 Where picture framing is concerned, there are several advantages and disadvantages of plastic glass glazing ( to glaze is to cover the surface of
something with a pane or film of covering material ) over glass glazing in using it for indoor (as against outdoor) picture frames. For picture frames, the most common acrylic glazing material used is cast plastic rather than the extruded or 'continuous' type. The reason for this is that the former is of higher quality has less impurities and harder and thus a little harder to scratch. Nowadays Chinese-made cast plastic is most often the one now sold in Australia though for many years Plexiglass and Lucite were the dominant brands .
Plastic is (depending on the thickness) much lighter, only about half as heavy, it's virtually unbreakable or shatter-proof and generally, it offers better U.V. (ultra-violet) protection. It also insulates better than glass, possibly delaying unwanted condensation during extreme in ambient humidity and temperature. In addition to these superior properties, cast plastic can have a transparency superior the glass and without the colour adulteration.
Depending where the float glass is made and which silica is used, picture framing glass can have a discernible yellow or greenish tinge which can, at times, be aesthetically undesirable, particularly with highly prized or valued artwork. Lastly, if a frame isn't joined or assemble perfectly level and even gaps will show between the rabbet and the glass after fitting up or assembly. But plastic bends and this defect would not be as evident using a plastic pane.
But it also has some disadvantages. It is 4 to 5 times more expensive than clear float picture framing glass, it scratches easier and is soiled by petrochemicals like oil can't be cleaned with some common solvents suck as turpentine or petrol. Importantly, it cannot be scored with a hand tool whereas a picture framer can quickly and easily score and snap glass sheets with an inexpensive hand tool, a glass cutter.
The sheets of plastics are usually quite large (about 8' x 4' or larger) and can only be sawn at high speed, with a carbide-tipped blade using a wall radial panel saw which often costs several thousand dollars. Picture framers normally do not have the room to store these huge sheets and usually don't have a radial saw to saw plastics. They will instead phone an order through to a plastic fabricator supplier to have a plastic panel cut to size.
Not only is the plastic about 4 time dearer than glass but the plastic sheet supplier or fabricator will usually charge a cutting charge just to cut the one sheet. One fabricator we know of charges $35 just to cut one panel, on top of the cost of the plastic. And because it's more expensive to glaze picture frames with plastics, it is therefore less popular with customers. To know more about glass, perspex and other types of glazing you can visit our Picture Framing Glass and Glazing page. Thank you for reading this post "What are the advantages and disadvantages of plastic glass over clear glass?.".
Where I work is a kindergarten with pre-schoolers and other young kids running around, playing ball and being active. We also encourage the children to draw and paint which we display in our kindy. We frame these drawings and paintings for the parents and everybody to see. For obvious safety reasons, all our picture frames have plastic glass as some pictures have been knocked off the walls. WE also bought photo frames and clip frames with acrylic instead of glass as there are much safer to be round busy staff and young kids.
It’s a shame that Australian-made picture frames and Australian-supplied Perspex or acrylic glass is so expensive. We have several guests and tenants in our flats and apartments that want to put up poster frames with plastic, father than real glass, but they either find these as too expensive to buy or cannot readily find these. They don’t want to put up poster frames or big picture frames with glass because they’re either too heavy or they’re not allowed to put nails into the walls.