Choosing the right tiles is critical for the success of any tile business. When it comes to tile selection, it's important to make informed choices. Whether you're importing tiles or curating your inventory, with the global tile market projected to reach $171 billion by 2027, there is immense potential for growth in the tile industry by understanding tiles inside out.
As a tile importer or tile seller, having in-depth knowledge of tiles enhances decision-making, allows targeted marketing, and equips you to meet customer demand efficiently. This comprehensive guide covers all major tile categories, finishes, technical parameters, thickness considerations, and key insights for tile importing success.
1.1 Ceramic Tiles
Ceramic tiles are the foundation of tiling, accounting for over 70% of the global market share in the tile industry. Made from red or white clay and other natural minerals
They are fired at a lower temperature than porcelain at 900–1200 °C, resulting in more porosity and offering versatility in design. Ideal for expressive patterns and unique finishes, they are divided into glazed and unglazed varieties.
Glazed ceramic tiles have a liquid glass coating for surface protection and decorative finishes. They resist moisture and stains, making them ideal for kitchen backsplashes, countertops, and high-traffic areas. Popular glazed ceramic tiles include subway tiles, mosaics, and patterned varieties.
Unglazed ceramic tiles lack a surface coating, exposing the clay’s natural porosity. Greater slip resistance makes them suitable for outdoor floors, patios, and pool surrounds.
1.2 Porcelain Tiles
With excellent technical performance similar to stone, porcelain tiles are highly versatile and durable. Based on the clay mineral content, they are available as through-body porcelain or color-body porcelain.
Through-body porcelain tiles have color and mineral composition extending across the tile thickness and having a low water absorption rate that's below 0.5%. Porcelain tiles are fired at a high temperature of 1200–1400 °C. The intense heat fuses the material, creating a denser tile with lower water absorption, resulting in superior durability for high-traffic areas.
They resist freezing, chemicals, scratches, etc., making them suitable for heavy commercial spaces alongside residential use.
Color-body porcelain tiles offer high design flexibility with color and texture applied to the surface of a dense clay body. Water absorption rates remain under 3%. Frost and chemical resistance are lower than through-body porcelain.
Additionally, there is a regular variant available that features a glazed and digitally printed design. However, it's important to note that the print/color is only on the surface, while the base color closely resembles the clay used in its creation.
2.1 Polished Finish
A polished tile finish involves precision-honing using abrasives to achieve a smooth, light-reflective surface without pores. The highest-grade finish enhances colors and patterns, giving them a luxurious shine. Generally Polished tiles act as a replacement for granite or marble due to their uncanny resemblance.
2.1.1 There are further classifications in Polished Finish:
Glossy: Basically, glossy finishes are in a lighter color base, and their gloss levels range from 80% to 98%, making them highly preferred as a design replacement for marble and granite.
High Gloss: Basically, high gloss finishes are in a darker base color as high polish, and their gloss levels range from 98% to 102%, reflecting crisp images, to lower 30–50% for subtle sheen effects.
Choosing the right polish level impacts the visual effect and maintenance needs, like combating smudges on high gloss.
2.2 Matte Finish
Increasingly sought-after, matte-finish tiles have an elegant, low-sheen, natural stone-like appearance. The flat, non-reflective texture hides smudges and fingerprints, offering easy-care practicality and understated modern style.
A smooth matte finish is achieved either through fine grinding or the application of specialty glazes. Matte works well for bold patterns and dark colors by not distracting from the design while adding subtle visual depth through the contrast between matte and polished grout.
2.3 Textured and Honed Finishes
Textured and honed tile finishes add dimensional appeal through selectively revealed aggregates and uniform matte textures.
Textured porcelain tiles suit contemporary floors. Using different punch effects, tiles are given a rustic finish that imitates natural stone and also enhances slip resistance, meeting ADA accessibility standards.
A honed finish encompasses variety in itself, replacing natural stones with artificial patterns like checkered or geometric patterns.
2.4 Lappato Finish
The lappato finish strikes a balance between polish and matte for an elegant low sheen with a slight texture similar to leather. After partial polishing, uniform micro-pits create light-diffusing effects to admire colors without glare.
With a visual appeal between gloss and matte, moderate reflectance suits most environments. The grip is better than full polish while retaining an upscale look. Popular in large-format porcelain tiles, smaller lappato mosaics also create statement backsplashes.
2.5 Carving
Carving mimics hand-chiselled stone through indented, raised reliefs for added visual drama. Ceramic carving effects adorn Spanish-style decorative tiles along with Mediterranean motifs on terracotta.
The intricate detailing casts shadows while collecting grime if unglazed. Carved finishes need careful cleaning, suiting backsplashes better than floors. Distressed textures also add antique character to vintage styling.
This section covers key tile quality parameters for import inspection, customer guidance, and technical sales sheet creation.
3.1 Water Absorption Rates
Industry standards help choose tiles for wet areas, underwater installations like pools, and outdoor environments prone to freezing. High-absorption tiles above 10% suit dry indoor vertical surfaces, while lower 3-7% absorption is preferred for residential floors though less than 3% is also widely used in indoor applications and residential floors.
Outdoor floor tiles should have absorption rates of less than 0.5%. Lower absorption enhances both breaking strength and stain resistance.
