In this episode of For Flux Sake, I kick things off with a trip to Materials Corner to talk about what’s going on with EPK (Edgar Plastic Kaolin) and why it keeps coming up in studio conversations. When a material gets scarce, gets reformulated, or just gets hard to source consistently, it doesn’t just affect “recipes on paper”—it shows up as plasticity changes, drying behavior shifts, and glazes that suddenly don’t behave like they used to. I also dig into the question everyone asks next: is there an “easy substitute” for EPK in clay bodies and glazes? The real takeaway is that substitution depends on what job the kaolin is doing (plasticity, alumina/silica supply, suspension), and you need to swap based on function—not just the name on the bag. Then we get into the listener question: should you make your own clay? I walk through what’s feasible, what’s a headache, and what equipment actually matters. Mixing your own clay can make sense if you need tight control over performance or you’re solving a specific problem—but it’s not automatically cheaper, and it’s definitely not automatically easier. If you’re going to do it, you’ll want a plan for measuring, mixing, de-airing, and consistency testing so your “homemade” body doesn’t turn into a mystery material that fails in the firing.