Choosing the right flooring for your home, hotel or commercial space is a critical decision that involves balancing aesthetic appeal, durability, and functionality. Porcelain floor tiles are often the preferred choice for many home owners due to their exceptional durability, ease of maintenance, and resistance to stains and scratches. While tiles are being produced in many countries across the world, China has become one of the leading manufacturing hubs for tiles of all kinds. In another blog post we discussed all general details about tiles, such as the difference between porcelain and ceramic tiles, and where to buy them. If you have missed this article, you can find it here.
In this article we want to take a closer look at porcelain tiles, and the different types of tile bodies and tile glazings. We have structures this article in 5 parts, to cover all the main types of porcelain tiles. We are going from high quality to lower quality:
- The Full Body Porcelain Tile
- Glazed Porcelain Tile with Colored Body
- Glazed Porcelain Tile with White Body
- Double-Charge Tile
- Soluble-Salt Tile
Before we dive into the different types of porcelain tiles, let's very briefly review the general benefits of porcelain tiles. Porcelain tiles are a type of ceramic tile crafted from kiln-fired clay that is heated at extremely high temperatures. This process creates a dense, hard, and highly durable material that is known for its low porosity and water resistance. Porcelain tiles are exceptionally versatile and are available in a wide variety of designs, colors, and patterns to suit different styles and preferences. Whether you want a contemporary, classic, or rustic look, these quality tiles provide a wide range of aesthetic possibilities, making them suitable for both interior and exterior spaces.
Porcelain tiles offer numerous benefits that make them a popular choice for both residential and commercial applications:
- Durability: Porcelain tiles are incredibly durable tiles and can withstand high traffic without showing significant signs of wear and tear. This makes them ideal for both residential areas, such as hallways and kitchens, and commercial environments like shopping centers and office spaces.
- Ease of Maintenance: One of the key advantages of porcelain tiles is their ease of maintenance. They require minimal cleaning; regular sweeping and occasional mopping are usually sufficient to keep them looking pristine. This low-maintenance quality makes them an excellent choice for busy households or commercial spaces.
- Stain and Scratch Resistance: Porcelain tiles are highly resistant to stains and scratches, which helps them retain their original appearance over time. Their non-porous surface prevents liquids from penetrating, making spills and stains easy to clean. Additionally, their hard surface resists scratches from everyday wear, ensuring longevity and durability.
The Full Body Porcelain Tile
Full-body tile, which is also known as unglazed, through-body, or technical tile, is the most durable and long-lasting type of tile that can be made. Full-body tiles are different from other types of tiles because their design is based on the whole tile, not just the surface layers. The color and pattern are not just on the surface; they are consistent all the way through the tile body. This is because the process of making the tile starts with mixing natural clays and coloring pigments. So, if a full-body tile got a chip, scratch, or wear over decades of heavy use, the new surface would show the same color and texture, making the damage almost invisible. This natural strength makes it the strongest option and the clear choice for tough places like airports, shopping malls, and factories. This tile option is more expensive because of the long and complicated manufacturing process, but it is the strongest and most durable tile type, so it lasts longer than any other type.
Composition of Full Body Tiles
The composition and manufacturing process of full-body porcelain tiles are different from those of glazed tiles. Mineral deposits and natural clays create these tiles without the use of a glaze. The color and pattern are uniform throughout the tile's body, which is made of a single, homogenous material. Natural mineral deposits or color pigments mixed into the clay prior to firing are used to achieve this consistency.
Appearance and Durability
Full-body porcelain tiles are renowned for their remarkable durability and earthy, organic look. Unlike glazed tiles, where damage to the surface coating can reveal a different color underneath, chips or scratches are less noticeable because the color is consistent throughout the tile's thickness. Compared to glazed tiles, full-body tiles are typically denser and thicker, providing better resistance to abrasion and impact. Additionally, their high level of slip resistance makes them the perfect option for locations that need a non-slip surface, like restrooms, wet rooms, patios, and commercial spaces with lots of foot traffic.
Maintenance and Stain Resistance
Although full-body porcelain tiles are incredibly resilient, their lack of a protective surface coating can make them more susceptible to discoloration than glazed tiles. Over time, stains may result from the unglazed material's natural pores absorbing liquids. Full-body tiles frequently need to have a protective sealant applied in order to combat this. Although this sealant adds an extra layer of defense, it must exceptional slip resistance, a natural look, and high durability.
