Fuller's earth is any nonplastic clay or claylike material that can be used to decolorize, filter, and purify animal, mineral, and vegetable oils and greases. It usually has a high magnesium oxide content. In the United States, two varieties of fuller's earth are mined, mainly in the southeastern states. These comprise the minerals montmorillonite or palygorskite (attapulgite) or a mixture of the two; some of the other minerals that may be present in fuller's earth deposits are calcite, dolomite, and quartz. Fuller's Earth has also been mined in the Vale of White Horse, in Oxfordshire, England. There was a Fuller's Earth mine operating to the south of Bath Somerset until 1979.[1] The Gay Head cliffs in Marthas Vineyard are made almost entirely of natural clays. ... Magnesium oxide is a white solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium. ... Montmorillonite is a very soft phyllosilicate mineral that typically forms in microscopic crystals, forming a clay. ... Palygorskite (also known as attapulgite) is a magnesium aluminum silicate from a type of clay soil common to the Southeastern United States. ... Palygorskite (also known as attapulgite) is a magnesium aluminum silicate from a type of clay soil common to the Southeastern United States. ... Doubly refracting Calcite from Iceberg claim, Dixon, New Mexico. ... Dolomite crystals from Touissite, Morocco Dolomite is the name of both a carbonate rock and a mineral consisting of calcium magnesium carbonate (formula: CaMg(CO3)2) found in crystals. ... Quartz is amongst one of the most common minerals in the Earths continental crust. ... The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in south-east England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004... Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. ...

The name reflects the first use of the material. In past centuries, fullers (whom we might now call dry cleaners) kneaded powdered fuller's earth into woollen garments to absorb lanolin and human body oils. When the fuller's earth was shaken out and the garment was "fulled" (fluffed), it was considered to be clean; this process is termed "fulling". Fuller's earth was also sold in pharmacies until recently for compressing pills and it is sometimes used by crane operators and their oilers to absorb grease and oil off the brake bands on the winches to make them function properly. Fulling is a step in clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to get rid of oils, dirt, and other impurities. ... Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. ... See Alpaca wool, Angora wool (of rabbits) and Cashmere wool (of goats) for information about other wools. ... Lanolin, also called wool wax, wool fat, or wool grease, a greasy yellow substance from wool-bearing animals, acts as a skin ointment, water-proofing wax, and raw material (such as in shoe polish). ... Fulling is a step in clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to get rid of oils, dirt, and other impurities. ...

Fuller's earth is also used by military forces to clean soldiers who are contaminated with chemical weapons.

It also finds use in special effects when simulating explosions. Fine-grained fuller's earth makes a much larger plume than ordinary dirt, suggesting a larger explosion and allowing a smaller, safer charge to be used. Special effects (abbreviated SPFX or SFX) are used in the film, television, and entertainment industry to create effects that cannot be achieved by normal means, such as depicting travel to other star systems. ...

Important uses are in absorbents and filters. Because of this, fuller's earth is sometimes found in cat litter. In chemistry and common usage, a filter is a device (usually a membrane or layer) that is designed to block certain objects or substances while letting others through. ... A packet of clumping cat litter & a litter box Cat litter is one of any of a number of materials used in litter boxes to absorb moisture from cat feces and urine, which reduces foul odors such as ammonia and renders them more tolerable within human dwellings. ...

Hills, cliffs and slopes containing fuller's earth can be unstable, since this material can be thixotropic, when saturated by heavy rainfall. Thixotropy is the property of some non-newtonian pseudoplastic fluids to show a time-dependent change in viscosity; the longer the fluid undergoes shear, the lower its viscosity. ...