Hello everyone, I am Brother Tile
Today we talk about "Classification of Ceramic Tiles"
When we search online, we can see many ceramic tile categories
Some even brag about how awesome they are, for example:
Diamond, super crystal, high crystal, real stone, stone pattern brick,
Vitrified stone, porcelain stone, slate tiles, marble tiles...
Tiles such as this
Most of them except for the nice names
Actually nothing special
So, how should tiles be classified?
Tile brother will take you to get to know each other
Glazed tiles and polished tiles account for the vast majority of ceramic tiles on the market, among which glazed tiles are the most mainstream category on the market. We searched for "ceramic tiles" on a certain website, and most of the results were glazed tiles.
The colors of glazed tiles are generated through the printing process. The printing colors are rich and the patterns are fine. Today's glazed tiles are generally printed with in-glaze color printing, which means that a layer of base glaze is poured on the bricks before printing, and a layer of top glaze is poured after printing. Glazed tiles can also achieve various textured glazed effects through a variety of glazing treatment processes.
Our common glazed tiles are:
Glazed tiles
Glazed and polished tiles
△Glazed tiles-Picture source: Oceano Ceramics
Glazed porcelain tiles
(Glazed ceramic tiles have a higher water absorption rate than polished glazed tiles)
△Glazed porcelain tiles - Picture source: Oceano Ceramics
Glazed antique tiles
(Matte or glazed semi-polished tiles)
△Glazed antique tiles-Picture source: Oceano Ceramics
Full-body glazed tiles
It is called "full body marble tile" on the market
In fact, it is full-body brick + glazed printing
Can be used for grooving and chamfering
△Full-body glazed tile-Picture source: Oceano Ceramics
One thing is that the name "marble tiles" was coined by merchants
In order to have a relationship with marble, it sounds awesome
Actually, apart from imitating patterns and colors, it has nothing to do with marble
Polished tiles, also called vitrified tiles and quartz tiles, are unglazed porcelain tiles. Different from the "glazed + printing" of glazed tiles, polished tiles mainly form color patterns through cloth. They are generally full-body or semi-through-body, suitable for grooves, chamfers, etc.
Compared with glazed tiles, polished tiles have a higher surface hardness and are more wear-resistant, but the designs and colors are not as good as printing. With the improvement of technology, the problem of tile wear is no longer the focus of home decoration, so glazed tiles with better designs and colors gradually occupy mainstream.
Multi-tube cloth polished tiles/micro powder tiles
Micro powder is the further ball milling of the powder that makes up the bricks
The powder particles are finer, so the colors are more delicate
Most of the current polished tiles are made of micro powder material
Polished tiles with secondary fabric
It is to spread a layer of micro powder on the bricks
Approximate semi-through body effect
△Second cloth micro-powder bricks-Picture source: Oceano Ceramics
△Full body polished tiles-Picture source: Oceano Ceramics
Inkjet polished tiles
Polished tile categories that have emerged in recent years
Use penetrating ink for inkjet printing on the basis of polished tiles
While retaining the porcelain surface with better physical and chemical properties
The surface is more colorful
Of course, there are still differences compared to glazed tiles
△Inkjet polished tiles-Picture source: Nobel Tiles
The antique tiles often mentioned in ceramic tiles are the glazed matte tiles mentioned earlier. The colors are mainly rock, distressed, cement, wood grain, metal, etc. The so-called pastoral tiles, wood grain tiles, cement tiles on the market Bricks, etc., all fall into this category. Because the decorative effect is relatively retro, it is called antique bricks (also called retro bricks).
△Various styles of antique brick effects
Another kind of antique brick is an unglazed full-body brick. The material is relatively simple in color, but it can imitate the texture effect of rocks, clay bricks and other materials. There are square bricks, cultural bricks, split bricks and other types. Mohs hardness can be It reaches level 8 and is suitable for use in building exterior walls, aisles, outdoor floors, etc.
△Exterior wall antique bricks
△Square Brick/Thick Brick-Picture Source: Oceano Landscape Thick Brick
The common microcrystalline stone on the market is officially called microcrystalline glass-ceramic composite board, which is a kind of composite board. As the name suggests, microcrystalline stone can be simply understood as replacing the traditional glaze surface with a glass-ceramic surface, which means melting a frit of glass-ceramics on the brick, and then crystallizing the frit to form a floc-like pattern.
Microcrystalline stone is characterized by high gloss and high flatness, has strong permeability, has a crystalline effect on the surface, and is mostly used for luxurious decoration effects. In addition, because of its gorgeous and unique patterns, it is also called microcrystalline jade, microcrystalline jade, etc., which are actually the same thing.
△Microcrystalline stone
Crystalline glass technology actually appeared a long time ago,
Mainly pure microcrystalline plate, fully transparent,
The pattern is similar to jade and is also used as a decorative material.
△Ceramic glass
There is a misunderstanding that microcrystalline stones are not wear-resistant.
In fact, the surface hardness of microcrystalline stone can reach Mohs level 6,
It’s not much different from ordinary ceramic tiles.
Mosaic, also called mosaic tiles, is mainly made of various materials cut, sliced and then spliced together to form a layered and dynamic decorative effect, mostly used for wall decoration. To be precise, mosaic is not a type of ceramic tile product. In the past, mosaics mostly used ceramic materials, so they are traditionally classified as ceramics. Usually we have encountered it more or less when selecting materials.
△Ceramic Mosaic-Picture Source: Oceano Mosaic
The traditional mosaic materials are glass, ceramics and stone, with more solid colors. In modern times, mosaic products of different shapes and materials have appeared, such as strips, small hexagons and other forms, as well as metal and other materials.
△Stone Mosaic-Picture Source: Oceano Mosaic
△Glass Metal Mosaic-Picture Source: Oceano Mosaic
There are many types of ceramic tiles, but they remain the same
As long as you understand the process principles of the category
You will not be confused by the fancy names of merchants
Finally, I can tell everyone responsibly
"When you see ceramic tile product names that are obviously exaggerated, it's probably a big scam"
That’s it for this issue of “Bricks”
See you next time
(This article is provided by the enterprise)
