Optiwhite™ Extra Clear Low-Iron Glass

Overview

The use of glass in architecture and design is becoming more and more prevalent, and Pilkington Optiwhite™ is at the very forefront of making it possible.

The reason for this is the sheer variety of benefits which Pilkington Optiwhite™ can offer, making it an excellent choice for a wide range of applications. Pilkington Optiwhite™ is a low-iron extra clear float glass with very high light transmission. It is practically colourless, and the green cast inherent to other glasses is not present. It is therefore ideal for use where glass edges are visible or where a neutral colour is desired. As its light transmission is higher than clear float glass, it is perfect for applications where transparency and purity of colour are desired.

Low-iron glass is made using carefully selected raw materials with a naturally low iron content. The melting process is tightly controlled to ensure that the product properties remain consistent, making Pilkington Optiwhite™ the leading low-iron glass on the market.

Available in thicknesses between 2 mm and 19 mm, the widest range on the market, Pilkington Optiwhite™ provides increased design flexibility. When combined with other Pilkington products, it can offer additional benefits such as thermal insulation or self-cleaning. We have been producing the Pilkington Optiwhite™ Range for over twenty-five years with high consistency and quality, making this low-iron, extra clear glass highly valued by our customers whether as exterior or interior glazing, furniture or a wide range of other applications.

Pilkington Optiwhite™ offers following benefits:

• High light transmission for outstanding visual clarity when an unrestricted view is required,
• Purity of colour with minimum colour cast when viewing through the glass, ensuring a truer representation of the designer’s vision,
• High solar heat transmittance providing passive solar gain to allow more heat through, which can save costs on energy bills during the winter,
• Flexibility of application,
• Can be toughened or laminated for safety and security,
• Can be combined with other products from the Pilkington Range to provide additional benefits.

Interior Glazing

Pilkington Optiwhite™ is the ideal solution for glass doors, glass partitions, glass stairs, balustrades, and more.

Interior glazing is increasingly popular in commercial and residential buildings in order to allow natural light to flow throughout the building or as a design feature. For safety reasons, the glass used for interior glazing (e.g. glass doors, glass stairs, glass partitions) is frequently toughened or laminated.

Laminated glass provides safety and security by marrying together multiple layers of standard float glass and polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayers. However, this process also exaggerates any tint of colour inherent to the product. This is much less noticeable when using Pilkington Optiwhite™ as the substrate for laminated glass.

The resulting product is free from inherent darkening conventionally associated with laminated glass incorporating the thicker clear float glass used for enhanced safety and security, making Pilkington Optiwhite™ the ideal alternative solution for glass partitions, glass doors, glass stairs, balustrades and balconies.

Pilkington Optiwhite™ is the perfect choice for external applications such as facades.

One of the most attractive features of Pilkington Optiwhite™ is its ability to achieve greater brilliance and transparency, allowing a clear and true representation of colours when viewed through the glass. These same qualities also allow for great interior daylight, which no doubt explains why Pilkington Optiwhite™ is the product of choice for architects for buildings where transparency and brightness are of paramount importance.

Thanks to these and the many other benefits that Pilkington Optiwhite™ brings to exterior glazing, it is the perfect choice for facades. It can be combined with other products from the Pilkington Range. For example, when combined with Pilkington Suncool™ it decreases the risk of thermal breakage and reduces the need for toughening, whilst providing additional high performance solar control and low-emissivity. When used in shop fronts, it enhances true colours and allows maximum light transmission, even in thicker laminated combinations. In domestic windows, Pilkington Optiwhite™ maximises passive solar gain to reduce the need for heating during cold sunny days.

Designers are finding that Pilkington Optiwhite™ is an ideal solution for applications where glass is used as a design feature, such as glass furniture. Where glass edges are purposely exposed, for example glass tables, shelving and shower screens, its clarity enhances the entire appearance of the end product.

In applications such as display cabinets, the high light transmission of Pilkington Optiwhite™ allows for a true representation of the potentially high-value products inside. Its inherent ability to make colours appear brighter also means that Pilkington Optiwhite™ provides an exceptional base glass for tiles, splash-backs and furniture doors, and gives more accurate colour definition when used as a mirror base.

There are many more applications for which Pilkington Optiwhite™ delivers an outstanding solution, and along with every other Pilkington product we are constantly looking for ways to further improve its performance to better meet the needs of designers and architects worldwide.

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