What is the difference between porcelain and ceramics?

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

Pottery is a product made from various inorganic materials made under high-temperature exposure. The history of ceramics dates back thousands of years, and all this time the essence of pottery has not changed. The technologies improved, the design changed, 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 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 elegant, subtle and lends itself well to decor. Therefore, porcelain can not be opposed to ceramics: it is its variety. Ceramics is too general a concept. A ceramist can be called the one who makes clay pots, and the one who works on the creation of porcelain figurines.

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

• It is just perfect for painting, and each region has its own painting traditions. From Asia, you will bring an authentic service or a separate dish with traditional patterns and ornaments. Many houses have porcelain cups “from their grandmother”. And not everyone knows that their tarnishing is not a reason to throw away dishes, porcelain can be cleaned, and such a vintage service will become an adornment of 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 security. The same faience often develops small cobwebs-cracks over time, which simply indicates natural changes in the material. Porcelain is solid, it compares favorably with its ceramic "brothers".

As already mentioned, porcelain is a type of ceramic. Ceramics are thin and rough. In the first case, the composition has a fine-grained structure, which makes 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 aluminosilicates. The material has no pores, so it is more durable, solid, thermally resistant. Many global porcelain brands have classified their recipes.

The material itself can be hard and soft. Solid receive technology of double firing under the influence of temperature exceeding +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. Solid porcelain is European (the main part of the composition is classical clay) and oriental (there are not so many kaolin in the composition). Soft porcelain is European, English and, of course, French.

Porcelain products are never coated with glaze or paint in a conveyor way, i.e. production. Only hand-painted can preserve and enhance the magnificence of the material. Naturally, such an item will cost more.

You can differentiate porcelain by the following properties:

• at the bottom of the product there is always a rim that is not touched by glaze: if it is white, then in your hands - porcelain;
• if a porcelain product is brought to light, it will be visible, other ceramic samples cannot boast of this feature;
• if the porcelain product is voluminous, there will be no glaze on its bottom (firing is carried out at the highest temperatures, the glazed bottom in this case will cling to the stand);
• remember about the “musicality” of china - if you knock on it, the sound will be clear and clear.

Specialists distinguish English porcelain from, for example, French. French stuff made of fine-grained glassy mass with glaze, it is ideal for painting experiments. English porcelain includes burnt bone of cattle, phosphate salts and kaolin, and looks like white alabaster. It is often used for gilding and even jewelry.

Other European analogues of the kaolin material do not contain, and although outwardly identical to porcelain, their composition nevertheless gravitates toward glass. Many colors can be applied to such material: they are sintered with glaze and make the painting even more transparent, shiny.

When buying dishes, we make several demands on them: price and quality must correspond to each other, the design should not have flaws, and finally, the dishes should become part of the kitchen and the home as a whole (and not seem like an alien element). There are several options.

• Ceramics. This is an environmentally friendly material, it holds temperature very well and is affordable in terms of price. Plates are convenient: they can store food in the refrigerator and heat food in a microwave oven.

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

• Glass ceramic. These products have higher strength and wear resistance, they will last you longer, but due to the fact that the dishes are stronger and will cost more. These are thin and elegant plates, cups, salad bowls, convenient for a 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 on such dishes.
• China. An elite representative of tableware and that’s it. It is difficult to confuse lightness, transparency and beautiful clink of porcelain with faience or glass ceramics. Real porcelain will always have rough edges of the bottom, even very old plates will shine through in the light.

In most cases, the houses have all the representatives of this ceramic family: practical and inexpensive ceramics associated with the home, refined glass ceramics, as well as luxurious porcelain. Porcelain requires special careif, of course, you want these products to be passed on to future generations. They do not wash it with 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 on the place of bonding. The only moment is after restoration, the use of porcelain as intended will be less necessary. But porcelain figurines and vases can be stored for a long time and not somewhere in the closet, but in the most honorable place.

Dishes are, if not the face of the house, then the very dimples on the cheeks, which seem to be not so important, but charm and warmth come with them. Even small children say that soup is tastier from one plate than from another.

About how ceramic differs from porcelain, see below.