Water absorption in porcelain tiles is less than 3%, and there's a subvariant of porcelain tiles called vitrified tiles with a 0.5% water absorption rate, generally, through-body tiles are vitrified tiles, whereas if the water absorption rate is more than 3%, it's called ceramic tiles
3.2 Breaking Strength
Indicating tile robustness against cracks and wear-and-tear, breaking strength, or modulus of rupture should match application and traffic expectations. While commercial projects need a 1300+ Newton rating, most residential varieties clear 600+ Newtons.
Testing helps verify supplier claims through random batch sampling for surface wear grades, thickness consistency, and other structural integrity indicators, besides breaking strength, to ensure import quality.
One should always rely on the breaking strength that's mentioned in any and all the products as the thickness may be more but if the breaking strength written is less then there are always changes of transit-breakage.
3.3 Edge Profiles
Rectified tiles are the perfectionists of the bunch. They undergo an additional post-firing process where their edges are precisely cut to uniform dimensions. This translates to straight, flawless edges that fit together like puzzle pieces. This allows for narrow grout lines, creating a smooth, seamless look like a continuous surface. They're ideal for contemporary or minimalist spaces where clean lines take centre stage.
Non-rectified tiles, on the other hand, embrace a more natural charm. They retain their edges after firing, resulting in subtle variations in size and shape. This creates a slightly uneven, organic pattern, with wider grout lines needed to accommodate these variations. Their inherent imperfections and rustic vibes lend themselves beautifully to traditional or classic settings.
3.4 Color Consistency
Slight variations between batches are inevitable in tile manufacturing. Yet maintaining color consistency between tiles ordered in bulk across multiple lots remains critical for aesthetic integrity during room installations.
Advanced digital printing equipment and glaze application techniques help minimize human error through automated precision unmatched by analog production lines. Request color consistency testing reports from the manufacturer before making large investments.
3.5 Variations in Size
While porcelain tiles better resist expansion and contraction changes across temperatures owing to their high density and low moisture absorption, marginal size variations still occur, requiring careful inspection.
Acceptable industry average variations are mentioned on technical datasheets.
4.1 Standard Thickness vs. Thin Tiles
Traditional tiles average between 8 and 11 mm, while large formats can reach 15-20mm for sturdier handling and resistance against surface damage, chipping, and cracking. Innovations produce thinner and lighter tiles from 5mm onwards to lower shipping costs and reduce environmental burden.
Thin tiles are widely used nowadays, and they suit wall coverings rather than flooring, needing expert handling and precision during installation. The lighter weight also allows for new creative applications like curving onto rounded surfaces, besides overhead cladding.
4.2 Heavy-duty Tiles
Extra-thick 20-mm tiles created for demanding commercial spaces have a higher cost. Made from pure homogenous porcelain stoneware clay, the dense composition resists abrasions and staining in high-footfall environments like airports and shopping malls for decades without replacements.
Heavy-duty tiles suit bold designs as minor damages can be mechanically polished out without undermining structural integrity, while thinner tiles would crack or chip with similar surface impacts.
Glazing creates a liquid glass protective coating with versatility for immense design and colour variations. However, unglazed tiles carry an innate beauty and textural intrigue.
Unglazed tiles suit traditional, Mediterranean, Tuscan, and rustic country styles through their raw, porous personality. Matching the tile finish to room contexts maximizes aesthetic vision and minimizes post-installation problems like staining, efflorescence, or moisture damage in the wrong environments.
Digital printing innovations allow hyper-realistic wood, stone, and cement reproductions while keeping the costs and maintenance advantages of porcelain and ceramic bases. Photographic imagery applied using high-pressure inkjets offers boundless customization potential.
Understanding different printing techniques provides the background to guide discerning clients interested in state-of-the-art options.
This comprehensive tile guide is brought to you by One Cera. Ltd., an award-winning Indian tile export manufacturer pioneering global innovations from metallic mosaic sheets to extra-large porcelain boards through cutting-edge R&D and advanced production equipment.
As a top tile exporter facilitating deliveries to 30+ countries, we produce all the major tile varieties outlined here. Our integrated manufacturing complex houses state-of-the-art machines from global technology leaders like System, Sacmi, and SITI. Enabling mass customization needs.
Our globally certified products, confirming quality standards like ISO 13006, EN 14411, and ANSI 137.1, are trusted by 250+ trade partners based on decades of ethical business conduct.
As your reliable Indian tile partner, our technical experts and sampling support help actualize design visions through diligent inspection, ensuring strict quality control and timely order deliveries.
This comprehensive guide equips tile importers with extensive knowledge covering all facets, from key differences between ceramic and porcelain tiles to popular natural stone varieties to intricate carving finishes and modern Grandirtaria printing techniques that portray visual motion effects.
Understanding tile types, surfaces, technical specifications, quality control parameters, thickness considerations, etc. allows informed supplier selection and strategic inventory decisions catering to market demand. Mastering the technical nuances behind tile production enhances your ability to guide customer choices as a value-adding importer.
Explore plenty of helpful information created just for tile importers, including important tips on where to find tiles, how to ship them, how to spot market trends, and how to make smart business decisions. Find an outstanding source of information on how to handle foreign trade, optimize inventory management, and take advantage of new tile import business possibilities. The "Blog" part of our website gives you access to a large body of information that will help you make smart choices and take your tile-importing business to new heights.
Equipped with this 360-degree tile knowledge, we are confident that importers can avoid expensive mistakes, minimize dead inventory through buying right, and supply premium-quality tiles, driving customer satisfaction. Feel free to contact our team with additional queries as you establish a thriving import tile business. I look forward to potential future collaborations that will aid your venture's growth!