No other material quite compares to the glisten and sheen of glass! And, no wonder countless architects today are borderline obsessed with how they can use several types of glass to jazz up a residential space. However, when designing for residential real estate, the question of privacy as well as security, often take top precedence. Does this mean that you should stay away from as glorious a material as glass? Not at all! You should simply switch to frosted glass.
What Is Frosted Glass?
Frosted glass renders a pane opaque or translucent depending on your requirement for privacy without compromising on safety or natural light. It is manufactured by sandblasting or chemically etching a sheet of glass, thus altering its light transmission properties. This type of glass offers an excellent replacement for blinds and curtains, which require regular maintenance. If you wish to use frosted glass for external doors and windows, you can combine frosting with toughened or laminated glass surfaces for enhanced security.
The Science behind Frosted Glass
Frosting a glass surface is an age-old technique and is generally achieved through two types of manufacturing processes.
Acid Etching
Also called French embossing, acid etched frosted glass dates back to over a thousand years where it was used in several public monuments. Acid etching is generally achieved using colourless hexafluorosilicic acid. This acid is specially concocted by blending silica in a mix of hydrochloric acid, calcium fluoride, quartz powder, and concentrated sulphuric acid. Chemical treatment on glass melts or corrodes its surface.
After the acid treatment, glass panes are rinsed thoroughly, and the portion exposed to the concoction turns opaque or translucent. This method can offer varying degrees of gradients and opacity levels. And, manufacturers often use stencils to etch glass panes with a host of designs.
Sandblasting
Another popular method of rendering glass opaque is by blasting it with fine sand particles or other abrasive materials. Much like chemical etching, this process too allows manufacturers to experiment with various stencil designs for customising a pane of glass according to your home’s décor.
Along with different grades of clarity, sandblasting also offers strength to glass surfaces. Frosted glass panes are, therefore, resilient and don’t peel or chip easily.
Frosted Glass Applications to Liven Up Your Home
A material as versatile as frosted glass is bound to have countless residential applications. Here are five of them for your next home improvement project.
Application #1 Frosted Glass Partitions
Since dividers or partitions inside homes often demand privacy along with a sense of openness, frosted glass ably offers both. Earlier, opaque barriers were more popular, but today more and more homeowners have started opting for frosted glass partitions to offer that modernistic appeal. These structures work exceptionally well if you have a space crunch, as is the case in most metropolitan high-rise apartments.
Application #2 Skylights and Transoms
Skylight windows shower heaps of natural light from the roof of your home, and are a great option if you want sunlight to funnel in throughout the day. But, installing transparent glass skylights can usher in solar glare, which may make things uncomfortable for dwellers. Using frosted glass skylights turns solar glare into diffused soft lighting, which can transform the entire look and feel of your interiors.
Also, when it comes to transoms, frosted glass is ideal. Transoms are fixed or movable glass windows installed atop doors or larger windows for increased illumination and ventilation.
Application #3 Shower Stalls
Bathrooms offer us all great solitude, and these rooms are no more purely utility-driven. Furthermore, a frosted glass shower stall provides a great alternative to your bathroom as opposed to shower curtains, which do not improve aesthetics and tend to attract mildew or mould. Etched glass panes never gather mould or rust and require negligible maintenance.
Application #4 Closet Doors
A great way to jazz up your dated closets is to replace their doors with customised frosted glass panels. Believe it or not, closets and bedrooms play a critical role in home décor. Stylish and well-designed cupboards can silently enhance the appeal of your room. Go for fully or partially frosted glass doors to amplify the aesthetic appeal of your bedroom closets.
Application #5 Doors or Windows
Frosted glass doors and windows are a great idea, especially if you want to install a full glass wall in your bedroom or lounging area for that unique patterned effect. Since frosting offers translucency or opacity, you can choose from a myriad of designs for your home study as well.
The Bottom Line
Are you looking for exceptional quality frosted glass designs? If yes, then your search ends with AIS Glasxperts – India’s leading glass lifestyle solution provider. As a subsidiary of Asahi India Glass Limited, we boast a squad of seasoned experts to help you in every step of the way for your next home improvement project.
To get the best out of glass, visit www.glassxperts.com and get an expert consultation today!
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