Glazed Porcelain Tile with Colored Body
Glazed color-body tile is the best hybrid because it combines the design flexibility of a regular glazed tile with the strength and durability of a full-body tile. The process of making these tiles starts out the same way as making regular glazed tiles: a layer of glaze is put on the surface to make the design, pattern, and color that are wanted. The most important difference, though, is in the tile body itself. For a glazed color-body tile, the clay bisque is mixed with pigments that are carefully chosen to match the main color of the glaze on the surface. The tile has a surface design and a body underneath that are similar in color. This careful design has a big practical benefit: if there is a deep scratch or chip that goes through the top glaze, the exposed tile body will blend in with the surface, making the damage much less noticeable. This feature makes it more durable and gives you peace of mind, which makes it a great choice for high-traffic areas where wear and tear is a concern but you still want the look of a digital print.
The Glazing Process
The glazing process for glazed porcelain tiles is different from that of other types of tiles. Before the last firing in the kiln, a liquid glass or enamel coating is put on the tile's surface. This is called glazing. Depending on the look you want, this coating can be shiny or dull. The glaze bonds with the tile during the kiln firing process, making a protective layer that makes the tile look better and protects it from stains and moisture.
Design and Appearance
One of the best things about glazed porcelain tiles is that they come in a lot of different styles. With modern technology, especially digital inkjet printing, it's possible to make detailed designs on the surface of glazed tiles. This technology can make things look like different materials, like natural stone, wood, or even fabric. This gives you a lot of options for modern design styles. It is important to remember, though, that the design is only on the top layer of the tile, which may wear off in areas with a lot of foot traffic.
Maintenance and Stain Resistance
Because their surface is non-porous, glazed porcelain tiles are very resistant to stains. The liquid glass coating keeps liquids from getting into the tile, which makes it easy to clean up spills and lowers the risk of staining. Because of this, glazed tiles are great for places where cleanliness and hygiene are very important, like kitchens and bathrooms. Also, glazed tiles don't need much care—just sweeping them every now and then and mopping them every now and then are usually enough to keep them looking good.
Glazed Porcelain Tile with White Body
Glazed white body tiles are probably the most common and versatile type of tile. Modern production methods make it possible to make almost any design you can think of. The fundamental process involves applying a thin, waterproof layer of liquid glass, or glaze, on the surface of a ceramic or porcelain tile body before it is fired. This glaze serves multiple purposes: it gives the tile its final color, pattern, and texture, and it also seals the surface, making it non-porous, stain-resistant, and easy to clean.
Composition
The core of a glazed porcelain tile with a white body is usually made of a light-colored porcelain clay mixture, which is often white or off-white. This is the base layer that the decorative glaze will be put on. The body itself is thick and strong, but its main job is to hold the complex designs and protective finish of the glaze in place.
Appearance and Durability
The surface of glazed white-body porcelain tiles is what makes them so special. In the past, glazes were simpler, but high-definition digital inkjet printing has changed the way things are made today. This advanced method works a lot like a high-end office printer. It can print directly onto the tile's surface complex, high-resolution images, photorealistic patterns, and subtle color gradations. This makes it possible to accurately copy natural materials like marble, wood, and stone, giving customers a huge range of aesthetic options to perfectly match any design vision, from simple solid colors to complex mosaics. The only difference between the glazed tiles with colored bodies and those with white bodies is that if the tile surface chips or cracks, the underlying white clay becomes visible, making fractures or cracks more noticeable.
Maintenance and Stain Resistance
People love glazed porcelain tiles because they are so easy to clean and don't stain easily. The glaze makes the surface smooth and glassy, which keeps dirt, stains, and liquids from getting into the tile body. This makes it very easy to clean up spills; all you have to do is sweep and mop once in a while to keep them looking great. Because they don't absorb moisture, they are also very clean and don't let mold and mildew grow. This is why they are a popular choice for kitchens, bathrooms, and other places where cleanliness is very important. They don't need any sealing, unlike full-body tiles, which makes them a very low-maintenance flooring option.
Double-Charge Tile
Double-charge tiles, also known as double-loaded tiles, are a clever innovation in vitrified tile manufacturing that combines durability with cost efficiency. The process involves fusing two distinct layers of clay powder together under immense pressure before firing them as a single, cohesive unit. The lower, foundational layer constitutes the bulk of the tile's body and is made from a standard, rudimentary clay mixture. The top layer, however, is composed of a more refined mixture of clay and pigments that will ultimately define the tile's visible design and color. This upper design layer is substantially thick, typically around 3 to 4 millimeters, which gives the tile impressive durability and a wear layer that can withstand significant foot traffic. If you examine the tile from the side, you can physically see the demarcation between the two fused layers. This two-layered construction allows manufacturers to create a robust and aesthetically pleasing surface while conserving the more expensive, color-rich materials for the top portion only, thereby gaining a significant price advantage over full-body tiles where the design and color permeate the entire thickness.
These types of tiles are getting rather uncommon, and many factories completely switch to production lines for glazed tiles. Thus you might not come across this type of tiles as much anymore.
