Use a quality glass cleaner. Perhaps the best way to clean your glass tabletop is to use a high-quality glass cleaner. These cleaners can be found in the supermarket and come in a variety of formulas. Be sure to look for a streak-free version that will make your table come crystal clean. Simply spray the glass cleaner on the glass and use a soft cleaning rag or paper towel to wipe until the glass is dry. A quick clean every few days should be enough to keep your glass tabletop sparkling.

Protect the surface. Another wonderful way to take care of your glass tabletop is to invest in a glass top protector. Perfect for when the table is being used for projects or when it will be covered with a cloth, a glass tabletop protector can extend the life of your glass top by years. Although a protector can be pricey, it is worth the investment to keep your glass top looking brand new and scratch free.

Don’t abuse your glass top. One of the most important ways to maintain your glass tabletop is to follow the weight limits set for each tabletop. Placing more on the table than is recommended can result in shattering or cracking. Be sure to know the limits of each glass tabletop in your home and be careful never to exceed those limits. Likewise, try not to place items on the edges of the glass top but rather distribute weight evenly.

Avoid scratches. Just as with any wood table surface, glass can be susceptible to scratching. To keep your glass tabletop looking new, avoid placing items on its surface that could cause scratching. Use placemats for dining table surfaces and put a protective barrier between decorations and the glass. If you do happen to scratch your glass top, there are many easy-to-use buffing solutions that will make small scratches disappear. The best way to avoid scratches is to protect your glasstop with a tabletop pad.

A glass tabletop can be a large investment. Taking care of the glass can extend its life and give you years of return on your purchase. Being sensible about how you use your glass tabletop as well as following some simple cleaning tips will help to maintain the shape of your glass tabletop and make your home a more beautiful place.

In the Corporate World—Solid white glass has taken the business world by storm.  Thousands of corporations worldwide now use white glass in their construction and to create aesthetic appeal in their décor.  Whether used in an inviting entryway or as a dividing wall between sections, structural glass is beautiful and functional.  The appeal for many businesses is the customizability of structural glass.  It can be cut into nearly any shape and can be finished with a variety of edges.  Sometimes color can even be added to the glass, lending it an artistic element.  Companies may also opt to add their logo in frosted glass, giving a more personalized touch to their structural glass.

At Home—Structural glass has made its way into homes across America as well.  Setting a modern and trendy mood, structural glass makes for striking and impressive dividers between rooms.  Likewise, many homeowners turn to solid white glass for their bathroom surfaces.  Perfect for a glass-enclosed shower, structural glass gives the bathroom an effortless artistic touch that is both beautiful and functional.  In the kitchen, solid white glass is great for surfaces and for artistic glass art splashbacks.  Quite simply, wherever you can imagine it, glass can work for you in your home.  It can add an elegance and appeal to your home that is truly customized and unique.

In Restaurants—Restaurant owners have long known the usefulness of structural glass.  It creates beautiful separators between dining sections and can create a gorgeous space for a VIP area.  Solid white glass can easily be wiped clean, a quality that is very attractive to on-the-go restaurateurs.  Striking glass pillars and balustrades give any restaurant a sophisticated and elegant appeal without sacrificing precious floor space.  Whether used in an entryway or in the bathroom, structural glass makes a wonderful addition to any restaurant.

At Shopping Centers—Perhaps no place has structural glass made such an impact as in the shopping world.  Stores the world over now feature beautiful glass scapes and structures that wouldn’t be possible without solid white glass.  Gorgeous glass staircases, glass flooring and glass shop fronts are all seen in commonplace today and thanks to the amazing durability and versatility of structural glass.  Some of the world’s most gorgeous shopping centers feature structural glass from the glass wall at Bloomingdale’s at the Millennia Mall to the glass dome ceiling at the Forum Shops in Las Vegas.  Glass and shopping centers will always go hand in hand and is part of what makes the shopping experience so wonderful.

