

Types of pigments for bricks manufacturing

Pigments used in bricks making
Pigmented veneer cobble stones

Ever wondered how bricks are made to have those beautiful red, brown or burnt shades that makes buildings seductively aesthetic ? We will give you different types of pigments used in bricks making and how they work.

Pigments in bricks are raw materials used to give bricks different colours to suit different color needs, from the custom red to fired clay shades and ash greys, any color is virtually achievable with brick pigments.

 A brick is a rectangular clay-based stone that is produced both by fired or non-fired method which is used to decorate walls as in veneer bricks or make walls eg structural bricks and also to make pavements and for building construction. Bricks can be made in varieties of colours (which are determined by the raw materials blended in the clay mixture and the method used in firing the clay) and thickness like 4 wide and 8 inches long, bricks can even be made in thin slices called brick tiles for superficial wall decorations.

 In colouring bricks, the colour of the final brick products is always determined by an added iron compounds which includes hematite, limonite and pyrite. Another method of colouring bricks is by firing it up in a reduced atmosphere in a high tempreture kiln to achieve varying degrees of shades. Firing makes The typical red colour of bricks change to gold, brown and black depending on the degree on which the fire is being introduced and the tempreture of the kiln.


They are mostly available and so are commonly used during bricks making. Iron oxide pigments are alkaline resistant, chemically stable and insoluble in polar solvents like water. Iron Pigment has two basic classes which is SYNTHETIC AND NATURAL.
Synthetic Iron Oxide Pigments are products made by using a source of known metal and oxidized under a very controlled condition. This method yields brilliant colours like red, yellow and black and has high tinting strengths.  Natural Iron Oxides Pigments are gotten from natural ore deposits that are mined; this can be in dried, pulverized or classified form. Natural Iron Oxides produces earth toned colours like red, brown and yellow color types in bricks. Unlike Synthetic Iron Oxides, they have low tinting strength. One advantage of natural iron oxide pigment is that Colour consistency is easier to control using Natural Iron Pigments.

Titanium dioxide is a white type of brick pigmentation source that can be used to lighten up bricks made with gray cement, titanum dioxide won’t make the brick to be pure white but it will brighten it up to  a shade of gray.

If you desire green colored bricks, then your best bet is chromium is used to achieve green cloured bricks and it is long lasting it comes in chromium oxide and cobalt oxide colours.

It is slso very important to note that, synthetic Pigments can come in vibrant colours like violet, pure red and canary yellow and this form of pigment is more powerful than Iron Oxide pigments so less is needed to get the desired depth of colour during brick making.

Pigments can also be powdered which can either be in loose or granulated form. Granulated pigments are fine particles of pigment bound together with a water soluble binder. Or liquid Pigments which comes in solid pigment particles form suspended in liquid which helps to keep the pigment suspended for the period of measuring and dosing.

Therefore no matter the desired color property you wish to achieve during brick making, you will be amazed to realize what you can achieve with numerous pigments types out there for brick making.