An Update on EPK (Edgar Plastic Kaolin)

As many of you know, the source mine for EPK (Edgar Plastic Kaolin) has been out of operation for the better part of 2023. Because we use EPK in several of our clays, including our popular Sea Mix 5, we’ve been keeping a close eye on supply. We were confident for most of this year that we’d be able to source enough to continue to make our EPK clays without disruption.

Unfortunately, it now looks like EPK may not be available again any time soon. Eek!

What does this mean?

Well, this means that we’ve run out of Sea Mix 5 and are unable to make more for the time being (our other EPK clays currently have plenty of stock available).

But all is not lost, because when we started to worry about EPK supplies earlier in the year, we hustled to develop an EPK-free Sea Mix replacement—a clay that performs as well as, and feels as much as possible like— the old Sea Mix 5. This clay is called Sea Mix 6, and we’re pumped to announce that it has a very similar feel and performance, and even better shrinkage rates.

So what now?

If you’re here because you need more Sea Mix 5, there are a few routes you can take:

Try out Sea Mix 6. We think you’ll like it - in fact, we're hearing from a lot of people that they like it even better because of the decreased shrinkage.
Try Sea Mix 5 with sand or grog. These have a rougher texture than the original, but still perform just as nicely (and look the same!), and we still have stock in those versions (while supplies last).
Try one of our similar clays. We like Alpine White, Klamath White, and Vashon White as substitutes for Sea Mix 5. You might even like them better!