When you think of natural marble, you might immediately associate it with luxury, nobility, and elegance. Indeed, natural marble has long been a classic choice for interior wall coverings.
However, a material that closely resembles natural marble—faux marble wall panels—has recently gained popularity. These panels mimic the look of various realistic marbles while being lighter, more affordable, and requiring less maintenance. They were once considered a perfect alternative to natural marble.
However, the near-identical appearance of these faux marble wall panels makes it difficult for many homeowners and designers to visually distinguish them.
This article details several effective methods for identifying artificial marble to help you make an informed choice.
Faux marble is a composite material that isn't mined from the ground. It's made from a blend of PVC resin, calcium carbonate, pigments, and additives.
It's designed to mimic the surface of real marble and offers a lightweight, durable, low-cost, and easy-to-maintain solution. It can help you reduce your project budget without sacrificing style.
Understanding the differences between faux marble and natural marble will help you gain a deeper understanding of both materials and ensure you make the right choice by evaluating various factors during your project procurement process.
Price Difference: Natural marble is expensive and difficult to mine, transport, cut, and install. On the contrary, faux marble is affordable, lightweight, and easy to work with.
Product Performance: Natural marble is hard, heat-resistant, and impact-resistant. Faux marble is lighter and less durable than natural marble.
Cleaning and Maintenance: Natural marble requires regular sanding and polishing to maintain its beautiful finish. Faux marble requires virtually no maintenance.
Appearance: Each piece of natural marble has a unique appearance and texture, making it difficult to replicate. Faux marble can be mass-produced to create a consistent appearance, thus maintaining a consistent decorating style.
Here are 6 ways you can tell the difference between natural marble and artificial marble:
Visual inspection is the most straightforward way to distinguish between artificial and natural marble, but it often requires some expertise or home renovation experience.
Natural marble: Its color and veining are irregular and unique.
Faux marble: Its surface veining is shallow, with distinct lines. Over a large area, you'll easily notice the highly consistent surface of these slabs.
The temperature and feel of the slab can help you quickly distinguish between two materials:
Natural marble: It feels cool and heavy, and may have a slightly rough surface.
Cultured marble: It feels relatively warm, usually close to room temperature. The surface is very smooth, glossy, and reflective.
Natural marble: It's heavy and has a substantial feel. Large pieces of natural marble are difficult to move.
Faux marble: It's lightweight and easy to carry.
Take a small piece of both natural marble and faux marble and gently tap the surface with your finger. You can use the sound to determine the difference:
Natural marble: When tapping, the sound is slightly dull and low.
Faux marble: When tapped, it has a crisp, resonant sound.
Natural marble: Its surface is porous and easily absorbs water. After being soaked in water for a long time, its color will change from light to dark.
Cut a small piece of natural marble and place it in an acidic solution. You will notice numerous small bubbles appearing on the surface, accompanied by a hissing sound.
Faux marble: faux marble wall panels are non-porous and protected by a dense PVC coating. After immersion, the surface leaves virtually no water stains and can be easily wiped clean with a rag.
Similarly, cut a small piece of artificial marble wall panel and place it in an acidic solution. It shows little visible corrosion (except in strong acid solutions).
Note: When performing the acid test, be sure to protect yourself to avoid injury to your hands or eyes.
If you want 100% accurate identification results, we recommend using professional testing methods:
Density testing: Cut short samples of equal volume from natural and artificial marble, weigh each, and calculate their density using the formula ρ = m / V. Natural marble is heavier and has a higher density than artificial marble of the same volume.
Compositional analysis: Short samples are cut and analyzed for their mineral composition to determine if they are true marble.
As you can see, there are many ways to identify faux marble. Simple visual inspection, feel, and sound are usually sufficient. For more precise results, you can calculate its density or perform a composition test.
Using these methods, you can confidently distinguish between faux marble and natural marble, ensuring you choose the most suitable material for your interior.
If you have any questions about faux marble wall panels, please feel free to contact CREATEKING's expert team, who are ready to assist you.
