In terms of how they are manufactured there is no difference between glazed and unglazed ceramic and porcelain tile other than the fact that glazed tiles undergo an additional phase in the firing process.
Difference between ceramic and glazed tiles.
Unglazed ceramic and porcelain tiles gain their colour from mineral deposits that were present in the clay from which the tiles were composed or by the addition of natural pigments.
Ceramic tile can be slightly more prone to water infiltration than is porcelain tile though these differences are fairly minimal if the ceramic tile is glazed.
Instead a dye is mixed in with the clay before it is fired.
The size is generally 600 800 for floor tiles and glazed tiles are usually in 300 300.
How do you choose between glazed vs unglazed ceramic tiles.
Ceramic tile is fired at lower temperatures generally no more than 1 650 degrees fahrenheit.
During this additional process a layer of liquid glass is added to glazed tiles by means of very high temperatures.
The glass is what makes glazed tiles so highly moisture and stain resistant and what gives them their colour.
The difference between the various colors of the brick surface will not be too obvious but the glazed tiles are not the same.
This is the simple difference between glazed and unglazed tiles.
The color of polished tiles is relatively simple and there will not have much change.
After the ceramic tiles are fired a thin coat of liquefied glass is applied over the top surface.
Instead of being glazed vitrified tiles are either polished or unpolished.