Though many people are unfamiliar with the names of structural glass, everyone has seen examples of it in everyday life.  Without solid white glass, many of the amazing structures and artistic buildings around the world would not exist.  For this reason, structural glass is one of the most valuable building materials in the world.

Pencil Edge—A highly popular and the simplest edge of all the glass table top edges is the pencil edge. A clean and neat edge, a pencil edge is slightly rounded for a finished look. This edge is popular on nearly every shape glass table top and fits in with just about any home’s décor. Perfect for a casual dining room or a kitchen nook, the pencil edge is a casual yet polished option for glass table tops.

Ogee Edge—The ogee edge is a slightly more decorative edge than the pencil edge. It consists of a rounded edge with a small ledge on top. This seemingly small detail adds a lot of style and sophistication to your table top and makes for a more decorative dining experience. The ogee edge is perfect for a formal dining room or a kitchen dining set. This edge also makes for a nice touch as an accent table top. The ogee edge shows a bit more class than a pencil edge and should be in a more formal setting.

Flat Polished Edge—The least decorative edge offered in glass table tops, the flat polished edge is a quick and affordable way to finish off your glass top. The glass edge is simply cut straight down and polished clean. There is no roundness or beveling at all. A flat polish is appropriate to use in a less formal setting. Outdoor bars or patio tables are good places for the flat polished edge, as are high traffic locations in the home such as the family room coffee table. Choose a flat polished edge if you expect to be cleaning your glass table top a lot as it is the simplest and quickest to clean, with no extra detailed edging to get into.

Beveled Edge—By far the most popular glass table tops edge is the beveled edge. Often seen in a one-inch style, the beveled edge features an area on the table top that slants just a bit in, creating a little beveled shelf around the rim of the piece of glass. This decorative touch adds a whole lot of sophistication and finish to the table top and makes for a wonderful choice in nearly every room. Whether you are furnishing your formal dining room, your kitchen corner or your living room coffee table, a beveled edge glass table top looks classy no matter where it is placed. Perhaps its flexibility to fit in is the reason for its wild popularity.

Wave Edge—A final glass table top edge that is popular is the wave edge. Created by intricately cutting the glass in a rounded and wavy pattern, the wave edge is a beautiful display of craftsmanship. Due to the careful cuts, the wave edge is often more expensive but is worth the cost for its beauty. The wave edge is ideal for a formal dining room, however can be a deal harder to clean than the beveled or pencil edge. Perfect for a beach or summer home, the wave edge catches the eye of the beholder and makes for a great conversation piece as well.

Choosing a glass table top is a sometimes difficult task that requires choices every step of the way. By understanding the various edges that are available for glass table tops, you can make one choice a whole lot easier and be one step closer to the glass table top of your dreams.

Square Frameless Mirror
Rectangle Frameless Mirror
Octagon Frameless Mirror
Oval Frameless Mirror
Arch Frameless Mirror
Frameless Mirror
Unframed Mirror

Glass Patio Table—Of course, the most popular use for glass tops outside is the glass patio table. Often made with a convenient hole in the middle for an umbrella, a glass patio table creates an outdoor dining area akin to the indoor variety. Available in all sizes imaginable, outdoor glass tables can be perfect for large family gatherings and summer parties. With seating for six, seven, eight and more, the rectangular style in the most popular, however you can get almost any shape and size you can dream up. With an easy to clean surface—just a little window cleaner—dining outside has never been easier.

Glass End Tables—A close relative of the patio glass table, glass end tables are also a popular choice for the patio or deck. When lounging poolside or deckside, a glass end table is the perfect place to keep a snack, a drink and something to read. The wipeable surface makes clean up a breeze and the ease of replacement for the glass makes it a great season-to-season choice. Give an outdoor dining set or seating area a nice finished look with a pair of handy glass end tables.

