What Is The Difference Between Clear Glass vs Low Iron Glass?
When it comes to decorative glass, two popular choices are clear float glass and low iron float glass. These options cater to the diverse needs and preferences of customers seeking specific features in their glass products. MIGO Glass stands out as a leading provider in the Chinese glass industry, offering a variety of glass solutions to suit various requirements.
In this blog post, we will explore the distinctions between clear float glass and low iron float glass in detail to better grasp their individual characteristics and decorative applications.
1. What Is A Clear Class?
Clear glass, also known as standard glass, is primarily made from a mixture of silica (sand), sodium carbonate, and limestone. During the manufacturing process, these raw materials are melted together at high temperatures. However, the presence of iron oxide impurities in the silica and other components gives clear glass a slight greenish tint.
Despite this tint, clear glass remains transparent, allowing light to pass through without significant distortion. It finds extensive use in various applications, including windows, glassware, mirrors, and architectural features. The greenish hue may be more noticeable in thicker or larger pieces of glass.
To achieve a purer, colorless appearance and reduce the green tint, manufacturers can employ additional processes such as refining and the use of decolorizing agents. These techniques help create ultra-clear glasses commonly utilized in high-end applications like display panels, optical lenses, and specialty glass products where maximum clarity is essential.
While clear glass may have a subtle greenish tint, its transparency and versatility make it a popular and widely-used material across different industries and everyday objects.
2. What Is A Low Iron Glass?
Low iron glass, also known as ultra-clear glass or extra-clear glass, is a specialized type of glass that is manufactured with a reduced iron content compared to standard clear glass. The refining process used in the production of low iron glass removes a significant amount of iron impurities, resulting in a glass that is nearly colorless and exceptionally transparent.
The removal of iron impurities in low iron glass eliminates the greenish tint that is commonly seen in standard clear glass. This high level of transparency allows for true color representation and superior light transmission, making low iron glass ideal for applications where maximum clarity is desired.
Low iron glass is highly valued in architectural projects, high-end display cases, solar panels, aquariums, and other specialty glass installations where exceptional transparency is essential. Its superior visual properties make it an excellent choice for showcasing objects, enhancing natural lighting, and creating a sense of openness in interior spaces.
While low iron glass is more expensive than standard clear glass due to its specialized manufacturing process, its unparalleled clarity and minimal color distortion make it a preferred option for projects that require the highest level of transparency and visual purity.
3. What Is The Difference Between Clear Glass vs Low Iron Glass?
The difference between clear and low-iron glass lies in the increased transparency of the latter. This makes the low-iron glass more suitable for applications like frameless glass walls, back-painting, UV-bonded display cases, partitions, dividers, and other similar uses.
3.1 Different Color
Clear glass, although not as high in iron content as low-iron glass, still contains more iron oxide which results in a green tint that becomes more noticeable in thicker pieces of glass.
Low-iron glass, also known as extra-clear glass, contains minimal iron oxide and is colorless. Unlike clear glass, low-iron glass remains clear regardless of its thickness when viewed from the side. There may be a slight bluish tint when looking at the edge of low-iron glass, but this is typically masked by surrounding colors. In contrast, clear glass sheets exhibit a more prominent green tint as the thickness of the glass increases.
3.2 Different Transparent
The primary distinction between clear glass and low iron glass lies in their light transmittance properties. Low iron glass has lower reflectivity compared to clear glass, resulting in reduced optical reflection on the glass surface and higher gloss. This enhances light transmittance, making it more decorative and practical. In contrast, clear glass reflects more light due to its green tint, giving it a lighter appearance.
Low iron glass is manufactured using special raw materials and process technology based on clear float glass. It boasts higher light transmittance, sometimes exceeding 90%. This results in a clearer and more transparent glass image with high transparency. Clear glass, on the other hand, has relatively lower light transmittance when compared to low iron glass.
3.3 Different Self-Explosion Rate
Self-explosion is a phenomenon where glass fragments without external force, spreading radially from the center. This results in two larger fragments at the epicenter, creating "butterfly spots." In the production of low-iron glass, high-purity raw materials are used to eliminate impurities and bubbles. Advanced refining processes enhance the purity and uniformity of low-iron glass, making it stronger and more durable than regular glass. Its special physical properties give low-iron glass higher strength and toughness, reducing the likelihood of breakage even under significant external force. Additionally, low-iron glass has a smaller thermal expansion coefficient compared to ordinary tempered glass, making it less susceptible to thermal expansion or contraction and decreasing the risk of self-explosion.
3.4 Different UV Transmittance
Low-iron glass has an ultraviolet transmittance of only 0.5%, significantly lower than the typically higher ultraviolet transmittance of white glass, which is usually above 5%. This demonstrates that low-iron glass offers superior protection against ultraviolet rays. By allowing more natural light to enter while blocking harmful UV rays, low-iron glass provides enhanced anti-ultraviolet properties. This feature effectively prevents ultraviolet damage to objects, enabling you to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings during the day while safeguarding your home and belongings.
3.5 Different Price
The higher price of low-iron glass compared to clear glass can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, the production of low-iron glass is more complex and technically demanding, leading to higher manufacturing costs. This is due to the need for high-quality and pure raw materials, which are more expensive.
Additionally, the production process for low-iron glass requires stringent control and specialized equipment to remove impurities, particularly iron oxide, which adds to the overall cost. These factors contribute to the price of low-iron glass being typically 10%-30% higher than that of clear glass.
3.6 Different Application
The added value of low iron glass is higher than that of clear glass, so low iron glass is more used in high-end architectural projects, display cases, museum exhibits, solar panels, aquariums, and any other application where maximum light transmission and minimal color distortion is desired., while clear glass, is commonly used in various applications where color distortion is not a significant concern. It is often used in windows, glass containers, general glazing, and architectural applications.
