Good sand vs. evil sand

Every good sand artist or sand sculptor knows the difference between good and bad sand in reference to using it for making sand art.

Basically, sand is just a measurement. Sand is the particle size of 0.0625–2 mm (0.002–0.08 in.). Sand lies between silt and granules on the Wentworth scale of grain size. Sand size class ranges from −1.0 to 4.0 (phi), while silt is a particle size of 0.008–0.0625 mm (0.0003–0.002 in.). Keeping this in mind, sand can be made from just about anything; granite, quartz, shale, chalk, slate, marble, lava, limestone, etc..

Sand sculptures are made from all types of sand. Certain sands are better to work with than others. But more than what the sand is made from; it’s the shape of each grain that also matters.

Typically, sand grains that are exposed to harsh elements are rounder in nature. Sand that is continuously blown by winds or crashed by waves day in and day out have rounded each grain of sand, like a marble. And stacking marbles on top each other will result in a collapse every time.

This is why Florida’s west coast beaches have better sand for sand sculpting vs. the east coast of Florida. There are typically no waves on the west coast of Florida. In fact, there are many beaches on the Gulf of Mexico that are great for sand sculpting…all they way down to South Padre Island, Texas. The Gulf shoreline is not known for its amazing surf conditions to say the least.

Quarry sand is a very common sand to use for sand sculptures. Usually, sand dug out of a quarry retain their irregular shapes from when they first fractured off their larger forms. These sharper grains interlock with each other much better vs. round grains. 

Most sand from quarries goes through a process of ‘cleaning’ it. In a nutshell, they’ll wash out all the smaller silt particles from the sand and then market it as ‘mason’ or ‘construction’ sand to Home Depot or the like. We call this ‘dead sand’ as it's no longer useful to us. What you want is the ‘wash-out sand’, the sand & silt that was initially washed out of this sand and into their wash-out pond. Not only is this the ideal sand for sculpting, but because not many people want this sand, it’s also usually cheaper.

Now you’re a sand expert. Keep all this info in mind when searching for the right sand for your next sand-sculpting masterpiece.