Eli5: what is “hot” mud for drywall? is there a cold mud?

Question

I’ve seen several videos about drywall and I noticed a few people say they are using “hot” mud. Are they heating it up before use?

In: 0

Answer 1

There are tons of different spackle formulas but they usually all involve a gypsum compound that cures, which is a chemical reaction that is different from drying.

Depending on the exact type of chemistry in your spackle, adding warm or hot water will accelerate the chemistry of curing and cause the spackle to harden faster. The implication is you can add further coats or get to sanding/painting quicker.

In this example the taper is usually adding warm water to a dry spackle dust to create “hot mud.”