A process for the production of a bleaching clay product which includes the steps of selecting a naturally occurring hormite clay product, cleaning and crushing the clay product to form clay clumps less than 6 in. in diameter, aging the crushed hormite clay and activating the clay with extremely small amounts of acid, in the range of less than 1 percent, by weight. Also, an acceptable bleaching clay product can be produced without the addition of any acid to the aged hormite clay.