Fuller's earth

Fuller's earth is a term for various clays used as an absorbant, filter, or bleaching agent. Products labeled Fuller's earth typically consist of palygorskite (attapulgite) or bentonite. Primary modern uses include as absorbents for oil, grease, and animal waste (cat litter), and as a carrier for pesticides and fertilizers. Minor uses include filtering, clarifying, and decolorizing; as an active and inactive ingredient in beauty products; and as a filler in paint, plaster, adhesives, and pharmaceuticals. It also has a number of uses in the film industry and on stage. The English name reflects the historic use of the material for fulling (cleaning and shrinking) wool, by textile workers known as fullers. In past centuries, fullers kneaded fuller's earth and water into woollen cloth to absorb lanolin, oils, and other greasy impurities as part of the cloth finishing process. The original spelling was without an apostrophe, but the apostrophe became more common in the 19th century, both before or after the s. Fuller's earth is the most common spelling today, but both fullers earth and fullers' earth h]] remain in wide use. Fuller's earth is also known by the following other names: Bleaching clay, probably because fulling whitened the cloth. Whitening clay, particularly when used to treat facial pigmentation, such as melasma. hunterian (Hindustani: , मुल्तानी मिट्टी; ), widely used in the Indian subcontinent in cosmetics. The name comes from the city of Multan, in modern-day Pakistan, the area of its origin. Fuller's earth consists primarily of hydrous aluminum silicates (clay minerals) of varying composition. Common components are montmorillonite, kaolinite, and attapulgite. Small amounts of other minerals may be present in fuller's earth deposits, including calcite, dolomite, and quartz. In some localities fuller's earth refers to calcium bentonite, which is altered volcanic ash composed mostly of montmorillonite. In 2005, the United States was the largest producer of fuller's earth with an almost 70% world share followed at a distance by Japan and Mexico.