to sleep.

As I mentioned above, the alkalinity of clay also makes it helpful for heartburn or reflux.

Another interesting way to use clay is for prevention of digestive issues. When I first began learning about clay, I instantly remembered reading in Weston Price’s book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration how the indigenous peoples in the Andes mountains would keep small balls of clay with them and dissolve just a bit of clay in water. As they ate a meal, they would dip their food in this slightly clay-ish water to prevent indigestion!

When we went to the Philippines, I was very careful about what I ate and drank, but I also took liquid clay just in case every morning, to help prevent any foreign bacteria or pathogens from taking up residence in my system while I was there. I have no idea if I would have gotten sick otherwise, but it seemed like a wise bit of prevention.

Detoxifying

This was what first intrigued me about clay. I read Shoshanna’s story of detoxing in a bath full of Bentonite clay, and then began reading stories of others who used clay to detox on the About Clay website. When I later read the free clay ebook from Redmond Clay, I stumbled upon this idea of detoxifying with clay yet again.

When you understand the adsorption and absorption qualities that I wrote about at the beginning of this post, it becomes clear how detoxification happens. Taking clay internally can literally help to pull toxins, heavy metals, and free radical cells out of the body, cleansing it. We also know that skin is the largest organ in our body, and that what we put on it goes into the body, so it stands to follow that when we use clay externally, it can also pull toxins out through the skin as well.

On cuts and scrapes

Clay works perfectly for drawing out the dirt and grime that gets in cuts and especially in children’s scraped knees and elbows. It calms down the pain and because it cleans the wound, it encourages faster and better healing. Our tube of First Aid clay has become what our children know as “owie cream”.

For beautiful skin

Ok, so this isn’t a remedy per se, but it’s definitely worth mentioning. Clay makes a fabulous facial mask, for shrinking pores, tightening and toning skin, removing impurities, sloughing off dead skin cells, and just making your skin look and feel great overall. It can also be used directly on pimples to reduce their size and inflammation and get rid of them faster.

For drawing out infections

Though I chose to use activated charcoal, I could have easily used clay in its place when healing my son’s infection. Clay, like charcoal, has that same ability to draw out toxins and harmful bacteria.

I did use clay this past week on my daughter’s lip when she cut it open badly with her teeth. The doctor said it probably should have had stitches (although it was too late at that point) and he recommended oral antibiotics to prevent infection as it was beginning to look at bit red. Instead, I just put hydrated clay on the outside of the lip, put some herbal healing salve on the inside, and had her swish with salt water a couple times a day. It’s healing just fine now with no sign of infection.

For burns

Clay is soothing and healing to the skin when used on minor kitchen burns, sunburns, etc. Now, I haven’t used it on any serious burns to date (although I have read testimonies of others who have with success), so I can’t personally say more than that, but there are some very interesting stories in this free ebook. The one recommendation is that clay should not be allowed to dry on a burn, but should be kept wet (used as a paste or gel, and then wrapped in something like plastic to keep it from drying out).

Clay baths

These are useful for detoxification, as I already mentioned, but also for times when the skin needs soothing. I have used them frequently for my toddler’s eczema. Once a week baths with clay seem to help keep the eczema to a minimum (although it is the dietary changes that make the most difference), but the clay reduces the itchiness a lot and helps her not to scratch at it.

I also give one of my sons a clay bath once a week because his body doesn’t seem to flush toxins very well. If I forget to give him the clay baths for several weeks, I can sometimes begin to tell by his behaviors and reactions to situations, which I used to observe in him frequently back when his body was more toxic (before we did a major detoxification with him). When he is regularly using the clay, I don’t usually notice those same strong behaviours.

I know, these are both anecdotal and not scientific at all, but moms notice these sorts of things. Not to mention, using clay in baths gets expensive because you use larger amounts than in other types of applications, and so if I wasn’t’ seeing results, I would put an end to the clay baths.

Want to learn more about using clay, both internally and externally?

I know that I’ve given you a lot of ideas and suggestions, but it’s important to read more on your own to better understand how clay works, how it has historically been used for medicinal purposes, how to mix or prepare it for various types of internal and external uses, etc.

Redmond Clay has put together a free book called We Eat Clay (And Wear it, too!). It’s a fascinating read!

I’m curious… has anyone else tried using clay as a home remedy? How have you used it and what have you found it to be helpful for?

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links.