Articles
Create Mother of Pearl Tile or Concrete Effects with Sealer
As we have discovered through our customers, our Illusion Pearls , metal flakes and candies work incredibly well as a way to make special effects concrete and tile flooring or countertops. We have also discovered that the main company selling pearl additives for concrete effect sealer is charging $90.00 for a 4 ounce quantity. That is about 4 times the amount we charge (for the same product). We have sold our products to many concrete effects designers and have had incredible success using our Illusion Pearls and candy pearl pigments in sealer to create very expensive looking concrete flooring,
Ordinary Slate Tiles from Home Depot – Untreated.
Pictures do these tiles no justice!
We purchased some bargain slate tiles from the Home Depot at 1.49 per square foot. I treated them with various different colors of Illusion Pearls mixed at a ratio of 1 25 gram bag per quart of concrete and tile sealer. I used the glossy sealer, but the pearls can also be used in a matte sealer. Let’s take a look at the before and after. These pictures were taken in the sun at two different angles, because the colors of the Illusion Pearls only show up in reflected light. At some angles, the Illusion Pearls will be invisible. Keep in mind that the camera cannot come close to capturing the shininess of the pearl, but our shimmer Illusion Pearls are much more reflective than the satin Illusion Pearls. We used Gold Shimmer Ghost pearl, Blue Satin Ghost Pearl, Red Ghost Pearl, and Green Ghost pearl. We also added the four different colors of ghost pearl to a single tile, and were able to create very simply an effect that resembled an abalone shell in the slate tile. This was achieved with 4 paper towels, dipped into the 4 different colors of pearl that we mixed with the sealer. I randomly swirled small spots of different colors onto different areas of tile. This was my very first attempt, and it came out awesome, with very little effort.
The great thing about this “mother of pearl” look is that it can be done on a large scale after the tiles are laid, but before you put down the grout. Can you imagine what this would look like on concrete countertops? This requires no special tools and can be done by just about anyone. We have seen similar looking tiles sell for over ten dollars per square foot, while we estimate that this effect only adds .10 cents or less per square foot to total cost of the slate tile.* The beauty is, with our bulk discounts, that could mean a much bigger savings for larger flooring areas. At this price, you are adding a degree of luxury that could potentially make a relatively inexpensive floor look incredibly luxurious for a tiny fraction of the cost of expensive tiles. Also keep in mind that our Illusion Pearls will never fade, so they can be used in exterior applications as well, and will last as long as the sealer they are mixed with. Some of the most common sealers you will find, like these from Home Depot..