Glass Bar Tops—Growing in popularity are the outdoor bars that bring all of the festivities of inside right outside. To protect your expensive outdoor bar and keep the surface looking new, a glass table top is the perfect barrier. Cut to just the right size and finished with a nice polished edge, a glass top for your outdoor bar can save you a lot of backbreaking clean up and give you more time to enjoy your guests and your outdoor party. No more worrying about spilled drinks and messy blenders, a glass table top for the bar gives you peace of mind.

With summer upon us, making your outdoor living space more inviting can make a huge difference between entertaining well and being a bore. One of the best places to entertain outside is at a beautiful dining area, made especially for the out of doors. With the amazing choices in glass table tops today, it is easy to make a gorgeous an functional area to wine, dine and just relax. Remember though, when glass is kept outside, it is exposed to the elements. Take care of your glass by folding all umbrellas in glass tables to prevent bending and breaking. Use glass cleaner to keep pollen, bugs and dust from contaminating your eating surface. And always remember to bring in glass tables when the weather is to be fierce or at the end of the season.

The kitchen is one of the obvious places for a glass table top. Many families enjoy an eating space in the kitchen in the form of a breakfast nook or an informal dining table. A glass top would be appropriate for both types of dining space and can add a splash of style to the kitchen. A traditional circle or even a square would suit the kitchen best and give a wonderful gathering place for diners and guests. Whether it becomes the main dining area or just a breakfast nook, a glass table top in the kitchen provides an easy-to-clean beautiful all-purpose space.

The Dining Room

The benefits of a glass table top in the dining room are clear. Many families across America have gone glass in the dining room as a way to add style and grace to their formal dining space. The most popular glass for the dining room is the rectangle or racetrack oval shape. These oblong shapes allow for maximum seating and have the most “wow-factor” as a stand-alone piece in the room. The dining room table is quite often the place for families to gather and enjoy one another and having a glistening glass top gives the room a look that is unmatched.

The Living Room

More and more popular today are coffee tables with glass tops in them. A glass coffee table, end table or accent table is an easy and affordable way to add glass to your home. A beautiful option is a shadow box coffee table with a lifting glass top that allows you to place special decorative items beneath it and create a beautiful mosaic right in the table. Glass table tops are great for the living room as they provide easy-to-clean surfaces and can dress up a den-like space with ease. The living room is one of the easiest places to bring glass into the home and is a great room to start in if you are new to glass table tops.

The Bedroom

A final room in which glass table tops can easily be incorporated is the bedroom. Oftentimes, couples spend hundreds of dollars on beautiful dressers or drawer sets for the bedroom, only to place their loose change, pens and pencils and other pocket items on top. This can scratch, discolor and damage the gorgeous wood of the expensive piece. Placing a glass table top upon the furniture can protect the wood and give you years more use. The savings are obvious and anyone who is willing to spend on a piece of furniture ought to consider spending on a protective glass top.

The uses of glass tops in the home are many and can give your living space a facelift. Whether you use it as a dining surface, for a decorative touch or as a protective barrier, glass can enhance the look of nearly any room in your home.

In the most basic sense, tempered glass is glass that has been treated to be four to five times stronger than untreated glass. This type of glass is used when the possibility of human contact is high. Tempered glass goes through a whole different process than non-tempered glass.

Specifically, tempered glass is cut to shape before it is treated. This is because, once treated, tempered glass cannot be cut or it will shatter into thousands of little pieces. This is the nature of tempered glass and it is a safety feature that makes it so popular. After the glass is cut to size, the edges are belt seamed or sanded to remove any jagged or sharp bits. Then, the glass slab is washed to remove any debris that may be left over. Finally, the glass is heated to almost 1200 degrees Fahrenheit and immediately cooled. This is what gives the glass its tempered effect.

A piece of tempered glass will be just as smooth and as clear as a non-tempered piece of glass, it will simply be treated with heat as described and stronger. Sometimes tempered glass will look or feel rough. This is common among poor quality tempered glass and is due to insufficient washing of debris from the sanding step. All glass that has been tempered correctly will be as smooth and as clear as untreated glass. In fact, the only way to tell tempered glass will be to look for the mandatory tempered glass stamp applied to each piece of tempered glass.

