Tadelakt - the traditional Moroccan plaster that fascinated me

I was doing some research the other day and came across the photo below. I was first attracted by the very old atmosphere created in spite of the modern fittings, the way the wood had been finished to fit in with the atmosphere and decided to find out more about how the decor had been created. I've been in a trance ever since. It's been days of reading non-stop, talking to everyone, watching tutorials, figuring out techniques. And to top it all, it's not about wood, my lifelong passion, but about a traditional Moroccan plaster, which is as old as time. It's called Tadelakt and I've learned so many interesting things about it that I feel the need to tell you about it, especially because it's a natural plaster and, with a little preparation, you can do it yourself. I know it's not about wood, but trust me, you'll love it. Plus, it goes perfectly with wood.

Tadelakt is both a product and a technique. You cannot have one without the other. You can't just apply the product anyway and get the same result, just as you can't use the technique on just any plaster. Tadelakt product is nothing but a burned lime from the Moroccan desert, but the special and very old processing technique results in solid and noble surfaces with a fine sheen and depth, with slight curves, imperfections and rounded corners, having natural colors that change according to the light.

The technique is very old, having been used in Morocco for thousands of years. At first it was used to seal water tanks inside to prevent water from leaking out. It was then extended to finishing the walls of steam baths specific to the Arab world (Turkish baths), the walls of palaces, museums and inside homes. The final marble-like effect is similar to that of "stucco veneziano", but it is different in terms of resistance and the way it is made.

In brief, the technique is as follows. On natural supports (clay, stone, mineral plaster) apply this lime mixed with a quantity of water with a trowel. Leave to dry, then apply a second coat, which can be the same or to which natural pigments are added to color it. The color of natural Tadelakt is yellowish gray.

When this has also dried, sanding is started with a stone. This compacts the lime and hardens it. The stone must be hard, smooth, shiny, without pores and with rounded edges. In size it can range from the size of a matchbox to that of a packet of cigarettes. After sanding, the surface is not perfectly flat, like the walls that used to be 'plastered' with clay in the country. Nor is the color perfectly uniform, with different shades depending on the light.

Once the entire surface has been sanded with the stone, within 24 hours at most so as not to dry it very hard, a solution of black Moroccan soap made from olive oil (its color is actually dark green) is applied. The soap reacts with the lime to form a water-insoluble substance that protects the surface from moisture. This is basically what happens when we wash our hands with soap using hard water, very rich in calcium. The result is a greasy substance that is not soluble and remains on the hands even though the water will be running continuously. It also remains on the finished surface making it water resistant. The traditional method uses black soap, but any vegetable soap can be used. Marseilles soap, a natural product used for washing floorboards, but also for finishing with soap which I told you about recently, can be used without any problems. At the end, the surface is polished with punica wax to achieve a mirror shine.

The resulting surface is very beautiful and water-resistant. It can be used to finish bath tubs or washbasins, bathroom or shower partitions, vanities, table tops or spaces built in bathrooms and kitchens and covered with mineral plaster. Kitchen cabinets can be built in this way, with wood used only for doors.

The finish has its weak points. It is not resistant to mechanical and chemical aggression. Abrasive and acidic materials are not recommended for cleaning. But surfaces finished with Tadelakt are resistant to soiling and can be easily cleaned with a wet cloth or soap and water.

Tadelakt is a natural and healthy finish for both body and home. It is also available at Naturalpaint and is produced by Kreidezeit, a German company specializing in natural materials and finishing techniques. Unlike the traditional product from the Moroccan desert, whose composition is always different, the one produced by Kreidezeit has a well-defined and constant composition, so the results are reproducible.

Besides the product, Naturalpaint also provides information on how to apply, learned at workshops organized by Kreidezeit. One such workshop was recently attended by distributor in Bucharest.

It didn't escape me and he had to give me (on loan, I'm not that rapacious 🙂 ) the book written by the Kreidezeit people after the documentation period in Morocco. It's impressive how much effort they put into learning as much as they could about the materials used, the techniques. And that's not because the Moroccans wouldn't want to share the secrets, but because the method has been passed down from generation to generation orally, without written documents, like most traditional techniques. They had to go into the desert to see the lumps of lime and the kilns, to watch the craftsmen at work, to analyze the stones, wax, soap and other materials used. And so the materials could be reproduced as faithfully as possible, and the technique learned directly from the source.

I could go on and on about techniques, materials, stones, hardness of stones, types of waxes and so much more, but I think I have to stop. I will come back to the subject because, for those who want houses made with natural materials and traditional techniques, it is certainly an interesting one.