Installing glass shower doors is one way to increase your home’s value and enhance its appeal. You need privacy in your showers, so go with frosted or obscure glass. These glass options allow light into the bathroom without sacrificing privacy. The amount of light your shower door lets through depends on your choice of glass.
Obscure glass is a category name used to refer to different glass types that distort visibility through glass panels. Such glass options range from fully opaque options to mildly distorted glass panels, allowing you to choose one with an obscurity level that matches your needs. Frosted glass is a popular obscure glass option, distinguishable by its white frosting. The frosting offers your glass some hazy transparency, meaning light goes through it, but images are distorted for privacy.
Aside from frosted glass, shower doors come in different designs and types, each with a unique translucence level. Here are other obscure glass window options for your glass shower doors:
Acid Etched Glass
Glass manufacturers can use acid, caustic, or other abrasive substances to remove a tiny layer on a two-way glass forming acid-etched panels. The resulting glass overlay will be slightly rough, creating a frosted appearance and visibility effect.
The acid-etching method of producing obscure glass is often applied to entire planes to improve obscurity. You can use it for specific patterns and designs like geometric shapes and stripes to offer customized décor.
Sandblasted Glass
Sandblasting is a popular method of producing obscure glass using grit to blast the surface. The end product is a grain-like texture and a milky-white outlook depending on the type of grit used.
Common grit options most glass manufacturers use include walnut husks, silica sand, aluminum oxide, and silicon carbide. The grit is propelled using high-velocity steam or air to create an obscuring effect on the glass surface.
While sandblasting is easily applicable to the entire pane, creating custom patterns and designs is more challenging. Many people prefer sandblasted glass since it lets most of the natural light pass through while offering adequate obscurity.
Textured Glass
Textured glass options have unique shapes and patterns, offering increased obscurity while enhancing the look of your bathroom. Unlike other obscured glass types that obscure clear glass post-production, textured glass’s design is added to the production process. Manufacturers press a pattern onto the molten glass. This offers your glass a better look and fine design post-production.
A common textured glass option is the bubble glass effect. Bubble glass creates a raindrop effect with bubble-like projections on your glass surface. This will encourage a more natural feel in your shower space.
Reflective Glass
Reflective glass qualifies as obscure glass since it reduces visibility. This glass option is ideal for people who wish to maintain the outdoor view while obscuring the view from the outside. While reflective glass is mainly used for windows or doors, you can use them in showers in ensuite rooms.
Factors Affecting Glass Obscurity
Different obscure glass levels have varying obscurity levels depending on various factors, including:
Frosting or Texture Density
Many obscure glass types feature unique patterns and textures that determine their visibility. Dense textures like the double glue chip have a high degree of obscurity, while others like the water glass can be semi-obscure. Dense frosting on frosted glass makes it opaque since it limits visibility.
Light Intensity
While obscure glass blocks your view through the panel, it still lets some light pass. Soft light is easily diffusible, preventing the creation of a frame on the glass visible from outside your shower enclosure. Bright lights can be harder to diffuse, affecting the levels of obscurity on different shower door types.
Proximity To Glass
Light diffusion gets better with distance from the window. This means that objects against the obscure glass will be more visible than those further away. Most obscure glass options will show a silhouette of the object in a small shower space. You can choose the most obscure glass level if you have a small shower to prevent visibility.
Find the Best Glass Shower Doors
Investing in glass shower doors can help improve the outlook of your bathroom space and increase house value. Frosted glass for your shower doors will allow you more privacy and let light in. You can choose other obscure glass options depending on your décor needs and desired level of obscurity.
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