Infield Materials by Category

Infield Conditioners

Infield conditioners are expandable materials, commonly a Calcined Clay, Calcined Diatomaceous Earth, or Vitrified Clay / Shale,  that should be added into your infield mix to increase its absorption, moisture retention, stability, and recovery.  Unlike a top dress, infield conditioners should be blended into your soil mix at a rate of 10%-25% by volume.
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Drying Agents

Drying Agents are expanded materials, commonly a Calcined Clay, Calcined Diatomaceous Earth, or polymers, that has been screened down to a sand-like texture.  This material is neither an infield conditioner or a top dressing.  This material should be used exclusively as a crisis management tool when there is an abundance to moisture.
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Top Dressing

Top Dressing materials are expanded materials, commonly a Calcined Clay, Calcined Diatomaceous Earth, or Vitrified Clay / Shale.  Unlike an infield conditioner, a top dress should be applied to the top 1/8″ to 1/4″ of your infield, adding color, surface stability, absorption, and retention.
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Infield Soil Mixes

Infield Mixes are typically a combination of infield clay, silt, and sand that have been blended at the proper ratios, screened down to 3/16″ or less, have less than 1% gravel content, will retain a modicum of moisture, and will recover nicely.  A good infield soil is not overly clay heavy, does not consist of over 30% silt, and does not have over 65% sand.  The better your soil, the easier it will be to maintain an elite infield and the less infield conditioner and top dressing you need.
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Mound and Home Plate

The Mound and Home Plate section section is dedicated to materials needed to improve the longevity of your high stress areas, including: unfired clay bricks, mound and home plate clay, and combination kits of both.  The higher the quality of clay you use, the longer your mound will last.

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Warning Track

Any Warning Track worth its salt will not be a singular material. For example, though a fine red sand warning track may look pretty and be cheap, it usually needs to be replaced often.  A professional warning track material will be a blend of materials, commonly fine red sand, clay, polymers, and expandable shale.  Your warning track should pack enough not to be a beach, have enough structure to let players run on it without leaving large gashes, and still have enough porosity to recover quickly.