So why bother going through the trouble of heating and cooling glass? Because treated glass is much stronger and safer than non-tempered glass. Any glass that will be in human contact should be tempered. This includes windows, doors, shower enclosures, glass table tops and desks. When tempered glass is broken, it cracks into thousands of pieces rather than breaking into sharp jagged edges that can harm. Of course, this makes for a much more difficult clean up, but it is worth it for the safety component.

Nowadays it is almost impossible to buy non-tempered glass for home use. But it is still important to check for tempering in any glass that you purchase that is prone to come in contact with humans or animals. Never try to work with untreated glass unless you have been schooled on the nature of glass and are fully prepared for breakage. Knowing the difference between how tempered and non-tempered glass acts can mean the difference between danger and safety.

·      What shape do you want?  Glass table tops come in a variety of shapes to suit your needs.  You can go with the traditional dining shape, rectangular, and maintain the customary dining table look.  A rectangular table allows your guests to be seated across from one another and makes passing food and conversation easy.  Another benefit of a rectangular table is the ease of seating.  It is easy to place chairs and benches around a rectangular table.  There is little leg bumping or squishing required to seat all guests.  Not only do you get a traditional look from a rectangular table, but you also achieve a classic look of glass, giving any room instant glamour.  Or perhaps a circular table would more suit your needs.  A circular table, although not able to seat as many people as a rectangular table, can give the diners a more relaxed, conversational feel.  Deciding what shape to go with can be a great place to start when choosing your new glass dining table top.

·      What size do you need?  Depending on the amount of guests that you wish to serve, you can decide on the size of table top to order.  For example, a 36-inch round table top will seat four people comfortably, whereas a 48-inch by 96-inch rectangular table top will seat twelve to fourteen people comfortably.  Consider the amount of entertaining you would like to do as well as how many people will regularly dine at your table.  Generally, a rectangular table will seat more people and may be the better choice for you if you plan to have frequent dinner parties or events.  When in doubt, it is always better to go a size bigger than you think you need.  This way, if unexpected guests or visitors show up, there is always ample space for  them.

·      Do you like a decorative touch?  The wonderful thing about a glass table top is the ability to customize it in so many different ways.  Because a glass top is easy to etch and carve, it is often a simple request in order to add a gorgeous touch onto your table top, such as an etched design or a custom edge.  The most popular customization is the addition of a beveled edge.  This is a simple angle carved into the edge of the glass that gives it a beautiful decorative touch.  This is often done one-inch from the true edge of the glass.  Another popular option is the engraving of a design around the edge.  This may be a flower-type design or a simple frosted line.  Whatever you choose, adding an engraved look to your glass table top can give it an added elegance and sophistication.

There are many things to consider as you shop for your new glass table top.  One of the major benefits of a glass dining table is that it is easy to clean.  No more table cloths to protect precious wood.  No more ugly pads to protect your table.  No more smelly oils and cream to make your table shine.  A glass top is best cleaned with a simple glass cleaner or even just a warm sponge.  The hassle of cleaning is much less with a glass table top, making your dining and entertaining experience that much easier.  As you shop for a glass dining table top, keep in mind the shape, size and customizations you are looking for.  This will make shopping a breeze and will bring you one step closer to the dining table of your dreams.

The silica, soda and lime are fused together at extremely high temperatures. By adding other substances during the process, the properties of the glass can be altered, including its color, how reflective it is, how brilliant or sparkling it looks, how well it acts as an insulator and more. Bits of old or broken glass from previous manufacturing, called ‘cullet’ is usually recycled into the mix. However, it is not just these additives alone that affect the final piece of glass, but also the way in which it is heated, cooled and formed.

