Also known as batik fixer or water glass to ensure colors fastness of batik colors. Generally brush applied over batik designs on both surfaces of fabric. Leave overnight for full penetration and boil off with soda ash and bicarbonate soda to remove the wax and silicate. Followed by cold water rinsing.
Other applications are binder for sand as an adhesive in sand mold in lost wax casting. Sodium silicate react with carbon dioxide immediately setting hard when injected into the silicate sand mix. Carton manufacturers use sodium silicate as an adhesive in corrugation and lamination of card boards.
As a defloculant for T22 slip clay powder to disperse as a casting slip. Guide application is 40ml sodium silicate and 20ml soda ash to 10L water before adding to 1 x 25kg T22 slip clay powder. Use Jiffy mixer attached to a power drill to mix into a smooth casting slip. For consistency use a hydrometer to check clay slip specific gravity to ensure clay slip is not too watery. Creates textures on greenware body with underglaze into crackle finish.
This liquid glass is use in waterproofing cement by mixing with cement mortar or brush on allowing soaking and sealing insitu. The alkaline silicate reacts with free lime in the cement to case hardens, waterproof and dust proof cement. Brush on to loose flaking plaster or spalling plaster caused by rising dampness as a binder and water proofer before patching with premix mortar.
Sodium silicate is also used in soil stabilization as a binder adhesive.
