Here at Futureglass we get asked about low iron glass a lot, some people simply don’t know what the difference between low iron and our standard toughened glass is. Whilst some people want to know if it’ll cost them any more to have low iron glass on their table instead of our standard glass, that’s why we’re here to address your questions and hopefully shed some light on the subject.

So first off we should explain exactly what low iron glass is, how its made and what kind of practical uses it may have. Glass is made using silica sand as one of the main ingredients. However silica sand contains naturally occurring iron oxides, it’s these oxides that produce the green tint that is present in standard toughened glass. Low iron glass uses a sand with a reduced iron content to minimise the green tint. This results in a significantly clearer piece of glass. Normally standard glass would be fine in most situations however there are a couple of places where low iron content glass would work better than standard. shop windows for instance, or if you are looking to apply a colour to your piece of glass. If you were to apply a colour to a standard piece of toughened glass, the green tint would alter the colour slightly. This would result in a piece of glass that didn’t quite match what you had in mind. However if you were to use the same process on low iron glass, the result would be a significantly more accurate portrayal of the colour you wanted. Low iron glass can be put through processes such as, grinding, drilling, tempering, laminating, mirroring, coating and printing just the same as standard glass. Really the only difference is the lack of green tint.

Now to address the other big question; Is it more expensive than standard glass? Unfortunately the answer to that question is yes. Low iron glass is in fact more expensive almost doubly so…..for us. Low iron glass is more expensive as a raw material however, polishing and cutting and all the processing stages that it goes through to become a beautiful Futureglass product stay the same. Meaning that it will only cost you on average, twenty percent more than a standard glass product.

Part of this cost is due to the fact that we don’t hold stock of low iron glass, so every time you order a low iron glass product we have to order it in specifically for your product.

So there you have it, the ins and outs of low iron glass, I hope that this has helped to clear up any concerns you may have had and if you have any further questions about low iron glass, or any of our other products and services, please don’t hesitate to contact us.