The swelling capacity is one of the most characteristic properties of bentonites. This property, along with others, made bentonite a candidate material for the safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLRW). For HLRW-barrier systems the swelling pressure is of particular interest because it basically controls sealing properties (a large swelling pressure generally results in low permeability). Commonly, the swelling pressure is investigated as a function of compaction and hence plotted against the density, usually the dry density. Different dry density/swelling pressure relations of bentonites were published. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify reasons for these differences. To be able to compare a significant set of different bentonites, a small scale swelling pressure device was developed which is based on measuring a swelling pressure related value of 500mg bentonite powder. This device allowed recording about 200 single values (in duplicate) and hence dry density/swelling pressure relations of thirty six different bentonites. The differences of the dry density/swelling pressure plots of different bentonites could be explained by i) different ways to obtain a range of dry densities (either constant load or constant water content), ii) different portions of uncompactable porosity of the different bentonites, and iii) different smectite contents. •A small scale device for fast estimation of bentonite swelling pressure is shown.•For the first time a significant set of well characterised bentonites was investigated.•Reasons for the existence of different dry density-swelling pressure plots were identified.•The dry density–swelling pressure relation depends on initial water content and uncompactable porosity.