porcelain/ceramic? what's the difference

[doug boardley]

I was thinking the other day how easy it seems to class tiles (clay, not natural) into either porcelain or ceramic.But what about the grey areas,is it a tough ceramic or a soft porcelain? I'm not ashamed to say that I googled the subject to refresh myself on these grey areas:
My googling came up with two forms of classification The American National Standards Institute, which I assume is akin to our British Standards and Thr Porcelain Enamel Institute,
Tiles are rated on a scale of permeability to water and their durability and resistance to abrasion.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) did the water testing and came up with 4 ratings as follows

1. Non-vitreous, tiles with water absorption of more than 7%
2. Semi-vitreous, tiles with absorption of more than 3% but less than 7%
3. Vitreous, tiles with absorption of more than 0.5% but less than 3%
4. Impervious, tiles with water absorption less than 0.5%

The higher the firing process, the more impervious and hard the tile becomes. It's these tiles that manufacturers refer to as "porcelain"

The Porcelain Enamel Institute do a rating for the durability (abrasion and wear) of tiles. These are;
Group 0: Tiles technically unsuitable for floors. These are generally used as wall tile.
Group 1 or PEI 1: Tiles suitable only for locations where softer footwear is worn or where shoes are not frequently used, for e.g., residential bathroom or other areas with light traffic. Also for interior commercial and residenti
Group 2 or PEI II: Tiles suited for general residential traffic. For areas that are walked on by soft soled or �normal� footwear with very small amounts of scratching dirt. Not for kitchen, entrance halls, stairs and other areas subjected to heavy traffic.
.Group 3 or PEI 3: Tiles suited for all residential and light commercial areas such as offices, reception areas, boutiques, interior walls, countertops and residential bathroom floors. Not recommended for commercial entryway
Group 4 or PEI 4: Tiles suited for regular traffic. Recommended for medium commercial and light institutional use, such as restaurants, hotels, hospital lobbies and corridors.

Group 5 or PEI 5: Tiles suitable for areas with heavy traffic, abrasive dirt and moisture, and where safety and maximum performance are required. Examples are shopping malls, public buildings, building entrances, swimming pools, or shopping centers.

So let's assume that on both sets of standards, the lower numbers are "ceramic" and the higher numbers are "porcelain" How do we tell which is one to use?
Porcelain tiles tend to be full bodied (unglazed) ie the colour will go right through the tile. Porcelain tile is both harder and denser than many other ceramic tile products

• Porcelain tile is frost-resistant, and often frost-proof
• Porcelain tile is highly resistant to stain, scratch, and moisture
• Porcelain tile is a hard wearing material which is resistant to harsher cleaning agents, scratches, stains, fading, heavy loads and fire.
• Porcelain tile is available in glazed as well as unglazed varieties.
• It is strong and long-lasting.
• It can be easily installed in heavy traffic areas (Group 4 and 5).
• Porcelain tile flooring is aesthetically pleasing.
• It has a high breaking strength. Porcelain contains less clay and more feldspar (a mineral). It�s also pressed at a higher pressure.
• Porcelain tile flooring has low water absorption. Therefore, less staining occurs on these floors and they are easier to clean.
• Porcelain tile flooring offers a wide range of colors and textures, and many different designs and styles. Professionals can produce an accurate recreation of the look of natural stone, granite, slate, travertine, limestone , marble, quartzite, terracotta and even woods (as I have in my hallway!)and metals.
  Characteristics of tiles
  
  What are the tiles made from?
  Ceramic is primarily made up of clays, quartziferous sands, glass substances and other minerals.
  Only natural raw materials are used, mixed with water and fired at high temperatures to create a naturally beautiful product and to achieve hardness and durability.
  What is porcelain tile?
  Made from special clay minerals, porcelain tile (or porcelain stoneware tile) is a highly-resistant ceramic product with a solid structure and a hard surface which doesn't absorb water (classified as impervious), doesn't stain, and isn't affected by wear and tear over time.
  Moreover, glazed porcelain tile requires lower maintenance than natural stone, granite and marble.

Doing this thread has refreshed my knowledge of actual tile classification and composition. I hope if you take time to read it you'll get something from it

[whitebeam]

Another indepth post there Doug

[Dave]

Douglas.......googling when all that info is on here.....

[doug boardley]

took me an hour and a half to get it all together!

[doug boardley]

Douglas.......googling when all that info is on here.....

wanted to reach out to some new members

[sstilingservice]

tooooooooooooooooo much time on your hands me thinks !!!!!!!!!!!

[Dave]

tooooooooooooooooo much time on your hands me thinks !!!!!!!!!!!

NO just another tilersforums.co.uk dedicated Trusted advisor...

Nice one doug..

[Leatherface]

another term is also "through bodied porcelain", which is essentially the same as full bodied porcelain. Although hard wearing and not easy to scratch, care must be taken with the lighter colours as they will still mark : Have been fixing a light cream full bodied tile, and found that the breaker on my TX700 N made a nasty black mark on the tile that is very difficult to remove.
Also take care with light coloured polished porcelain as pencil marks may also be hard to remove.

[sstilingservice]

You need to get your self a porcelian rubber . They are about £20 but worth every penny they will get rid of all sorts of marks of porcelain. A plumber gave me the idea when I had a nasty mark on a tile and sure enough it came off very easily.

[bigandy]

You need to get your self a porcelian rubber . They are about £20 but worth every penny they will get rid of all sorts of marks of porcelain. A plumber gave me the idea when I had a nasty mark on a tile and sure enough it came off very easily.

i an also vouch for these rubbers(they're actually very hard)they saved me when something actually marked a sink it was worth every penny.

[user123]

What a fabulous post Doug!!

I just showed it to the hubby to help justify my time spent on here and this time he didn't scoff, so another few s...

[andy-p]

great post doug but you need to get out more...

[doug boardley]

will do a "natural stone" one next! thanx for the thanks guys and gals

[tile55]

will do a "natural stone" one next! thanx for the thanks guys and gals

A rolling stone gasthers no moss, keep it up, nice post.

[bassman]

porcelain/ceramic? what's the difference
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Thanks Doug, was unsure of the differance but too shy to ask.