Plexiglass or Glass – Making an Informed Choice

Plexiglass or Glass – Making an Informed Choice

Glass is a beautiful material that transforms the area where it is placed with its transparency and ability to reflect light so beautifully. However, it also has its disadvantages, the most important being that it can break with a sudden fall.

An alternative to this material is Plexiglass, which is durable, strong, and does not break.  It is available in clear, semi-transparent, or opaque forms, hence you can select a type that is right for your working needs. You can get high quality Plexiglass from a reputed acrylic supplier in your city.

Which Is Better – Plexiglass Or Glass?

Most often, buyers are at a standpoint where they have to compare the features of Plexiglass and glass to find out which is the better one to opt. When you compare the cost of Plexiglass to glass, you will find glass to be cheaper, which will attract you to it.

However, it is to be noted that when glass breaks you have to replace it and the cost of repairing and getting a new glass fitted into a window frame is high. You can do away with such problems by making use of Plexiglass plastic panels, which are lighter and also stronger.

Furthermore, when you buy a thick glass, it is going to cost more than an acrylic sheet of the same type. In a project where you have tight budget, using Plexiglass is more cost effective.

A Look At How Plexiglass Scores Over Glass

Plexiglass is ideally suitable for household fixtures. It can be used in windows, wardrobe sliding doors, cupboard doors, etc. The weather is not going to affect the surface. It is not going to melt away with heat or get stiff when it is cold.

In movable fixtures, it is always better to use this material than glass because it will not break with constant usage. When used in windows it admits 92 percent of visible light while glass admits 80 percent. You can get more natural lighting into the interiors by using it in sliding windows instead of glass.

When you purchase a Plexiglass sheet from a supplier they put protective paper masks or plastic sheets over it, which have to be peeled away before using. Glass when purchased this way is dirty and the coating of dust has to be cleaned rigorously before it can be put to use. A large-sized sheet glass is dangerous to handle. It can flex and snap easily in such sizes such as 24”x36” or more, but acrylic does not pose such problems. Carrying a heavy piece of glass is going to be difficult and you have to be very cautious in your movement.

As Plexiglass is lightweight, you can easily carry it to the desired location where it has to be fitted. There are also Plexiglass varieties that can resist the glare of the sun and which can filter out harmful ultraviolet rays.  You can ask the acrylic suppliers about it, and they will provide a sheet the best suits your requirements.

 A Look at Some Drawbacks Of Plexiglass

If you look at some of the disadvantages of Plexiglass, the foremost is that it is not recyclable like glass. It can catch fire and hence it should not be used in places such as the kitchen or fireplace. This factor limits its usage unlike glass which can be used everywhere. It gets scratched easily compared to glass. In order to make it long lasting, you need to learn how to maintain it, unlike glass which can be washed with soap water or clear water.

When it comes to the cutting process, glass is certainly much easier to cut than Plexiglass plastic panels. All that is required is a glass cutter to cut through the area on which you are working and then snapping it away. In acyclic sheets, you need to check the thickness of the sheet before cutting because a very thin sheet may not be suitable for cutting.

There are different types of blades to use for cutting, and you have to select an optimal one and change the saw depending on what types of cutting you want to do. It will warp with time and you can see veins on the surface, but you do not find this problem with glass.

Conclusion

Plexiglass is more practical than glass and is use if prevalent in many buildings because of its durable quality. However, there are certain conditions in which it is better to stick to plain old glass.