Fordite is the generally accepted term for the paint that accumulates over time in the paint bays of car factories.

Obviously named for the American Ford plants around Detroit and the Michigan area, Fordite was originally a simple waste product that needed to be chipped away from the paint bay work areas as it inhibited workflow. As car body components are mounted on holding jigs to be moved through the painting and oven-finishing process, the paint builds up on those jigs over time.

The Fordite material that Black Badger and Arcanaut use is from Detroit area Ford plants from the 1970s to 1990s era.

At some point, some bright person looked at the cross action of this material and discovered hundreds and hundreds of perfect layers of colors had built up in a brilliantly geological effect. Part of the joy (and torture) of working with Fordite is the near impossibility to predict what color or pattern is coming next. One might as well predict the shape of a cloud.

From the outside, Fordite is simply car paint. But each layer is a car that was painted. And that car was bought and went out into the world and took people to work, to school, to first dates and to funerals. Fordite is literally the deposit of time.

Fordite is also known as Detroit agate or Motor City agate.