Glass is widely used in furniture for its clarity, wide design adaptability, thinness, and practicality.
This article will introduce seven types of glass commonly used in furniture and their advantages, disadvantages, and practicality.
Lacquered Glass
Lacquered glass, also known as back-painted glass. It is common for home use, especially in the kitchen area. Its colored appearance adds design to the space and attracts people’s attention.
Lacquered glass is coated with a colored coating on one of its surfaces, which is made of a highly durable and not transparent lacquer to baked and cured in an oven. Once cured, lacquered glass has a smooth surface that is highly resistant to scratches, which protects the glass finish from damage.
In addition, it is moisture and heat-resistant, withstanding temperatures of up to 80°C, making it an excellent choice for highly humid areas.
Here are the details of lacquered glass:
| Advantages: |
| 1. High UV resistance, fade resistant, the colored coating will not fade over time. |
| 2. Durable, moisture and heat-resistant, scratch-resistant, and highly sustainable |
| 3. Eco-friendly: back-painted glass is manufactured to meet the strictest regulations for controlling emissions of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds commonly known as VOCs, and is 100% recyclable and non-toxic |
| 4. Flexible: cutting, drilling, edge finishing, polishing, etc. |
| Disadvantages: |
| Not transparent in appearance， not allowing any light to pass through. |
| Safety: Can be further processed into tempered glass/laminated glass |
| Glass Thickness for furniture: |
| No weight-bearing table tops: 3/16″,1/4″ (5 mm, 6 mm)—(Available :small table, end table, side table, etc) |
| Weight-bearing table tops: 5/16″, 3/8″, 1/2″ (8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm)—(Available :Big table top, coffee table, dining table, etc.) |
Textured glass
Texture glass is heat pressed with a textured roller engraved on one or both sides of the flat glass, and then the texture is transferred from the roller to the glass sheet. Once cooled, the glass has a textured surface on it.
Textured glass is available in various designs and patterns, and its transparency varies depending on the texture and distance.
By translucency, it can be classified as nearly transparent and visible (10%), slightly obscure (30%), translucent (50%), and almost invisible (80%+). Here are the details of the textured glass:
| Advantages： |
| 1. Protection of privacy: the surface of textured glass is uneven, and the light passing through the glass with texture occurs diffused, reflected in different directions, distorting the field of view to ensure the user’s privacy |
| 2. A variety of patterns can adapt to various home styles, light transmission but not transparent, with similar effects of adjusting light and shadow |
| 3. Textured glass is stronger than regular flat glass because it is made by pressing. |
| 4. Flexible: cutting, drilling, edge finishing, polishing, etc. |
| Disadvantage： |
| Some of the textured glass has a slightly lower light transmittance. |
| Safety： Can be further processed into a tempered glass （partial style）/ laminated glass |
| Glass Thickness for furniture: |
| Glass Thickness regular thickness:1/8″,5/32″ 3/16″,1/4″(3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm) |
| Optional thickness: 5/16″,3/8″, 1/2″( 8mm, 10mm, 12mm) Depends on the specific texture/pattern |
Tinted Glass
The color of tinted glass is made by adding a small amount of metal oxide to the glass composition. Its color shade is related to the thickness. The thicker the glass, the darker the color, lower the light transmission. Blue glass can transmit 50% of the sunlight, while teal and bronze heat-absorbing glass can only transmit 25%.
Tinted glass, also known as heat-absorbing glass, with different colors and thicknesses of tinted glass, the degree of absorption of solar radiation heat is also different. For example, in the sunlight, the total heat transmission of 6mm transparent float glass is 84%, but the 6mm tinted glass is only 60%.
Here are the details of the textured glass:
| Advantages: |
| 1. Heat absorption: weaken the strength of sunlight, reduce the heat of sunlight, so that the sunlight through it becomes soft and avoids glare |
| 2. UV protection: blocking solar radiation, reducing furniture fading and discoloration due to strong UV rays |
| 3. Aesthetics: with a certain degree of transparency and at the same time can add interior design color |
| 4. Flexible: cutting, drilling, edge finishing, polishing, etc. |
| Disadvantage: |
| Tinted glass absorbs heat; at the same time, its temperature will also increase with the heat of the absorbed sunlight. When the heat reaches the threshold of glass strength, the glass will break because of thermal stress. |
| Popular Colors: bronze, grey, black, green, blue, and blue/green |
| Safety: Can be further processed into tempered glass/laminated glass |
| Glass Thickness for furniture: |
| 1/8″,5/32″ 3/16″,1/4″, 5/16″,3/8″, 1/2″, 3/4″(3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm,8mm, 10mm, 12mm,19mm) |
Hot Bent Glass
Bending glass is also called curved glass. It breaks the typical impression of flat float glass; its curved style adds beauty to the shape and is more flexible.