First, the silica/soda/lime mixture is heated in melting furnaces to approximately 2,500° Fahrenheit, sometimes for as long as 24 hours. The molten glass is then cooled several hundred degrees, to a temperature at
which it can be worked. At this stage the glass is an orange-red color and looks like a thick liquid. The glass has to be worked quickly to form it into the desired shape, because as the glass cools it becomes hard. The glass can now be blown, pressed, drawn or rolled. Finally, when the glass is formed into the desired shape, it is placed in a ‘lehr’ oven to be ‘annealed.’ This special process eliminates areas of stress in the glass to strengthen it, by cooling it down at controlled temperatures.

To blow glass, a blob of molten glass is placed at the end of a long, hollow iron blowpipe. Air is blown in and causes the glass to form into a pear-shaped bulb, which is then rolled on an oiled slab, shaped with tools and sometimes re-blown into a mold. To keep the glass from hardening during this process, it is periodically re-heated in small ovens. If the glass is to be engraved, copper wheels are used, and if it is to be etched, hydrofluoric acid does the job.

For glass bottles, a molten glass bubble is employed. It is placed in a mold, and the air pressure in the bubble forces the glass against the side of the
mold. Once the glass cools and hardens, the mold is opened and a newly-made glass bottle removed.

Pressed glass, which offers better control of the glass’s density than blowing, was the first glass to be manufactured on a large scale with the invention of a glass-pressing machine in the U.S. in the 1920s. This worked by taking the molten glass from the furnace and dividing it up into small sections. These would be placed in molds made of iron or brass. A plunger would press the glass down into the mold, and after a few seconds it was ready.

Because the cold metal of the mold would produce wrinkles in the hot glass, intricate patterns were used to disguise the flaws. It wasn’t until twenty years later that a technique was developed to heat the molds to very high temperatures before dropping in the molten glass, which eliminated the wrinkles. The decorative patterns accordingly became simpler.

Drawn glass is the process used to manufacture tube and rod-shaped glass, as well as some sheet glass. To make tubes, the molten glass gets drawn over a hollow cylinder or cone that has air blowing through it, to keep it from collapsing until the glass hardens around it. The tube can be drawn out horizontally, vertically, or at an angle. Conversely, to make glass rods, the air inside the cylinder or cone is eliminated.

Rolled glass is used for some flat glass, and means that the sheet of glass rolls along the assembly line as it is manufactured. Because of the type of metal used in the rollers, they aren’t damaged by the heat of the molten glass. However, the glass can wind up with a rough surface. When this process was first developed, molten glass was poured onto large tables and then rolled flat onto plates. After it cooled, the glass was ground and polished.

Then a series of innovations began at the turn of the last century and continued through the first world war, improving the quality and economy of both drawn, sheet glass and rolled glass.

Float glass is the most widely used type of flat glass today. It was first developed after the second world war by a British company but not introduced to the market until they felt it was perfected, in 1959. Its manufacture is unique because the molten glass is formed by floating it on a bed of molten tin kept at high temperature. The glass spreads out and flattens, and is then drawn out into a continuous glass ribbon. The surface of the glass winds up being extremely smooth, with a brilliant finish like sheet glass, plus the optical quality of plate glass.

Cutting and drilling glass is a fine art. If the glass needs to be cut it must first be scored with a glass-cutter wheel. Pressure is then applied across the score to force a break. Another way to cut glass is thermally. This can be done with a focused flame heating a narrow strip of the glass. A water jet is then directed on the heated strip to break the glass. Or, a ring of focused flames are used to heat a particular area of the glass until it becomes soft enough to pull apart. Glass can be drilled, with either a steel drill, a tungsten-carbide drill, or for the best control, quality and speed of production, a diamond core drill.

Glass is categorized by its composition. The most common – ninety percent of manufactured glass – is so-called soda glass, the combination of silica, soda and lime. Although it’s the cheapest to make, it is also the least resistant to high temperature, or sudden changes in temperature, or chemicals.

