The pore spaces in the soil, which typically store air, are eventually filled with water. Play sand does not drain freely and will not help your soil to drain. Play sand has an extremely fine texture and should not be used to amend your soil. Why You Shouldn’t Use Play Sand To Amend Soil There is a way to prevent that from happening, and we’ll discuss it in this article, so keep reading below. While it is recommended that you use builder's sand for your soil, if improperly mixed, you might create concrete instead. Its coarse grains can break up fairly tight clay soils, giving it good drainage. To amend soil, you should use builder's sand. Its fine grains can easily clump together when water is added. You shouldn’t use play sand to amend soil because it doesn’t provide aeration. We did our research to determine if using play sand in this way is a good idea, and here’s what we've discovered. You might be wanting to amend your soil with play sand to loosen its heavy texture.