What is a mineral fibre ceiling tile?

Mineral fibre tiles are the most popular and widely used type of suspended ceiling tile. Mineral fibre tiles are manufactured using a variety of recycled and natural materials including recycled newsprint, clay, perlite, starch and fibreglass, with different quantities of each being used depending on the characteristics and performance of the tile. Certain ceiling tile manufacturers are well known for using a particular type of material for their ceiling tiles, for example, Rockfon ceiling tiles are manufactured using stone wool. A mineral fibre tile that contains more fibreglass or mineral wool is known as ‘soft’ and allows a higher level of sound absorption but less sound attenuation/insulation than a ‘hard’ mineral fibre tile. This is because ‘hard’ mineral fibre tiles contain more clay, which is heavier/denser and therefore provides better insulation.