Glass vs Acrylic Glass, which is best for your photo frames?
Have you ever wondered about the difference between glass and acrylic glass for photo frames?
The below video will give you a great insight into the pros and cons of each option so you can make an educated decision on what's right for your frames.
A quick comparison:
Glass is the traditional material used for photo frames.
Acrylic glass, on the other hand, is a type of plastic that's often used as a substitute for glass but with plenty of upside.
Acrylic is our recommended choice at this point in time due to it's many benefits, and a more environmentally friendly choice.
Transcript from the video:
A question that we get asked all the time is, "What's better for my picture frames, glass or acrylic?"
Well, hopefully this video can help you make an educated decision on what's best for you.
So, acrylic is our recommended option for our frames for several reasons:
- It can't break, which is a huge upside. It won't shatter and is very rarely going to crack. It takes a lot of effort to crack it, and if you're clumsy, it's also a great option because if you drop it, you've still got it intact.
- It's lightweight. Acrylic is much lighter than glass, so it's great for large frames as it keeps the weight down. Overall, for any frames and if you're using temporary hangers, like the 3M hangers that stick on your wall, this is also a lighter option, so they'll be able to hold the weight a lot better.
- Acrylic has much better UV protection.
- Our acrylic has over 90% UV protection, whereas glass doesn't have any. So, if you've got an image that you want to protect and it's a bit more valuable, acrylic is a great option. Just for longevity in general, anything you put in a frame will be better protected by the acrylic from light or sunlight that may be directly on the frame.
- Our acrylic at Mulbury is a much more eco-friendly option as well. This acrylic that we have is made from over 50% recycled materials, whereas our glass is made from new materials. In the grand scheme of things, acrylic is probably the lesser of the two evils. Acrylic will break down in about a thousand years, which isn't great, but glass is said to take anywhere from 100,000 to even a million years to break down. We don't actually know how long it takes, so environmentally friendly acrylic is definitely the better option.
With our acrylic, you also need to peel back the edges of the protective film on each side.
Reflection is a huge question we get asked about as well. There's no significant difference between glass or acrylic in terms of reflection. Acrylic may have slightly less reflection, but it's not too noticeable. We do have options for non-reflective glass and non-reflective acrylic, but they do cost a fair bit more, so it's just something to think about. The reflection doesn't really differ between the two.
The upside of glass is that it's harder to mark. Acrylic will mark a bit easier than glass. It doesn't mean it marks easily, but it takes more effort to scratch glass than it will acrylic, so that's one thing to consider. You need to be more careful using acrylic.
Cleaning glass is also easier than acrylic. Acrylic can have a bit of static, so it's important to use a good microfiber cloth when cleaning acrylic as it does attract a bit of dust. Whereas with glass, you can use any window cleaner spray and a cloth, and it'll clean nice and easy. Anyway, I hope that all helps you make an educated decision on what's better, glass or acrylic.
As always, please get in touch if you have any questions.
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