Solving warping on ceramic tile production

Making flat tiles is often a major challenge for artisan tile production. In my experience
there are three main issues that contribute to the problem of tile warping. First is the quality
of the clay itself. The second is the method of creation (rolling out, extruding, stamping,
cutting or molding the tiles) and the third issue is the drying of the finished tile.

Quality of the clay: Ideally your clay body should be formulated properly for tile making.
This usually means stiff clay with a lot of grog in it and a low overall shrinkage as opposed
to plastic clay for modeling or throwing. You might be able to create great tile with
porcelain or sculpting clay but it will be much easier if you stick to a product that is
designed for tile. Most large ceramic suppliers offer at least one or two clays suitable for
tile making. I like my tile clay to be old, hard and on the dry side because this seems to
make warping less likely.

The method of manufacture: Most of my tiles are press-molded in plaster molds. I wedge
the clay well and roll it out by hand (with a rolling pin) in several directions, flipping the
clay slab over at least once or twice during this process. It is good to make sure there are no
air bubbles in the blank; if you see any bubbles, pop them with a needle tool. Clay is then
pressed into the mold (by hand and with a rolling pin in my studio) but options include
different types of tile presses or a rubber mallet. After the clay sits in the mold a couple of
hours I pop the tile right out onto a piece of sheetrock where it can sit until the next day.
Avoid handling, lifting or moving the soft tile. This can stretch it and deform it and will
increase the likelihood of warping.

I don't use an extruder or slab roller but these both have timesaving advantages. I've read
that a slab roller may induce stresses into a clay slab if you only roll it one direction. So it
may help to flip the slab over and roll it back through a second time the other direction.
Slabs may be cut, sculpted, stamped, etc. for decorative effect. Always minimize handling
the slab because plastic memory will cause warping in the drying and/or firing stages. Keep
the wet clay flat on a board. If you need to slide it around, roll the clay out onto sheets of
newsprint or a piece of cloth. Then pull the cloth or paper by the edges to move the slab.
Don't bend the clay at this point or warping will almost certainly occur.

Drying the finished tile: A important step in trouble-shooting your tile-warping issues is to
consider how the wet tile is drying after you have made it. You may have too much drying
occurring from the top or perhaps too much from the bottom. Your tiles may be drying out
too quickly in an uncontrolled manner. I have found that gradual, even drying from all sides
is best.

As an example, consider a wet riverbank or mud flat. As it dries out on a warm sunny day,
the topside will dry faster. The heat from the sun shrinks the top layer of mud or clay,
causing it to contract. The edges of mud flat (or the tile) will pull upward, creating
warping.
This mud flat shows uneven drying due to heat from the sun on the upper surface and little
or no drying on the bottom.

If you see a tile with this problem, you know that it has dried unevenly, with excessive
shrinkage on top due to heat or air circulation and limited drying from below.

If the reverse is true, and your tile's center is bowing upwards while the sides/edges are
going down, then the tile is drying too fast from beneath. When you roll out a thin slab of
clay onto sheetrock and let it sit there too long, this is what usually happens. The plaster in
the sheetrock absorbs moisture faster than the tile releases water to the air, hence the
bottom is too dry while the top is too moist.
 I dried this tile (left) on
the top of a warm kiln. There is greater shrinkage (contraction) on the bottom side and an
upward curve to the top side because it dried faster from below. If your tiles exhibit either
concave or convex warping traits in the green stage, it is too late to fix them in my
experience. They will stay like this from bisque fire through high fire; they will never relax
and flatten out again. It is best just to start over.

I mostly solve the uneven drying problem by keeping my green tiles on a piece of sheetrock
for no more than 24 hours or until stiff enough to lift without bowing. Then they go right
onto a rigid metal rack to air dry where they stay until ready for bisque firing. Once on a
rack, the tiles will dry evenly top and bottom.

Below::Home-made drying rack using closet organizer shelves (plastic coated wire rack)
with wood framing.

Working with large tiles presents its own set of challenges. They may be loosely draped in
plastic sheeting to slow down the drying. I also keep my studio on the cool side (around 60
degrees F) so things don't dry too rapidly. To create drying racks, you can visit a home
improvement store and buy wire shelves for closet organizers. Also useful are steel oven
racks or rigid plastic grills used to diffuse light from overhead fixtures. My local second-
hand store sells the closet organizer racks for only a couple bucks each. This is a great deal
compared to retail price! I recently invested in a couple of metal bakery racks on wheels
that have adjustable wire shelves. These hold a lot of tiles and can be rolled around your
studio.

If you are making flat tile (field tile, for example), you could sandwich the trimmed tiles
between rigid boards made of sheetrock. However, this technique does not work well for
tiles having raised, decorative surfaces. The high points will get squished! And it is a lot of
effort to change out the boards daily to keep the tiles drying steadily.

In conclusion, it helps to experiment with different clays, drying techniques and ways of
handling the clay during the creation of your tiles. Over time you should discover what
works best in your own studio. I hope these tips will help other tile-makers overcome those
warped tiles blues!