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GLASS
VESSEL SINKS
In bathroom design, the vessel sinks are the hottest trend
to hit home improvement, bathroom remodeling and design. Vessel
Sinks create a decorative mood that set the tone for the entire
bathroom. Installing a vessel
sink can instantly change the look from traditional to contemporary.
The
origin and use of glass goes back almost 5,000 years. Archaeologists
have discovered evidence of glass objects dating as early as
3,000 B.C. The ancient Greeks used glass in their buildings.
Historical records from the period refer to baths and rooms
lined with glass. Window glass dates from the end of the third
century. Today, the glass making industry is very sophisticated.
Glaziers use a wide variety of glass, depending upon the functions
that the glass must perform. What Is Glass? Basically, glass
is sand-a very high quality silica sand, to which other materials
are added. The resulting mixture is called a batch. Some of
the other materials included in the batch are salt cake, limestone,
dolomite, feldspar, soda ash and powdered cullet. Cullet is
broken glass. It can be left over from a previous batch or from
the edges that remain after a batch of glass has been formed
and cut to size. Adding cullet helps the batch melt more easily.
Types
of Glass Sinks
Tempered glass is moderate in both price and weight. There are
many color and sizes to choose from. Glass is considered a contemporary
look. And glass is virtually maintenance free - you can use
a standard glass cleaner or mild soap and water.
Cold
Glass -- The cold glass type means that the design on the
glass is being done while the glass is at room temperature.
This produces a variety of bathroom glass sinks, such as stained
glass, mosaic glass, and etched or carved glass. Mosaic glass
is produced when colored pieces of glass are placed into an
annealed glass bowl. Then the surface is coated to have a smooth
surface. Colored glass sinks are produced by mixing colored
powders such as blue Cobalt Oxide into the heated glass at high
temperatures.
Warm
Glass - Warm glass means that the glass is exposed at temperatures
between 1,100 to 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit. From the point of
view of human safety, these temperatures cannot be considered
warm. But based on the nature of the glass, these temperatures
are not enough to completely melt it. The warm glass type produces
bathroom glass sinks such as fused glass and colored glass.
Fused glass is the result of fusing together several pieces
of glass forming a piece that appears unbroken. The final piece
is slumped to create the shape of a vessel found in bathroom
glass sinks.
Hot
Glass - Hot glass means that the glass is placed in a furnace
set at 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit. The glass melts at this temperature.
Hot glass produces bathroom glass sinks such as blown glass
and cast glass. The blown glass is produced when the glassmaker
blows into a rod or a pipe. In this blowing process, no two
bathroom glass sinks will appear the same. Cast glass is produced
when melted glass is placed on top of a textured surface in
order to cool down. The cool hardened glass will show the imprint
of the textured surface.
Durability
-- The bathroom glass sink is the vogue in home designs.
Glass is clean, sophisticated, and versatile. The versatility
of glass allows manufacturers to produce hundreds of bathroom
glass sinks that have unique designs and colors. But some homeowners
shy away from glass because they falsely believe that glass
sinks are dangerous. Glass, after all, breaks easily. Fortunately,
technology has reached a level that can produce glass of high
durability.
Glass vessel
sinks - options include clear, colored, double-layered, and
tempered.
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