Ceramic tile flooring is a popular choice for bathrooms because of its durability and ability to repel moisture. Ceramic tiles are created by mixing clay with mineral sand, compressing the mixture together into a tile form, and baking it at an extremely high temperature. Compressing and baking the tile makes it dense and very hard, allowing it to withstand water, foot traffic, and dropped objects.
If you're considering ceramic tile flooring for your bathroom, you'll be able to choose between glazed tile and unglazed tile. Glazed tile undergoes an additional step in the manufacturing process that coats its surface with glass, and this often makes it the better choice for a bathroom. To learn more about how glazed ceramic tile is made and why it's a great choice for your bathroom, read on.
What Is Glazed Ceramic Tile?
Glazed tile has a thin layer of ceramic glass on its surface. When a glazed ceramic tile is manufactured, a small amount of mineral sand will be spread over its surface before it's baked in an oven. An inkjet printer will dye the sand using colored pigments to create a design, and the sand will fuse together with the tile below and turn into glass once it's baked at high temperatures.
Why Is Glazed Ceramic Tile a Good Choice for Bathrooms?
One big advantage of glazed ceramic tile is that it's easier to clean and more resistant to staining than unglazed ceramic tile. Unglazed ceramic tile can withstand the high humidity levels in a bathroom and small amounts of standing water, but it's still porous. Cosmetics, shampoos, and soaps can stain an unglazed ceramic tile if you accidentally drop them on it since they'll seep into the top layer and their color will show in the tile. The layer of ceramic glass on a glazed tile isn't porous, causing it to repel stains from liquids.
Glazed ceramic tile also adds design options for your bathroom. Since an inkjet printer is used to dye the sand used to create the glass, any digital image can be applied to the surface of the tile. This allows glazed ceramic tile to look like natural wood or stone while providing better moisture resistance and durability.
One downside of glazed ceramic tile is that the thin glass layer can wear away over time, causing the tile surface to appear scuffed. However, this isn't likely to be a problem when you install glazed tile in a bathroom. Bathrooms don't receive much foot traffic, reducing the amount of wear the tile undergoes and preserving its surface layer.
If you're trying to choose the best tile flooring for your bathroom, glazed ceramic tile is a great choice. It combines the durability and moisture resistance of ceramic tile with superior stain resistance, making it a very long-lasting choice for a bathroom. You'll also have numerous design options to choose from because of its ability to carry complex digital images like natural wood and stone grains, giving you more freedom in your bathroom design.
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