How does the soft-mud process create the texture of handmade-looking bricks?

The soft-mud process creates a handmade or antique appearance by utilizing a high-water-content clay mixture that is placed into wooden molds. To prevent the clay from adhering to these molds, they are lubricated with either water or sand.12

This method results in a nonuniform texture, which is characteristic of the finished units. Depending on the lubrication method used, the resulting bricks are often referred to as water-struck or sand-struck, with the latter involving sand-molding techniques. Because the clay is formed in these molds rather than being extruded through a die—as is done in the stiff-mud process—the process naturally produces the irregular, rustic finish associated with traditional, handmade brickwork.213