Sodium bentonites absorb large quantities of water, swelling to many times their original volume, and give rise to permanent suspensions of gellike masses. These have been used to seal dams; in bonding foundry sands, asbestos, and mineral wool; as drilling muds; in portland cements and concrete, ceramics, emulsions, insecticides, soaps, pharmaceuticals, and paints; in the manufacture of paper; for clarifying water, juices, and liquors; and as a water softener to remove calcium from hard water. Calcium bentonites are nonswelling and break down to a finely granular aggregate that is widely used as an absorbent clay sometimes called fuller’s earth.

Sodium bentonite has been called the “mineral of a thousand uses”. It is widely used as a drilling mud additive for the oil and gas industries, for pelletizing iron ore, as a sealer for irrigation ditches, wells, sewage lagoons and landfills and in many other industries