TADELAKT
Tadelakt is a completely waterproof, polished lime plaster made from lime
and finished with olive oil soap. The history of this highly specialized
plastering technique dates back thousands of years. Around Marrakech there
is a natural deposit of limestone that has a unique composition of minerals.
With that nature has given the Moroccan people a material that when burnt
and subsequently extinguished with water results in a high density lime
render. Research has found that this Moroccan lime is highly hydrophobic
and that when compressed and finished with an olive oil based soap produces
a strong and waterproof surface. At first they used the tadelakt as a
technique to waterproof their cisterns. It was not long before tadelakt
became recognized as an unbelievably beautiful finish plaster that can
be coloured and applied on many surfaces. Tadelakt became a highly prized
surface treatment that was widely enjoyed in the traditional North African
hammams and royal palaces and nowadays it has gained new glory thanks
to the new vogue of restoring riads in Morocco. To this day in Morocco,
the tadelakt technique is passed down from master to apprentice in an
unbroken lineage that dates back several thousand years.
| The
word “Tadelakt” comes from the Arabic verb “dlek”
which means to rub, knead, or perhaps most appropriately, “to
caress”. This describes the final step of finishing, where
a smooth river stone is used to burnish the lime with an olive oil
based soap.. For added lustre a coat of wax can be applied. |
 |
