Glossary

Ceramic materials have excellent hardness and strength values. The hardness of a ceramic tile or slab is expressed as a number which refers to a mineral included on the Mohs scale. The higher the number, the greater the hardness of the corresponding mineral. Natural finish porcelain stoneware has hardness >6 and as high as 8 points on the Mohs scale, equivalent to that of a gemstone such as topaz. This explains why stoneware tiles are so resistant to scratching.