Oil-Dri Testing

[nebraska]

Ok, so i have soaked some oil-dri in water, compleatly frozen it, it is now in the process of thawing out. What are some guidelines on the testing of this, so far freezing hasn't broken it down, but isn't there something to check with the individual granulates?

[emorrin]

When I was testing cat litter and a couple of oil absorbent brands, I first soaked it in water for a few days to see if it did not turn to mush. If it turned to mush, it was not good. If it did not, I went on to freeze/thaw cycle testing. I would let it freeze then thaw out approximately 20 times. If it didn't turn to mush, it would be good to use. If some of it turned to mush, I would use it cautiously (i.e. good for starter seedlings or indoors but not good for something that you will not repot every year (i.e. pine).)

Brands that passed:

Schultz Clay Soil Conditioner (basically same thing as Turface MVP)
Napa oil absorbent #8822

The only cat litter brand that did not break down right away was a brand from Walmart called Special Kitty. It does break down a little however so it is good for indoors or if you will be repotting every year.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10293705

I cannot find the oil absorbent brand I tested from either K-Mart or Walmart. It turned to mush just soaking within a day. It was not the "Oil-Dri" brand name but some off brand. After I found the NAPA brand, I stopped testing new ones.

Let us know how the Oil-Dri brand fares out.

[nebraska]

will do...hasn't turned to mush yet...will put it back in the freezer...problem is i can only thaw it every weekend so itll be a while

[dogger00]

yea i'd really like to know XD since the nearest NAPA is about an hour away....

[emorrin]

If you are near a Turface dealer, this would actually be better than the NAPA oil absorbent. A 50 pound bag will run you anywhere from $9 to $15 on average and would last you a long time.

Here is a link to see if a dealer is near you. Get Turface MVP if it is.

click here

Nebraska, I have a feeling that the Oil-Dri brand will be good. Let us know. Also do you ever sift out the fines? It would be good to know how much of the bag is fines and how much is actually useful.<br><br>Post edited by: iamurthman, at: 2009/05/23 16:26

[nebraska]

well so far it seems to contain less fines than the turface did...my nearest turface dealer is a good 2hr drive for me...not really practical to go there for a soil additive, last time i bought it online a 50lb bag had it shipped to my house...ended up costing about $34 needless to say after that i started researching alternitives, we do have a napa in town to get their product if this fails...i'm already trying it on a ficus, ran out of turface in the middle of potting so filled the rest with this stuff, hopefully i don't end up having to spend hours cleaning up my roots :woohoo: but yes i will update, may be able to convince my girlfriend to thaw and re-freeze it every day for me...i can only imagine the look i'll get:P

[emorrin]

You had allot of fines with the Turface? I am guessing it was not the MVP brand. The MVP brand barely had any fines, in fact I got lazy near the end and stopped screening it since the amount was so little.

I forgot to mention that Ace Hardware sometimes carries a product called Schultz clay soil conditioner. It is the same thing as Turface MVP, even has the profile brand tagged on it. It is a little more expensive than Turface, $16 to $18 for 40 pounds. The only problem is Schultz may have discontinued it from their line of products so it may be hard to find. Does not hurt checking it out if you have an Ace Hardware nearby.

http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/schultz-clay-soil-conditioner-p-59411.html?ref=42

[nebraska]

yup we do have an ace and i may look into that, i wouldnt say it had alot of fines, and it was MVP...but this stuff seems to all be of a consistant size, the ups carrier here is pretty rough...mikey sent me a plant and packed it to the point id almost consider it indestructable ... but 2 branches had broke, and when i got the turface from them the box was smashed in and the bag was even ripped...im not very happy with them but that could be the reason for the fines in my bag...i noticed if they get smashed together they will break to smaller pieces

[nebraska]

Ok emorrin, i got some picture comparisons for you so you can see the difference between the Oil-Dri and Turface

[nebraska]

close up of the oil-dri