Porcelain tile
The trade defines porcelain by a number: water absorption of 0.5% or less. That number is why one tile stains and another does not.
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
In detail
Tile is not one material, and the trade separates it on a measurement: porcelain is dense and by definition absorbs 0.5% water or less, non-porcelain more. Absorption is the whole staining story — a stain has to get into something to be difficult — so the same spill wipes off one tile and sits in another. Within porcelain there is a second split. Glazed porcelain has its microscopic holes filled and is usually a little easier to clean; unglazed may have better slip resistance, which is why it appears on floors. Unglazed through-body porcelain also hides wear well, since the colour runs the full thickness and the material is very hard — the trade body describes it as harder than granite. What follows for cleaning is that the tile is rarely the problem. A hard, effectively non-absorbent, chemically stable surface is not what fails in a bathroom; the cement-based grout between the tiles is porous, alkaline and dissolved by acid, so an acidic product used across a tiled surface is cleaning the tile and attacking the joints. The trade also advises against spraying coatings onto glazed floor tile: the glaze outlasts anything applied over it.
Properties
Sensitivity
- Acids
- Not known
- Alkalis
- Not known
- Chlorine bleach
- Not known
- Heat
- Not known
- Abrasion
- Not known
- Porous
- Sources disagree
“Not known” means CleaningHQ has not established this, not that the material is unaffected.
Why
- Porcelain tile is explained by Porous and non-porous surfaces
The distinction is a NUMBER rather than a description. Porcelain is defined by water absorption of 0.5% or less; anything above that is not porcelain, whatever it looks like.
Sources for this page
Sources
Tile Council of North America (TCNA) · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That porcelain tile is defined by water absorption of 0.5% or less and non-porcelain by more than 0.5%, that glazed porcelain has filled microscopic holes and is usually easier to clean, that unglazed may have better slip resistance, and that through-body porcelain is quite durable and harder than granite. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The definition paragraphs and the glazed/unglazed distinction. Supports the claim as stated.
Tile Council of North America (TCNA) · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That cement-based grout is alkaline and dissolved by acids, so an alkaline cleaner is preferred over an acid-based one. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The whole FAQ entry: grout porosity, cleaner selection, sealing, and epoxy grout. Supports a narrower statement — our claim was reduced. Enough to create the grout material record, which several high-demand mould and limescale intents referenced without it existing. NOT enough for the whole grout question: TCNA is silent on bleach, on abrasion and on mould, which are precisely what readers ask about. Those remain unanswered on the record rather than being filled in from general chemistry, and the grout intents stay partial.
Last reviewed by a person on .