During your search for the perfect tile, you may have noticed that some collections look like cookie cutter versions of each other, while other collections have a huge variation between each tile within the same color group. This is what we call shade variation. and it’s a standard part of the tile manufacturing process, especially in porcelain tiles.

Over time, the printing process of tiles has gotten much more sophisticated. Because of this, you’re probably seeing more and more collections that offer a wider variety of variation. This allows the manufacturer to better emulate the look of natural stone or wood in a lower maintenance option, like porcelain.

This may seem a little confusing at first, but that’s why we’re here! Keep reading for a more detailed explanation of this rating system.

What is Shade Variation Exactly?

First, it’s important to know that there’s a difference between natural shade variation and intentional shade variation. Natural shade variation is something that happens during the manufacturing process that’s unavoidable. This happens because during the manufacturing process, certain work conditions/factors may differ slightly from batch to batch and dye lot to dye lot. It’s very similar to baking cookies:

• Batch to batch - think of this as the variation you may notice from one batch of cookies to another made from the same dough. The temperature of the oven may change slightly between batches due to you opening and shutting the oven to move cookies in and out of the oven.

• Dye lot to dye lot - think of it like cookies made from the same recipe but on different days. The cookies may taste or appear slightly different due to slight changes in the ingredients (how soft your butter is, how much flour you used, how much baking soda/powder you put in, etc.) or changes humidity/temperature in your kitchen.

This is something you need to bear in mind when selecting your tile. The tile in our showroom or the sample you get may end up being slightly different than the tiles you get in your order due to different batches or dye lots. Generally the difference isn’t too extreme and we always do our best to ensure your entire order comes from the same batch/dye lot.

Shade variation is also something that the manufacturers do intentionally, depending on how they want the final product to look or if they’re trying to mimic a natural material such as stone or wood. To help make sense of shade variation, the Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA) came up with a shade variation rating system around 2001. The shade variation rating of a tile indicates the degree to which its color, tone and texture vary among individual tiles. The CTDA shade variation rating system for porcelain and ceramic tile consists of the following categories:

V1 - Uniform appearance

V1 tiles have an overall uniform appearance. Differences among each tile from the same production will have little to no variation. If you want each and every tile to be virtually identical to each other, make sure to look for a collection with a V1 rating.

V2 - Slight Variation

V2 tiles will have slight variations, including clearly distinguishable differences in texture and/or pattern within similar colors. It’s not so significant that one tile looks completely different from another tile but within the batches of boxes you’re definitely going to notice some level of variation.

V3 - Moderate Variation

Tiles are moderately variant and although the colors and/or textures present on a single piece are indicative of the colors and/or textures on another, the amount of colors and/or textures on each piece may vary significantly. While the colors present on a single piece of tile will be indicative of the colors to be expected on the other tiles, the number of colors on each piece may vary significantly. For example "that little bit of color" on one piece of tile may be the primary color on the next piece.

V4 - Substantial Variation

V4 tiles are substantially variant with random color and/or texture differences from tile to tile, where on tile may have totally different colors and/or textures from another. There will be random color differences from tile to tile, so that one tile may have totally different colors from that of other tiles. Thus the final installation will be unique.

In conclusion, whether you are looking for a uniform tile or something with a little more variation, paying attention and understanding the shade variation rating will be a crucial part of your tile selecting journey. We highly recommend coming into one of our showrooms to see the tiles in person as well as taking a look at the installation images on each product page. This will give a better idea of what to expect from each collection before you commit to an order and will ensure that you get the look you want and be 100% satisfied with the final result.