What Is Ceramic Tile Made Of

The manufacturer will quarry and refine them.

What is ceramic tile made of.

When making ceramic tiles they can either be glazed or unglazed but the majority of homeowners have glazed ceramic tiles in their home. Porcelain tiles are one type of vitrified tiles and are sometimes referred to as porcelain vitrified tiles. The entire tile is made of the same material with no surface glaze or finish so scratches blend in with the surface. Common materials used to produce ceramic tiles include white clay talc sand feldspar illitic and kaolinitic clay dolomite and calcite.

Tile defined as ceramic uses a coarser clay with a smaller ratio of fine kaolin clay and it generally lacks some of the additives used in porcelain clay. Historically porcelain was not the usual material for tiles which were much more often made of earthenware or stoneware. Ceramic tile is made up of sand natural products and clays and once it has been moulded into shape they are then fired in a kiln. Ceramic tile is fired at lower temperatures generally no more than 1 650 degrees fahrenheit.

They can either be glazed or unglazed. These ingredients are mixed and grounded up in a ball mill to create what s known as the body slip. The manufacturer will quarry and refine them. Porcelain is made using a mixture of finer clay packed at higher pressures and baked at higher temperatures in the kiln.

Ceramic tile is not as dense and has a higher absorption rate. The density of porcelain tile makes it more durable than ceramic tile while being less subject to wear and tear. Note in the illustration how the exposed body of the tile closely resembles the surface. In earlier times the production process was that unglazed tile was fired once while glazed tile was fired twice.

While technologies have improved production the process is very much the same now as it was a long time ago. Porcelain is made from very fine clay that is fired at high temperatures to remove more moisture from the tile resulting in a hard and dense tile. The clay used to build porcelain tiles is generally denser. The density of porcelain tile makes it ideal for high traffic areas in homes and most commercial properties.

This gives porcelain tile several important traits. Ceramic tile is similar to porcelain tile and while some companies use the terms interchangeably they are actually very different. Simply explained ceramic tile is tile made of clay that is shaped and then it is fired in a very hot kiln.