Posted on 9-2-2022 by Fieke
What is Craquelé?
Craquelé or crackle finish refers to the appearance of tiny hairline cracks in a material such as pottery or tiles. In our Spanish tile series, some tiles have intentional craquelure applied to them, for a playful effect. It can also happen, with certain glaze colors and finishes, that the crackle only appears once the tile is placed.
The crackle finish occurs only in the top layer of the glaze and does not affect the hardness of the tile.
What to consider with tiles that contain craquelé?
Will you choose a contrasting grout color for your tile? Like a white tile with a black grout, or a green tile with a white grout. Then grout can get into the hairline cracks of the glaze that you can't remove. You can prevent this by impregnating the tiles with Tile Sealant (Vlekstop) before grouting. This will seal the hairline cracks for dirt, water and grout. Then you can apply the color grout you want.
Read the installation and treatment manual here how to install Spanish tiles with craquelé.
Craquelé in wet area, what should I do?
Are you going to install the tiles in a shower or other wet area? If so, we recommend impregnating the tiles before grouting. This will prevent water and lime from being absorbed in the crackle finish which can cause water scale.
Cleaning advice:
Always clean Spanish tiles (both with Craquelé and without) with an acid-free cleaning product. The color pigment is made from natural materials and the color may fade or even disappear if you expose it several times to acid cleaning agents. For grout stain, you can use Azule Grout Stain Remover, which is acid free. For dirt you can use Azule Tile Soap or another green soap.
