Tiles that look like stone

Imitating natural materials is very difficult: it is necessary to obtain variegated surfaces, different textures, shading... in nature each piece is different from another and the beauty of a floor lies in the composition of different slabs. This situation is clearly impossible to achieve in an industrial product, but today, thanks to a series of recent innovations, we are able to provide you with extremely realistic products.
The most important of these innovations is the one we are dedicating this article to:digital printing on ceramic tiles

Absorbency and dirtiness of stoneware and stone

Whether you are considering flooring the interior or exterior of your home, one of the first factors to take into account is the ease with which the floor can become dirty (dirtiness) or, indeed, the ability of the floor to absorb staining agents and thus be permanently damaged. 

A natural product needs to be protected from ruinous events such as this, whereas stoneware is almost completely non-absorbent. In addition, stoneware tiles can be cleaned with any type of detergent, without worrying too much about damaging them. Something that cannot be said for stone. 
If you want to know more about the cleanability of stoneware, I leave you with this article: cleaning porcelain stoneware

Durability of stoneware? 

You don't have to worry about archaeologists discovering 5,000-year-old ceramic amphorae to know that stoneware has characteristics that guarantee incredible durability. Its mechanical strength, resistance to surface friction, shear, chemicals and frost is superior to almost any other floor stone you can use. The only products that have a hardness comparable to porcelain stoneware are granites and porphyries. 

You can learn more about this topic with this article:  Porcelain stoneware: features and types

Otherwise, find out all the characteristics of stoneware in the various in-depth articles below:

Stone effect stoneware: uses you may not have heard of

Stoneware, like porcelain stoneware in general, is a very versatile material. It can be used for indoor and outdoor flooring, as well as in wall tiles and for creating furniture. If you are creative enough, especially with the use of thinner and thinner tiles, you can cover entire walls and surfaces!

Here are many of the environments and uses you may not have known about:

Stone effect tiles: large slabs

Today, porcelain stoneware tiles are also produced in the large slab format, reaching a length of up to three metres in height. Thanks to their size and reduced thickness, they can be used to cover many surfaces. 

The most common use is in the bathroom as a wall covering, unlike the old, small tiles, which are now very dated. But, as we have seen before, stoneware can be used to cover any wall and even furniture! So think of a stone effect wall in the living room, or a stone effect kitchen countertop, or a faux stone bar counter, or even a fireplace at home. The stone effect will allow you to reproduce the beauty of the natural material, without being as delicate and absorbent as natural stone itself.

You can find out everything about large slabs in the dedicated WIKI: Large porcelain stoneware slabs

Stone effect stoneware for outdoor floors?

Yes, stone effect porcelain stoneware is one of the most popular outdoor floorings. It offers guarantees of durability and frost resistance, extreme ease of cleaning combined with the (equally durable) aesthetics of stone. 

There are many different versions of stoneware for exteriors. The first distinction we make is based on style, according to which we will distinguish rustic paving, with rounded, irregular or scaled edges, from modern paving with straight, rectified edges. 

Read more about this in the dedicated article: exterior stoneware floors

Stoneware with high thickness

Today you can choose from a wide range of thick stone effect tiles that can be laid dry, without the use of adhesives. By high thickness we mean a thickness varying between 18 and 20 millimetres, but it must be said that for environments with very heavy traffic there are also stonewares with a thickness of 3 centimetres or more.

We talk about them at length in this article:  high thichness stoneware for outdoors

Other effects of stoneware besides stone

Porcelain stoneware, as you may have guessed, can reproduce, more or less faithfully, different patterns and textures to resemble natural materials, but offering the advantages of ceramic material. 

If the stone effect is not what you are looking for, perhaps you would like to look at the other effects available:

Here are some photos and projects where stone effect stoneware has been used. Get inspiration for your home!