Plaster-of-Paris, baked and ground, acquires great hardness and solidity when left for 24 hours, in contact with a solution of alum, and when, after drying in the air, it is submitted to a second baking.
Still better results are obtained by employing an aqueous solution containing 1/20 of borate and 1/20 of cream of tartar; the plaster, baked and in fragments, is plunged into this solution until it is saturated; then it is calcined, and pulverised.
A mixture of silicate of potash, 100 parts; carbonate of potash, 27 parts; and water, 500 parts, may also be used.