Clay Pit Density Reduction - Just Add Salt (and more water)?

[Fred588]

Perhaps someone here has the inclination and scientific background to conduct some experiments on different clays. If anyone does, a third factor to keep in mind if pit building is the goal, is cost. While a filming pit is certainly got to be larger than a recreational one, several cubic yards of clay are going to be needed in any case.

A fourth, but related, factor is going to be purity. The bentonite I buy in 50 pound bags (it also comes in 100 pound bags or by the truckload) is finely milled and very pure but clay mined from one's backyard is likiely not. Backyard clay will tend to have twigs, roots, and probably sand mixed with in, all of which might affect its properties.

[FarmCouple]

Chiming in sodium polyacrylate. A mixture of polyacylate and peat moss sifted, yield a mixture that my wife and i experienced orgasims in. Quite intense

[Jon Smith]

I'm afraid this would decrease viscosity, and when something has the consistency of melted ice cream or worse, it takes the fun out of sinking in it. Obviously, what we want is higher viscosity and also less buoyacy. Personally, when I am too buoyant to sink to my preferred depth, I try using my old barbells or something to weigh me down (the useless lightweight ones).
Adding salt to clay doesn't seem like it would reduce buoyancy, due to the fact that humans are buoyant in saltwater, and thus even more buoyant in clay with salt and/or water.
Although, I'm glad there are at least some people who are trying to figure this out.

[Boggy Man]

Adding salt to clay doesn't seem like it would reduce buoyancy, due to the fact that humans are buoyant in saltwater, and thus even more buoyant in clay with salt and/or water.

The idea is this. We all know that increasing water content in clay lowers its density and viscosity. But, as it turns out, adding salt to clay (but not bentonite) increases its viscosity. So, the question is, when you take clay with higher water content with lower density and viscosity, is the increase in density by the addition of salt less than the increase in density by the alternate addition of enough dry clay needed to create the same increase in viscosity?