Combination of SAXS and USAXS measurements provide an extended q-range (0.006–3.0 nm-1) to study fractal growth of both aging silica gel as well as precursors of zeolite-A. Mass (silica) and surface (zeolite) fractals are observed. Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) proves to be an extremely useful technique to obtain direct images of wet samples in the 0.1–100 micron range, confirming the SAXS/USAXS results on even larger length scales.