I watched a documentary about the dust bowl a while back and one of the houses in it had the windows sealed with a similar substance used in conjunction with newspaper &/or strips of cloth. I don't recall just how it was made but a lot of it was still pretty much intact which is why I remember it. All the ingredients were typical of what you would find in any house of the time and place. Not bad after about 75 years!!
Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 2:45 PM, ken winston caine <ken.winston.caine@gmail.com> wrote:
Had forgotten that using boiling water makes a stronger glue from flour and water. Was just remembering how we used to make paste in elementary school from flour and water.
RE: Insects. Was expecting and hoping -- and it seems to be the case so far -- that the added borax would discourage pests. Haven't seen any signs of insects -- or rodents for that matter -- trying the the unsatisfactory test papercrete squares I made with this.
Do recall now, as I write this, that we were advised in school to add salt to the mix to keep pasted items from molding. Wonder if that really works?
Was hoping the flour paste would help bind together my clay and papercrete mix. Still think the problem I had with that mix was that I used too much clay.
Aside: Since just pulped paper alone (and with borax added) makes such satisfactory and lightweight blocks, think I will experiment -- when I get back to this -- with how much borax must added to a 5 gallon mix to end up with papercrete that will not burn and will not smoulder until it reduces the block to ash. When I get around to that, I'll report my results here.
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