Protecting your Furniture with Glass

Furniture is an investment you make after careful consideration about style, durability and price. Once you’ve selected that beautiful piece, and have it placed exactly where you want it in your home, the last thing you want is damage to occur due to some careless act, like setting down any icy drink, or dropping your keys onto the surface. Wood furniture is vulnerable to moisture, scratches, dings, and gouges. And unprotected wood requires regular maintenance like dusting and polishing. Of course, you could cover the surface with a cloth, but then you are hiding the beauty of the piece you so carefully selected. A great option that protects without hiding the richness of the wood is to top the surface with glass.

Water rings, scratches and even sun damage can age your wood furniture prematurely. A glass top for your table or desk can protect from daily wear and tear and can help safeguard the characteristics that make the piece special. Ever heard of sunscreen for your furniture? Glass tabletops can protect against harmful UV rays. Tinted tabletop glass can provide your fine wood furniture with a sunscreen, of sort, that will protect and prevent sun damage, and thereby prolong the life of your wood furniture.

Getting custom glass for your table top simple. First, measure the top of the table. If it’s square or rectangular, measure width and length. Measure a round tabletop across its widest point. If it has an unusual shape, such as rounded ends, you will need to trace the top of the table onto paper. If this is a struggle, we can send someone out to you to create a template. If you are willing to try this yourself, here are some helpful hints:

Start with a large enough sheet (possible from a roll of industrial/craft paper), or tape together enough sheets of newspaper to hang over the edges of the table by 6 inches or so. Lay the paper on top of the table and secure it with something like books, bags of flour or sugar, or heavy pots. Carefully trace the edge of the tabletop onto the paper. It is best to use a permanent marker that’s a contrasting color to the newspaper. Score the marking as much as possible to further define the edge. Verify your work by checking the measurements of different parts of the tabletop against your template.

During your customization process, here’s what else you need to know to order a glass table cover.

Checklist for when glass sits directly on the surface of furniture:

Glass Thickness: 1/4″ is the preferred thickness. 3/8″ or 1/2″can be used for effect but make sure that the furniture can carry the weight.

Glass Strength: Annealed glass is sufficient to protect the table, but glass can always be tempered for added safety, especially if there are children in the house.

Edge Type: flat polish is often the preferred edge. However, pencil polish or beveled polish can be used to give accent or a dramatic effect.

The glass tabletop edges can be custom cut to give your tabletop an elegant and sophisticated motif or a fun and trendy vibe. The various kinds of edges available are seamed, flat polish, pencil and beveled. Your glass supplier will be able to show you examples in the company’s showroom. Make sure you get an adequate thickness. While tempered glass is durable, it can break. Get the thickest glass that still looks attractive.

Glass tabletops are easy to take care of and keep clean. All you need is a dry, clean cloth and a spray bottle full of water or glass cleaner to keep your glass squeaky clean and shiny. Binswanger even has their own glass gleaning product available that can be ordered from the branch nearest to you. Homeowners and professional cleaning services alike have been swearing by it for years!