When you order moroccan tiles, it is always custom made for you. 

Understanding the basics of zellij production process will help you plan ahead of time and will make you appreciate more your product knowing what it takes to make it for you.

01 Preparation of the clay

Once collected from the quarries of Fez, the clay is mixed in large basins and let sit for at least 48 hours until a homogeneous paste is formed.

02 Sun Drying and Molding

The clay is shaped into rectangle with wooden molds measuring of 10 cm by 20 cm or 4" by 8". These bricks of clay are then dried in the hot sun for a few days.

03 Forming

Once sundried, the rough clay bricks are manually cut in two distinct shapes, 5 cm by 15 cm or 2" by 6 " for the terracotta family and 10 cm by 10 com or 4" by 4" for the zellij family. The later is the base for all our handcut ceramic and mosaic tiles.

04 Baking

The shaped and formed clay is sundried for a second time in the shade, then baked firstly at low temperature. Once the moisture is completely out, the kiln is fired at high temperature to bake the tile. This process takes a few weeks.

First finished product from production process step 1

First production step results in two product families:

• Natural Unglazed Terracotta
• Natural Unglazed Zellij which will be cut in ceramic and mosaic tile shapes

05 Glazing

Natural terracotta and Zellij are both glazed using the same old techniques of dip glazing.

After the glaze has been applied, the tiles are stacked like a deck of cards inside our traditional beehive kiln for a second baking.

The final glazed tiles are then cut into specific shapes from basic square tiles to more complex geometric shapes.

This is the last step of production where your mosaics are assembled in either interlocking units or custom fitted based on client’s choice.

09 Shipping

This is the last step of production where your mosaics are scheduled for shipping after cleaning, quality control and packing​.