All Our Glass, both single and Double glazed units are acid etched with the British Standard Kite mark for toughening.

Toughened glass, also known as tempered glass, is one of the most widely used glass products in the world. Car windscreens, glass partitions, oven doors, glass doors and countless other products are manufactured using toughened glass.

Toughened glass is made from standard annealed glass which has undergone a process of heat treatment known as thermal tempering. The glass is passed through a furnace on a roller table and heated to around 650°C. This takes it past its transition temperature and the glass begins to soften.

Its surface is then rapidly cooled, while internally the glass remains hot. This process creates what is known as centre tension in the glass, and alters its physical properties, resulting in a sheet of glass which can withstand much higher pressures than annealed glass.

The benefits of toughened glass is that Toughened glass is four to five times stronger than annealed glass and can withstand surface compression of at least 10,000lbs per square inch (10,000psi). It is also more resistant to thermal breakage.

The change in its structure means that if tempered glass does break, it will crumble uniformly into small fragments or pebbles, rather than splintering as annealed glass does, into what can be dangerous shards.

These qualities clearly make toughened glass invaluable whenever safety is an issue. So, for applications such as car windscreens, Roof Windows, Skylights, glass doors, glass table tops and glass partitions, where shattered glass would pose a safety hazard, using toughened glass is a standard recommendation. Not only is the tempered glass less likely to break because of its increased strength, but even if it does break, it shouldn’t cause injury.

Toughened glass is also much safer to clean up if it breaks. The small fragments can easily be swept up and thrown in a rubbish bag, without the fear of any razor-sharp shards hurting anyone.

The increased heat resistance of toughened glass makes it ideal for use in oven doors. It can even withstand a direct flame, so is also suitable for laboratory equipment or cookware.