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What Is a Sandblasted Glass Shower Screen and Why Should You Buy One?

7 March 2017

Timmothy Mitchelle

If someone asks you to picture a glass shower screen, you'll probably picture one that is completely transparent. After all, transparency one of the main things that glass is known for, and people often like completely transparent shower screens because they can make a bathroom look larger, lighter, and more open.

However, you don't have to go for complete transparency. There are several options for creating an opaque surface without sacrificing the other fetching characteristics of glass, and one of the most popular is sandblasting.

What Is Sandblasted Glass?

Despite the name, sandblasted glass isn't always blasted with sand. However, in all cases a high-powered machine will be used to bombard the surface of glass with sand or another coarse but small material. This creates microscopic scratches across the surface without affecting the glass's structural integrity.

No More Fingerprints

One of the central advantages that comes with using a sandblasted glass shower screen is that you won't be forced to worry about fingerprints, water marks and other stains that can quickly mar transparent glass. Of course, those stains will still be made on sandblasted glass, but they won't be nearly as visible. You won't have to clean your shower screen as frequently since it will stay looking good.

Various Options

There are other options if you want to make a glass shower screen opaque, such as acid etching. However, most of these suffer from a serious issue: they affect the entire surface. If you want the whole of your shower screen to be opaque, this isn't much of an issue, but it's nice to be able to take advantage of the more versatile design options offered by sandblasting.

Firstly, you can choose the level of opaqueness that you prefer. A lightly sandblasted screen will show silhouettes relatively clearly, while heavily sandblasted screens will be practically impossible to see anything through. Secondly, you can choose to have only certain sections of the screen made opaque. Some people like to create privacy strips that cover from around the knee to the top of the chest while standing. Others like more interesting design schemes, such as random squares of transparency. Creating transparent sections is great because it allows for privacy while still letting light through into the shower.  

Ultimately, a sandblasted shower screen provides you with more options in terms of design, greater convenience in terms of cleaning, and the chance to maintain a level of privacy while still using glass for your shower screen. In other words: they are an option you should definitely take the time to consider.

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