Soluble-Salt Tile
Soluble-salt tiles represent a cost-effective method for creating polished, patterned surfaces that offer significant aesthetic appeal at an accessible price point. The manufacturing process is unique in that it infuses the design directly into the tile's surface before it is fired. Using a technique analogous to screen-printing, a design template is laid over the unfired tile body, and a solution containing water-soluble metallic salts is applied. This liquid solution permeates the substrate, penetrating approximately 1 to 2 millimeters into the clay body. During the intense heat of the kiln firing, these salts react and melt, creating a durable, pre-determined pattern that becomes an integral part of the tile's surface. Because the design is not merely a topical layer but is embedded within the tile itself, it offers better wear resistance than a simple glaze. Typically finished with a high polish, these tiles are prized for their glossy, elegant appearance and are a popular choice for residential and light commercial flooring where a sophisticated look is desired without the higher cost associated with more complex manufacturing methods.
Comparing Glazed and Full Body Porcelain Tiles
4.1 Production Process
Both glazed and full-body porcelain tiles undergo a similar basic production process involving the firing of clay at high temperatures to create a dense, durable material. The primary distinction between the two lies in the addition of the glaze to glazed tiles before the final firing. This glaze provides a protective layer and enhances the aesthetic versatility of the tiles, allowing for a wide range of colors, patterns, and finishes.
4.2 Coating and Appearance
Glazed porcelain tiles have a liquid glass coating applied to their surface, which offers a wide range of options, from vibrant colors to realistic textures that mimic natural materials like stone or wood. In contrast, full-body porcelain tiles have a natural appearance with color permeating the entire tile. This makes full-bodied tiles less versatile in terms of design but more resilient to surface damage, as any chips or scratches are less noticeable.
4.3 Stain Resistance and Maintenance
When it comes to stain resistance, glazed porcelain tiles have a distinct advantage. Their non-porous surface, created by the glaze, makes them highly resistant to stains and easy to clean. In comparison, full-body porcelain tiles are more porous and can absorb liquids, which may result in staining. To mitigate this, full-bodied tiles require a sealant to protect against stains, and this sealant needs to be reapplied periodically, adding to the maintenance requirements.
4.4 Thickness and Durability
Full-body porcelain tiles are generally thicker and denser than glazed tiles, which enhances their durability and impact resistance. This makes them a preferred choice for high-traffic areas or spaces that may be exposed to heavy use or environmental elements. On the other hand, glazed tiles, while durable, may be more prone to surface wear over time, especially in high-traffic areas where the top layer of glaze can gradually wear away.
Making the Right Choice
5.1 Consider the Application
When choosing between glazed and full-body porcelain tiles, consider the intended use and location of the tiles. For spaces with heavy foot traffic, such as commercial environments, full-body tiles may be the better option due to their superior durability and slip resistance. In contrast, for areas with lighter traffic or where aesthetic flexibility is a priority, such as residential bathrooms or kitchens, glazed tiles may be more suitable.
5.2 Weight-Bearing Capacity
It is also important to consider the weight-bearing capacity of the tiles. Glazed porcelain tiles, while durable, are not ideal for areas subjected to heavy weights or impacts due to their lower impact resistance. For spaces where heavy objects are frequently moved or placed, full-body porcelain tiles are the more robust choice.
5.3 Longevity and Maintenance
Evaluate your willingness and ability to maintain the tiles over time. Full-body porcelain tiles, while extremely durable, may require periodic resealing to maintain their stain resistance. Glazed tiles, on the other hand, offer long-lasting stain resistance and require minimal maintenance, making them a more ideal choice for those who prefer a low-maintenance flooring option.
Conclusion
Selecting the perfect porcelain floor tiles for your space involves a careful evaluation of your specific needs and preferences. Glazed and full-body porcelain floor tiles each offer unique benefits and considerations. By understanding the differences between these two types, you can make an informed decision that enhances both the aesthetic appeal and functionality of your living or commercial spaces. Whether you opt for the intricate designs and ease of maintenance of glazed floor tiles or the natural durability and strength of full-bodied tiles, your choice will contribute to the lasting beauty and resilience of your flooring.
Sourcing Premium Porcelain Tiles in China
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Exploring Porcelain Tile Trends and Innovations
Stay ahead of the curve with the latest trends and innovations in porcelain tiles at competitive prices. Advances in technology, such as digital inkjet printing and new glazing techniques, have expanded design possibilities, enabling the creation of high-quality tiles that replicate the look of various materials, such as natural stones, marble, and concrete with exceptional realism. Innovations in eco-friendly manufacturing processes are also making porcelain tiles a more sustainable choice. Explore these exciting possibilities to elevate your next project with cutting-edge porcelain tiles that combine style, durability, and environmental responsibility.