The development of many branches of modern production is inextricably linked with the development of new materials with a certain complex of mechanical, physio-chemical and technological properties. One of the effective ways to obtain materials with clearly defined properties is powder metallurgy. Materials obtained by pressing the powder usually have a high residual porosity. In order to improve their mechanical properties, we suggest using free sludge. We experimentally investigated various methods of intense plastic deformation and measured the hardness and strength of the obtained samples. We believe that our results show that free sludge can be used for reducing porosity levels in powder materials on an industrial scale.