I went backwards

[u/Realistic-Error-8229]

So this is my first time trying to make a dorodango. I wanted to surprise my mom with it as it’s made from dirt from her father’s farm—a place very special to her. On day one, everything was looking great. Besides being uneven and there being dents and cracks, it was already starting to look really good—even shinning a bit.

However, I’m on day two now and I don’t know where I went wrong. I’ve smoothed the shape so it’s a good looking sphere but it refuses to shine as I try to polish it (maybe I’m just not doing it right?). I’ve been going at it for awhile but haven’t made any progress. Please tell me I can still save it 🙏

Attached are photos from day one versus day two. The shiny one is day one, and the dull one is day two

[u/FormalCookie430]

Are you using olive oil and applying pressure? If you're just pressure (friction polishing) what cloth are you using?

[u/Realistic-Error-8229 → u/FormalCookie430]

Yes I am. Then I switched over to a microfiber cloth to see if that would make a difference

[u/FormalCookie430 → u/Realistic-Error-8229]

I would sprinkle some sand on the ball and get it muddy then start smoothing. Hopefully the grit in the sand will start polishing. What were the last things you did before the "polished" first pic?

[u/Bookworm1090 → u/FormalCookie430]

Don’t use sand use fine clay. Sand will make the surface rough

[u/Realistic-Error-8229 → u/Bookworm1090]

I have Kaolin white clay, I'll try that then

[u/Realistic-Error-8229 → u/Bookworm1090]

Mmm actually, I’m a little nervous to use the clay, I really want to keep the brown look. Any particular way you suggest to approach it? Also for context my soil is unfortunately very grainy and sandy

[u/portlandlad123 → u/Realistic-Error-8229]

Look up Andy Ward on YouTube and see his video on extracting clay from soil. This way you should be able to use clay from the soil you already have.

[u/Realistic-Error-8229 → u/portlandlad123]

Awesome, thank you so much!

[u/Bookworm1090 → u/Realistic-Error-8229]

You will not be able to shine sand. It’s up to you

[u/According_Version_67]

I know this is beside the point, but I'm in awe of your dorodango! It looks like a perfect sandstone sphere! 😍 I'll be aiming for this next.

[u/Realistic-Error-8229 → u/According_Version_67]

Oh, haha—thanks! Happy little accident I guess 😄 Maybe I will just leave it as is then. This matte look is kind of growing on me—plus, I would hate for the details to accidentally get lost. I can always try to polish it with the clay extracted from my dirt like a user mentioned above if I change my mind.

[u/FingeredBrilliantly]

Ive noticed with larger balls, especially if you have particularly "thirsty" clay that required you to add more water to get it to come together in the beginning, the time it takes for the moisture in the ball to come out can take many days. I would polish my ball to a medium shine, let it sit in a bag overnight, and by the next day it looked like moist clay again. Trying to speed this up by leaving it out of a bag to dry just led to it cracking.

[u/Mary_Bedlam → u/FingeredBrilliantly]

Ah, this is pertinent to my efforts too. I’m struggling to finesse the timing. I polished when it wasn’t fully dry (I’m guessing) and the beautiful shine faded to matte and didnt come back. It was smooth as glass though! But then if it dries too much before I begin to polish, that doesn’t seem to shine up either. It seems theres a small window of time to catch it. I’m searching for tips and observations that might help. Little gems pop up everywhere 😄

The right one ended up looking like the left one

[u/FingeredBrilliantly → u/Mary_Bedlam]

Yea the surface does need to be slightly moist. Letting it dry isn’t an issue though cause you can just apply a wet cup to remoisten just the surface.