What makes porcelain different from ceramics?

Since childhood, many have heard: "Porcelain service - only for the holidays!" On weekdays, the family was content with ceramic dishes, and the service was carried to the festive table, to which all the household members should have awe. And why, few people understood, the cups seemed to be made of the same material, and it was difficult to say for sure what porcelain stood out like that. Beautiful, elegant, but then ceramic cups and plates can be so. It is necessary to understand how these materials differ from each other.

Ceramics are products made from various inorganic materials, made under high-thermal exposure. The history of ceramics dates back thousands of years, and all this time the essence of pottery has not changed. Improved technology, changed the design, but the principle of working with clay and its firing essentially remained the same. Initially, as historians suggest, ceramics were made for household amenities - ceramic dishes appeared a long time ago and live today. The first ceramic toys could have a ritual significance.

Porcelain differs from ceramics in that it is not a separate craft, but a kind of fine ceramics. A distinctive feature of porcelain is its visual lightness and the fact that this material is translucent.

It is more graceful, thin and well gives in to a decor. Therefore, porcelain cannot be opposed to ceramics: it is its variety. Ceramics is a very general concept. Ceramist can be called and the one who makes the clay pots, and the one who works on the creation of porcelain figurines.

You do not need to be an expert to fail to distinguish porcelain from other materials. For example, if you very carefully strike it with a regular pencil, the sound will be clear and high. And it is inherent only in this material. The differences of porcelain are in its other features.

• It is just perfect for painting, with each region having its own painting traditions.. From Asia, you will bring an authentic set or separate dishes with traditional patterns and ornaments. Many houses have porcelain cups "even from grandmother." And not everyone knows that tarnishing them is not a reason to throw out the dishes, porcelain can be cleaned, and such a vintage service will decorate your home.
• Preservation of appearance. I must say that porcelain can fade only after many, many years. It is truly unique in terms of external preservation. In the same faience, small web-cracks often appear with time, which simply speaks of natural changes in the material. Porcelain is hard, in this way it compares favorably with its ceramic “brothers”.

As already mentioned, porcelain is a type of pottery. Pottery is thin and coarse. In the first case, the composition has a fine-grained structure, making the shard virtually transparent. The structure of coarse ceramics is coarse-grained, such a mass is used in pottery.

The composition of the porcelain mass is represented by thin mixtures of kaolin, quartz, feldspar, and also aluminosilicates. The material has no pores, so it is more durable, hard, thermally resistant. Many world brands that produce porcelain, classified recipes for their products.

The material itself can be hard and soft. Solid is obtained by double firing under the action of a temperature in excess of +1350 degrees. Soft porcelain is fired at a lower temperature. Visually, it is indistinguishable from solid, although experts consider it to be more fragile material. Hard porcelain is European (the main part of the composition is classical clay) and eastern (not so much kaolin is in its composition). Soft porcelain is European, English and, of course, French.

Porcelain products are never coated with icing or paint by the conveyor method, that is, production. Only hand-painted can preserve and increase the magnificence of the material. Naturally, such an item will cost more.

Porcelain can be differentiated by the following properties:

• at the bottom of the product there is always a bezel that is not touched by the glaze: if it is white, then china is in your hands;
• if the porcelain product is brought to the light, it will be translucent, other ceramic samples cannot boast of this feature;
• if a porcelain product is volumetric, then there will not be a glaze on its bottom (firing is carried out at the highest temperatures, the glazed bottom in this case will trivially stick to the stand);
• remember the "musicality" of porcelain - if you knock on it, the sound will be clear and clear.

Experts well distinguish English porcelain from, for example, French. French material Made from fine-grained glassy mass with glaze, it is ideal for pictorial experiences. English porcelain includes burnt cattle bone, phosphate salts and kaolin, and looks like white alabaster. It is often used for painting with gold and even jewelry.

Other European analogues of kaolin material do not contain, and although they are externally identical to porcelain, their composition is still more to glass. Many such paints can be applied to such material: they are sintered with glaze and make the painting even more transparent and brilliant.

When buying dishes, we have several requirements for it: the price and quality should match each other, the design should not have flaws, finally, the dishes should become part of the kitchen and the house as a whole (and not seem like an alien element). There are several options.

• Ceramics. This is an eco-friendly material, it keeps temperature well, is affordable. The plates are convenient: you can store food in the refrigerator and heat food in the microwave oven.

Here are just the temperature drops material is afraid. Dishes can crack in one moment. Therefore, ceramic cups and plates, when they are still warm or hot, do not wash or rinse with cold water.

• Glass ceramics. These products have higher strength and wear resistance, they will last you longer, but due to the fact that the dishes are stronger and more expensive it will cost. These are thin and elegant plates, cups, salad bowls, convenient for festive table setting and for everyday use. But to say that glass ceramics is not at all afraid of temperature changes is also wrong. Therefore, it is better not to arrange extreme checks for such dishes.
• Porcelain. An elite representative of tableware and that says it all. The lightness, transparency and beautiful jingle of porcelain are difficult to confuse with faience or glass-ceramic. In real porcelain, the edges of the bottom will always be rough, even very old plates will shine through the light.

In most cases, there are all representatives of this ceramic family at home: practical and inexpensive ceramics associated with a home hearth, refined glass ceramics, and luxurious porcelain. Porcelain requires special care., if you, of course, want these products to be passed on to subsequent generations. It is not washed using household chemicals, do not use hot water, wipe it from time to time with a soft cloth.

This material, more precisely, products from it, can be glued and restored. On sale today there are pastes that do not leave a mark at the site of gluing. The only moment is after restoration, porcelain dishes should be used less frequently. But the figurines and vases of porcelain can be stored for a long time and not somewhere in the closet, but in the place of honor.

The dishes are, if not the face of the house, then those same dimples on the cheeks, which seem not so important, but with them come charm and warmth. Even small children say that from one plate the soup tastes better than the other.

About the difference between ceramics and porcelain, see below.