Which Ceramic Material You Like?
Ceramics is the general term for pottery and porcelain. Those fired with clay are called pottery, and those fired with china clay are called porcelain. Whether it is pottery clay or porcelain clay, as long as clay is used as raw material, the utensils made through batching, molding, drying, firing and other processes can be called ceramics. One of the important differences between pottery and porcelain is the porosity of the green body, that is, the water absorption rate. It depends on raw material and sintering temperature.
Stoneware
Less porous than earthenware, stoneware is also more durable and has a lighter color (but is more opaque than porcelain). Stoneware is a ceramic product between pottery and porcelain. The features are as follows:
a. High mechanical strength;
b. Good thermal stability.
c. The decoration is rich in color. (Especially in Reactive glaze)
Porcelain
Feldspar porcelain is a “feldspar-quartz-kaolin” three component system porcelain with feldspar as a flux.
Features:
a. Low water absorption, less than 0.5%;
b. Good whiteness;
c. The non porous option of ceramic.
It can devide into hard paste and soft paste, called from EU, or we call in porcelain, durable porcelain, some may called supoer porcelain. Like cups & saucer for most Italy food & beverages market (including World Coffee Championships), the material will emphasized —Feldspathic porcelain: the composition is in pure minerals consisting of 50% kaolin, 25% potassium feldspar (K), 25% quartz, and is absolutely free from dangerous chemical elements such as cadmium and lead and other heavy minerals. To obtain the glaze effect, high temperature firing (1400°) is applied in ovens in a reducing atmosphere (i.e. in the absence of oxygen). It has a particular resistance to breakage: it is resistant to heat, thermal shock, scratching, scratching and impact.
Looks more like plain white, and for durable porcelain the white color looks more warm, soft.
Bone China
It is generally made from a mixture of very refined clay and bone ash. It is very white, almost trans lucid. It has been defined as “ware with a translucent body” containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phosphate. Bone China is also very elegant and refined but is also very resistant. Great for special occasions but also for daily use. Bone ash used in bone china stems from the bones of cows or oxen, and to a much lesser extent, pigs. When mixed with other porcelain components, bone ash gives fine bone china its translucency and strength.
Very high-quality fine bone china may contain around 30 per cent bone ash with exceptional pieces containing up to 45 per cent. For recently, more and more client will choose new bone china to replace fine bone China to meet the eco-friendly or vegan-friendly product. It does not contain any bone ash! Although not as light or as translucent as fine bone china, the calcium oxide in new bone items makes them whiter, finer, and more durable than your standard porcelain or fine china. By the way, new bone china is cheaper a lot compare to bone china.
Dolomite
Dolomite ceramic is a form of ceramic that is commonly used. However, you should know that the dolomite china is very porous and fragile. The dolomite is fired at low temperatures; hence the water absorption is high, making it less strong than Porcelain or Stoneware. The good bit is that you can do beautiful paintings on these ceramics because of their absorbing power.
And many ceramic crafts made of it.
Earthware
This type of ceramic is heavy, sturdy and casual. The color is usually brown or red. It’s better to keep it off temperature changes and it’s better to avoid the microwave and oven. This material is very porous which means it could stain or absorb liquid. It is also the cheapest but also the less resistant of all the type of ceramics. Often hand painted and fragile.