The ultimate guide for frosted glass &translucent glass

 Frosted glass,is also known as translucent glass.People cannot see clearly what’s behind the glass and the frosted glass works as privacy glass and protect people’s privacy.Frosted glass is widely used in glass shower door panels,glass partition,bathroom,glass floors,glass spandrels to work as a shield and barrier and avoid direct light transmittance.

 

Frosted glass principle

The most important feature of frosted glass is,the frosted glass surface is uneven.When light transmit the flat glass surface,the flat glass surface will reflect the lights very even and uniform,The uneven glass surface allows light transmitted through the glass,but all the lights was diffused ,when the diffused lights was reflected on the retina,the refracted images has been already incomplete.The frosted glass makes the lights soft and not glaring.

Just like the greenhouse diffused glass,if the glass is just normal clear or low iron glass,the greenhouse structures will create shadow and affect the overall light transmittance,while when frosted glass,or we call it diffused glass is applied in greenhouse, the light going into the greenhouse will eliminate the shadows and increase the overall light transmittance,result in increased fruit output.

How to make frosted glass?

As we mentioned above that the frosted glass has uneven glass surface,so key points to make frosted glass is to make the glass surface uneven and make the reflected lights diffused.Here we introduce some methods to make frosted glass.

1. 
   

   Sandblasted glass

Sandblasting is a kind of work that uses compressed air as the power to push the abrasive to the glass surface.The glass surface is damaged and form a uneven glass surface.

The advantage of sandblasted glass is price,sandblasted glass processing is just USD2/SQM in ChinaBut the shortage is,but as the emery diameter is big,sandblasted glass surface is very rough,and looks very ugly .The sandblasted glass processing will also cause air pollution,big noise and harmful to the workers,that’s the reason China is eliminating this behindhand production.,it’s usually used as insulated glass inner panels and other areas that don’t care about glass appearance and beauty.

sandblasted-glass-supplier-morn-bm

 

2. 
   

   Acid etched glass

Different from physical methods to make frosted glass,acid etched glass is to use chemical methods to make frosted glass.The production procedure is below:

(1) Washing and drying: Firstly, the flat glass to be produced frosted glass is washed with water to remove dust and stains, and then dried;

(2) Hoisting: Put the cleaned and dried flat glass on the hoisting rack, the part of the hoisting rack in contact with the glass is cushioned with a tooth-shaped rubber bracket, and the glass is discharged vertically, with a certain distance between the glass and the glass.

(3) Acid etching process: Use a crane to immerse the glass together with the glass rack into the acid etching pools,the glass will be immerse in high strong acid for 5-10 minutes.

(4) Softening: After drenching the remaining acid, there is a layer of residue on the frosted glass, after softening process in the softening pool for 1-2 minutes to remove the residue;

(5) Cleaning: Due to corrosion and softening, the frosted glass body contains many chemical substances, so it must be cleaned.

(6) The cleaned frosted glass is put into the drying room to dry, and it becomes single-sided or double-sided frosted glass.

Compared with sandblasted glass,the acid etched glass surface is much more smooth. So it’s used in high end areas for example glass partition, glass tables,shower door glass.

acid-etched-glass-supplier

Through acid etching processing,manufactures can cover partial glass and create unique patterns on glass surface,or make the glass partial acid etched.

By controlling the time of acid etching ,acid etch glass factories can also produce anti slip glass which has bigger dots or patterns on glass surface and prevent falling down.

anti slip glass staircase-acid etched glass

Acid etched glass price is about USD5/SQM higher than normal glass,Even though acid etched glass is perfect,it’s shortage still exist,the to make the waste acid more environmental friendly,factories have to use large amount of waters and chemical compoments to treat the wastes,that’s the reason why there’s only several limited acid etched glass manufacturers in China.

3. 
   

   Translucent glass film.

All the methods we mentioned are finished in factory,if the glass is already installed,how customers can turn the existing already installed glass frosted glass?

Translucent film is perfect solution!

The PET film thickness varies from 0.3um to 2mm,customers has many options to select,whether it’s pure white ,translucent,the patterns are also flexible and customers can decide whatever patterns they want.Once the film is no longer useful,people can easily remove it and change to another pattern.

One more advantage of the film is,the company or shop logo can be engraved on the film and build reputation.

Here is the procedure to install the frosted films on your shops or glass partition:

1. Film sticking tools: ruler, scissors or utility knife, wet towel, scraper.
2. Use a ruler and utility knife or scissors to cut the film to the size of each position to be pasted (it is recommended to write down the size with a pen and paper)
3. Clean the place where you want to stick the film with a towel, and then spray the surface of the glass with a watering can (in order to move the film after sticking it, it will not be fixed and unable to move).
4. Remove the frosted glass film from the bottom paper, paste it where you want to paste, align the edges and corners, and level them. Use a wet towel to smooth the edges and wipe out the air and moisture between the glass and the film (inside) .If the matte film is relatively large, don’t remove all the bottom paper, you can remove the bottom paper while sticking.
5. After leveling, after getting most of the air and water, scrape it with a scraper to scrape out all the air, bubbles, and water. Don’t use too much force, as long as you can completely scrape out the water and water. Air will do.
6. After wiping off the water, please do not clean and move for 12-24 hours (the time depends on the weather, 12-24 is sunny and the sun is out).

Customers can also choose the film with glues at film back,the installation will be much easier.But to remove the film,please heat the film with hair dryer to soft the glue and avoid remained glue on glass surface.

4. 
   

   Silk Screen frosted glass

Silk screen glass is to apply the ceramic frit inks on the glass surface by silk screen and the tempering process will bond the inks to the glass permanently.

The ceramic inks used are usually pure colors ,after silk printing,glass will become opaque.The inks used to produce frosted silk screen glass is quite different,it’s translucent and similar effect as acid etched glass.

There’s also special inks used to produce anti slip glass through silk screen process.

Silk screen frosted glass is perfect if the glass requirement is small,there’s only few acid etch glass factories in China,so if customers want just several piece acid etched glass,the inland logistic fees and costs will be really high,by silk screen process,the quantity is flexible and customers can also bespoke the patterns they want,while the silk screen process price is almost same as acid etched glass,the only extra costs is the screen plate fees.

5. 
   

   Translucent interlayer used in laminated glass.

Despite physical and chemical methods on single glass surface,for laminated glass,customs can choose translucent PVB or SGP interlayer to make laminated glass frosted glass.But laminated glass price is always higher than same thickness monolithic glass,so translucent PVB laminated glass requirement are always 6.38mm,8.38mm which has low price and high cost performance.

6. Patterned glass.

Patterned glass,to be strict it’s not frosted glass,but it does have uneven surface and also works as privacy glass to protect customers privacy.Jinjing glass offer hundreds of pattern options.For example the mistlite patterned glass,Nashiji patterned glass,aqualite patterned glass,masterlite patterned glass,all these glass can be used in interior decoration and replace traditional frosted glass.

Unlucky for the Covid-19 reason,and the huge solar glass requirement in China,the supply capability of patterned glass is limited,and only limited patterns are available.Clients need to wait long time to get the patterns they want.

For more patterned glass options,please download our patterned glass options.

Morn is your turnkey frosted glass,patterned glass and translucent glass manufacturer and supplier in China,welcome contact us for more info if you got problem purchasing building glass from China.

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