Glass can be bent in four ways: bending and tempering, hot bending, cold bending, and laminated bending. Most bent glass furniture is made of hot bent glass, which is made by gradually heating flat glass until it softens, forming it in a mold, and then annealing and cooling it.
Here are the details of the hot bent glass:
| Advantages: |
| 1. Aesthetics: unique style, one-piece molding, no splice ports, smooth lines. |
| 2. Highly selective: various shapes and styles |
| 3. Customizable: according to different needs, it can be customized into various irregular curved shapes. |
| 4. Flexible: cutting, drilling, edge finishing, polishing, etc. |
| Disadvantage: |
| Bent annealed glass is not safe glass |
| Safety: Tempered(before it is cooled during production), laminated |
| Glass Thickness for furniture: |
| 1/8″,5/32″ 3/16″,1/4″, 5/16″,3/8″, 1/2″, 3/4″(3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm,8mm, 10mm, 12mm,19mm) |
Mirrored Glass
Besides being as mirrors, mirrored glass is also widely used in furniture, for cabinet tops, drawer fronts, the surface of side tables and coffee tables, etc. Here are the details of mirrored glass:
| Advantages: |
| 1. Reflect our interior environment, and good visual |
| 2. Mirrored glass can be combined into various surfaces of furniture |
| 3. Mirrored glass can be carved with patterns and textures to increase the interior design of the home |
| Disadvantages: |
| 1. The mirror surface is easy to leave sticky dust and fingerprints |
| 2. Fragile |
| Popular Colors: Silver, bronze, grey, black, gold, antique |
| Safety: Can be further processed into tempered glass |
| Glass Thickness for furniture: |
| 1/8″,5/32″ 3/16″,1/4″(3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm) –-Furniture use |
Annealed Glass
Annealed glass, also known as float glass. In its manufacturing process, the glass is heated to an “annealing point” of around 454–482° and then slowly cooled. It is the most common and practical glass and can be further processed into different types of glass, such as tempered glass, tinted glass, bent glass, etc. Here are the details of annealed glass:
| Advantages: |
| 1. Highly transparent and clear, transmitting 87% of the incident light |
| 2. Versatility: It can be further processed into tempered glass, laminated glass, tinted glass, curved glass, etc. |
| 3. Flexible: cutting, drilling, edge finishing, polishing, etc. |
| Disadvantage: |
| When annealed glass breaks, lits large fragments with sharp edges will easily cause injuries. |
| Safety: Can be further processed into tempered glass/laminated glass |
| Glass Thickness for furniture: |
| 1/8″,5/32″ 3/16″,1/4″, 5/16″,3/8″, 1/2″, 3/4″(3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm,8mm, 10mm, 12mm,19mm) |
Tempered Glass
Tempered glass is tempered ordinary annealed glass at 600° in 2-25 minutes （its time varies due to the thickness）and then cooling it quickly and evenly in 3-10 seconds. Here are the details of tempered glass:
| Advantages: |
| 1. High Strength: 4-5 times stronger than annealed glass |
| 2. Impact-resistance: pass EN12600 and ANSI Z97.1. |
| 3. Extreme temperature resistance: -70ºC to 300ºC, withstand temperature differences up to 250ºC |
| 4. Harmless Fragments: non-sharp, small chips |
| 5. Scratch-resistance |
| 6. Easy to clean |
| Disadvantage: Higher cost |
| Safety: Tempered glass is a kind of safety glass |
| Glass Thickness for furniture: |
| 1/8″,5/32″ 3/16″,1/4″, 5/16″,3/8″, 1/2″, 3/4″(3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm,8mm, 10mm, 12mm,19mm) |
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annealing_(glass)