Lead glass will usually have at least twenty percent lead oxide content. It looks brilliant in the light, especially when cut and faceted, and is more expensive that soda glass. But similar to soda glass, lead glass will also not do well with high temperature or sudden changes in temperature.

For better resistance to temperature changes and chemicals, the more expensive borosilicate glass is used. It has a minimum of 5% boric oxide, and is used to make light bulbs, sealed-beam headlights, bakeware and labware. And even more durable than borosilicate glass is aluminosilicate glass.

Fiberglass and foam glass are mostly used for insulation purposes. To make fiberglass, the molten glass is formed into continuous, hair-like glass filaments. Foam glass is made by trapping gas bubbles in the glass, creating an almost spongy consistency.

Colored glass is made by adding chemicals into the mix, with particular chemicals creating specific colors. For example, the amber or brown glass you see used in beer bottles gets its color from iron sulphide. Iron-chromite creates shades of green, while cobalt makes beautiful shades of blue.

But not every smooth surface creates a reflection. That’s because some of these surfaces absorb the photons hitting them so they’re unable to bounce back. What’s more, when we do stand in front of a reflecting surface like a mirror, not all the photons that bounce off us will hit the mirror, because our bodies are rough objects themselves. But enough do bounce back that an image is formed, at exactly the same angle at which the photons hit the mirror. And keep in mind, the mirror image is actually backwards, as you can easily see if you stand in front of it holding a newspaper or magazine.

Mirrors are usually made of clear plate glass that has one side coated with a metal film to create the reflecting surface, called ‘silvering’. Where the surface and the glass meet is called the ‘mirror line.’ The most common type
of mirror is the plane mirror, which has a flat surface. The rays of light that hit it are reflected back virtually unchanged, so the position of the image in the mirror is the same distance as the real object in front of it, and its size is the same size. You experience this every time you stand in front of the mirror in the bathroom – the closer you stand to the mirror, the closer your image appears in it.

Convex and concave mirrors – also known as ‘spherical mirrors’ – alter the look of the original object and the distance it appears to be in the mirror. A concave mirror (think of it as being ‘caved in’) has the mid-point of the reflecting surface farther away from the object in front of it than the edges. So the image that forms in a concave mirror depends on where it is in relation to the center of the mirror. It may be larger, smaller, or the same size. It may be upside down or right side up, and will be distorted from the real object.

Conversely, a convex mirror has the mid-point of the reflecting surface closer to the object than the edges, so the image that forms is consistently
smaller than the real object in front of it, and standing upright. It will also be distorted. For example, drivers will stick a small convex mirror on their car or truck’s rear-view mirror to get a ‘bigger picture’ of what’s behind them than a regular, plane-type mirror shows.

Two-way mirrors are a special kind of mirror, usually used for observation and security purposes. They are sometimes also called one-way mirrors or see-through mirrors. You’ve probably seen them in action on tv shows or in movies where an interrogation is taking place. The perp is questioned in a room that has a mirror, while detectives observe him from behind the mirror in an adjoining room. So how come the criminal sees only his reflection but the cops see clear through the glass?

The answer is actually pretty simple. The two-way mirror in fact has only a very thin layer of reflective material applied to the glass. In fact, it’s so thin it’s referred to as being ‘half-silvered,’ as opposed to ‘silvered’ which is how you’d describe a regular mirror. So only half of the light that hits the mirror gets reflected, while the other half passes through it.

But with only half the reflecting power, you’d think the criminal would be able to see the detectives. The reason why he can’t is the way the two rooms are lit. If you watch the interrogation scene, you’ll notice the room with the criminal is brightly lit, so there is enough light to hit the mirror and reflect back his image. However, the room with the detectives is dark, so there’s not enough light to pass through that side of the glass back into the interrogation room.

Here’s another way to think of it: if the perp were to suddenly jump up and switch off the lights in the interrogation room, or if one of the cops accidentally turned on the lights in the observation room, the two-way mirror would act like a window, with everyone being able to see each other perfectly clearly.