What is Float Glass?

Float glass is made by heating and blending numerous high quality materials together into a molten glass mixture. These materials include silica sand, soda ash, and limestone. Once the materials have been heated into a molten state, they are poured onto a bed of molten tin, hence the name "float glass".

This tin bath provides a perfectly flat and smooth surface for the glass to float on, allowing it to cool and solidify evenly. As it cools, the glass undergoes a transformation, transitioning from a liquid to a solid state without distortion or imperfections.

The glass thickness can be determined pre-cooling by the speed of the rollers that pull the initial floating ribbon off the tin.

Prior to the invention of float glass, traditional methods involved labourious glass production processes that resulted in uneven, imperfect sheets of glass. It was the process of float glass production that revolutionised the glass industry by creating a glass manufacturing process that eliminated imperfections and produced flawless sheets of glass for the first time ever.

A simplified step-by-step float glass manufacturing process is as follows:

• Melting: Raw materials like silica sand, soda ash, and limestone are heated to high temperatures in a furnace until they become molten glass.
• Floating: The molten glass is poured onto a bath of molten tin. Due to its lower density, the glass floats on top of the tin, forming a perfectly smooth and uniform surface.
• Annealing: The glass ribbon undergoes controlled cooling to relieve internal stresses, ensuring its strength and durability.
• Cutting and Quality Control: The continuous ribbon of glass is cut into specific sizes, rigorously inspected for defects, and then packed for distribution.

There's a reason float glass is so popular. It comes with a multitide of benefits that glaziers and glass manufacturers love so much, and that also benefit the end buyer.

• Float glass is exceptionally clear and see-through with virtually no imperfections, making it ideal for applications where transparency in your glass is important.
• The manufacturing process ensures that float glass has an even thickness throughout, eliminating distortion and warping.
• Float glass is known for its strength and resistance to scratches, making it a durable choice for various applications like home windows and car mirrors.
• In residential and commercial windows, float glass can be coated with Low-E Coatings to improve energy efficiency by reducing heat transfer.
• Float glass is eco-friendly, as it can be reused and recycled indefinitely without losing its quality or purity.