Light and Neutral

Cream Brick Slips

If you're looking for something light and neutral, but still with that beautiful brick character, look no further than our beige and cream brick slips.

Browse our range below across all styles- reclaimed, traditional and contemporary.

All of our prices include VAT

Cream Brick Slips

What Makes a Brick Slip Cream?

So in terms of brick slips, a simple answer is that the bricks that these slips are cut from are cream or beige in their base colours, meaning the faces we cut off to use as tiles are the same.

Primarily the way bricks come to be cream is based on the mineral composition of the base clay used. Beige bricks come from clay with a low content of, or indeed no, iron oxide, meaning the redness you may associate with brick does not develop. This can also be enhanced by other additives such as calcium oxide which are mostly added in production.

The other aspect is the firing temperature of the bricks- neutral light colours are much better produced by slightly lower temperatures- around 1,000 degrees Celsius as opposed to 1,500 degrees Celsius for example will produce a much lighter product.

As we've come to understand more about firing bricks across the last century, we are able to manipulate the mineral content, firing length and temperature to get specific outcomes in colour, pattern and texture. However, brick is still crafted from natural clay so natural variation is always present.

 

How Are They Made?

Our range of cream brick slips are cut from full bricks. This means that a 'stock brick' i.e one pushed into a cuboid mould will have the character, specifically creasing and imperfect cuboid shape, created by that amount of clay being pressed. Once the brick is fired we can then cut each side off the brick to create 2 brick slips.

Our reclaimed collection has extra processes applied after the brick is made (but before cutting). They go through a tumbling process (like a big cement mixer) to not only misshape the bricks, but with application of slurries for some blends to create a more weathered look. After this process they can then be cut into the brick slips.

  

How Are They Different From Each Other?

The temperature of firing, oxygen levels, length of firing and type/quantity of minerals present mean that there is a variation in colour between each blend, and the slips within each blend too. Each brick type is made to satisfy a different colour palette.

 Our blend 71 has ingredients which activate the colouring process after production- stimulated by water activating salts in the clay, it starts as a brown face and then develops to be much whiter, creating a white and tan mix appearing as neutral cream and beige tones.

Things To Be Aware of With Cream Brick Slips

Cream brick slips are a beautiful way to give a light yet characterful appearance to your project, it's important to understand the balance in some of our blends.

The variation in quantities of lighter to darker colours can vary - from beige to white in blend 10 for example, or tan to white in blend 71.

It's also important to note that when wet they will appear much darker, and can appear more monotone as salts won't show, which create the lighter shades.

With such a light colour the mortar makes a much larger impact than on darker shades.

See below the effect that the different mortar colours can have on our cream brick slips.

Shoe racking in River Island Trafford Centre with a beige neutral brick slip backdrop.

Frame Your Slips

Paired with Grey Mortar

Grey Mortar is the classic colour, with a cream brick slip it becomes the darker aspect - framing each individual slip more as a focus and making it more defined.

A log burning stove sits centrally in a brick slip fireplace, the cream and beige tiles around the front to form pillars.

Blend it together

With Cream Mortar

Using cream mortar will pull the whole wall together as one. Whilst you'll get colour variations popping out on most blends- the cream will sit as a backdrop with a similar colour to most, almost unnoticeable.

Cream Brick Slip Fireplace

Lighten it up

With White Mortar

To give an extra lightness to your project you should use white mortar. Rather than a contrast with darker brick slips, with the cream blends it will subtly lighten the whole project.

A neutral brick slip chimney breast in a light room with an inset electric fire. There is shelving in the alcove next to it housing pictures and plants.

Get Inspired

Need help finding the 'look' for your wall? Why not browse our inspiration page.

Get Inspired