Sifting perlite
 

Does anyone follow any method to sift perlite? I buy big bags of usually #3 and unfortunately during shipping (and perhaps storage) they usually arrive with many crushed. I wanna divide the perlite in sizes but sifting could cause a lot of dust.

Does anyone sift their media and has any recommendations? Doing it outdoors? In the bathtub wearing a mask? Maybe under running water for easier handling? Sieves generally require the media to be dry but then how do you work around dust?

It's easier and safer to buy coarse material and not grade it. Perlite is primarily silica.

If you must do so, do it outdoors with a breeze or fan blowing away from you.

The poor quality and high dust inclusion was why I stopped buying perlite. You can get big bags of XL perlite at hydroponic shops (no clue what size) and they seem to be lower in dust than smaller grades, but dust is just part of the package. Sifting is like Ray said, outside with a good breeze. I’d pop on a mask for good measure too.

You can't avoid the dust because the particles rub against each other when the bag is moved. This rubs off more dust.

I set bags of #4 (extra large) perlite outside, make numerous small holes in the bottom, open the top and run water through from the garden hose. This rinses out a lot of the dust.

This also works with other inorganic media, I've done it with pumice and I've seen it done with rocks and LECA.

I have a 5 gallon / 20 liter bucket with a perfect crack in the sidewall near the bottom for washing LECA. The crack is wide enough for the dust to pass but not LECA. I made it by accidentally dropping a bucket full of water, which landed upright. I doubt I could reproduce it.

On the bucket topic: Firehouse Subs in the US sells empty 5 gallon pickle buckets and lids when they're available. Call your local store for availability. They are thicker and heavier than the much more expensive buckets from Home Depot. They smell strongly of garlic pickle so they need to stay outside for a few months.

I used to get empty pickle buckets from Wendy's for free. Check Chic-fil-a. They go through more pickles than anyone except maybe McDonald's.

+1 for firehouse buckets- they are my go to. great for home pickling and brining too


if you soak te bag then you can sort it safer but sifting with break a lot of them...id do the running water move and cut your losses.

FWIW, i store it in buckets too to prevent crushing and further breaking

great idea! do you have mold or mildew problems if some is left in the bag for awhile? or do you open it up to let it all dry then transfer to new storage? just curious as i will probly start doing this with our leca

Back when I sold potting materials, I built a vibrating sifter with two hardware cloth-on-wooden frame screens - one sloped to the left, the other to the right - shaken by a motor with an eccentric weight on the shaft.

Set it up on a tarp, with two others under the sieve outlets. Orient it so a fan/breeze carried airborne dust away, turn it on and start dumping. I was able to go through 50# bags of bark, charcoal, and 10 cubic foot bags of perlite in about ten minutes, giving me coarse, medium, and fine cuts.

Yes, of course it did some damage to the perlite, so there’s no doubt I ground some down to finer sizes, but overall it was quick and easy, so I didn’t care about minor losses.