How is earthenware made? History of a thousand-year-old technique

Machine translation

Very appreciated in Europe, earthenware is a wall covering, both waterproof and aesthetic. It is available from almost all DIY stores and can be cut and installed easily. The small problem with this kind of tiling is the fact that it is fragile. Find out how earthenware is made.

Making earthenware

To make earthenware, you must first start by extracting and placing the clay to plasticity. Then, it must be placed in a stretcher to obtain a strip of soil and the tile must be cut according to the desired shape and format.
According to professional tilers, square tiles are easier to lay in relation to other tiles. And the same goes for large ceramic tiles, since they can easily fit together.
To continue the production of earthenware, the next step is to place the still damp material in a metal frame to remove excess soil. Afterward, it must be smoothed out, using a trowel and smooth the edges with your finger when the tile is removed from the mold.
As for the finish, it’s above all a matter of taste. There is no harm in use terracotta, smoothing the surface or leaving it as it is. It is also possible to coat the tiling with enamel to make it more waterproof.
Besides, enamel allows you to create several variations of colors and patterns. This allows you to display a particular decorative theme or to personalize the style of a room.

The difference between earthenware, porcelain, pottery and stoneware

Due to the rendering and the manufacturing technique, in particular the art of ceramics, it is common to confuse the terms earthenware, porcelain, pottery and stoneware. In fact, earthenware is a product made to from a clay soil covered with enamel to white or colored pewter base. Porcelain, as for it is a mixture that contains kaolin and therefore without natural clay.
As for pottery or terracotta, it’s a product designed to form a common clay shaped by modeling, calibration, assembly, turning or molding. Finally, sandstone is a very hard product. And this great hardness is due to its firing, since it undergoes a second firing at more than 1200 degrees, after the first cooking at 900 degrees.