fuller's earth

American  

noun

1. an absorbent clay, used especially for removing grease from fabrics, in fulling cloth, as a filter, and as a dusting powder.

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fuller's earth British  

noun

1. a natural absorbent clay used, after heating, for decolorizing oils and fats, fulling cloth, etc

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Etymology

Origin of fuller's earth

First recorded in 1515–25

Example Sentences

His ideas are not clean, Mr. Moore; they want scouring with soft soap and fuller's earth.

From Shirley by Brontë, Charlotte

They should then be brushed, with a soft brush, and a mixture of fuller's earth and magnesia.

From A Treatise on Domestic Economy For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School by Beecher, Catharine Esther

Mix four ounces of fuller's earth, half an ounce of pearlash, and lemon-juice enough to make a stiff paste, which can be dried in balls, and kept for use.

From A Treatise on Domestic Economy For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School by Beecher, Catharine Esther

Cimolite, sim′ō-līt, n. a species of clay, or hydrous silicate of aluminium, used as fuller's earth.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

This is decolorized, deodorized and otherwise purified in various ways: by treatment with alkalies or acids, by blowing air and steam through it, by shaking up with fuller's earth, by settling and filtering.

From Creative Chemistry Descriptive of Recent Achievements in the Chemical Industries by Slosson, Edwin E.