point of a design plan. A single item
such as a piece of furniture or a
divider can be created to match a
wide variety of design styles by
painting it in different colors and
then matching it with other complementary materials such as metal,
wood or fabric. This opens up
tremendous opportunities for the
residential, commercial, industrial
construction and remodeling worlds
as well as the furnishings industry.
For example, Glober Furniture,
headquartered in the Chicago area,
created a silver and black bedroom
suite by painting a nine-foot sheet of
glass with black paint and mounting
it on the headboard of a modern
styled bed with the painted side
away from the room. The glass is
deep black but highly reflective.
Smaller painted sheets are affixed to
the tops, drawer fronts and doors of
matching night stands, dresser and
armoire. All the remaining surfaces
are covered with silver finished aluminum. The effect created by the
light reflecting off these sleek surfaces is indeed dramatic. Glober created other pieces by painting glass
different colors and matching it with
complementary metal finishes.
Prior to this time, some colored glass
items were produced with a solvent-based coating which presents application and environmental issues that are
dramatically reduced or eliminated with
waterborne coatings, which incorporate
dyes initially developed for solvents.
These aren’t the same waterborne
coatings used on structural walls or on
industrial machinery and vehicles.
They have been specifically formulated
and tested to adhere to glass under a
wide range of environmental conditions it might face as a design element.
One of the many appealing features of glass paint is the application options. It can be sprayed onto
the glass or the sheets can be dipped
into the coatings. Spraying can be
done either in a production/fabrica-tion facility or on a job site. The high
level of solids in the product
achieves coverage levels of between
500-625 square feet per gallon
There is no downtime waiting for the
Photo: Glober Furniture
Glober Furniture wanted a brand new line of metal furniture in distinctive shapes, sizes
and colors using anodized alumninum and discovered that colored glass was the ideal
material to couple with it. The line combines painted glass and aluminum for bedroom
furniture, curio cabinets, dining tables, buffets, mirrors, accent tables and wall systems
and has been nominated for and received several furniture industry awards.
paint to dry. The glass can be handled
in approximately six minutes after
spraying in ambient temperatures,
depending on humidity, without any
forced air circulation. This is ideal for
job-site application and eliminates the
need for a forced air drying system in
higher production fabricating facilities.
Designers or contractors will be
pleased to know that storing pre-painted glass sheets in a warehouse
or on a job site without any climate
controls will not present any adhesion issues. During one adhesion
test, painted glass items were placed
in a 125ºF oven for 72 hours with no
change in performance properties.
Other items were placed in a humidity cabinet under ASTM D-4585 criteria
without any failure until after 24 hours.
More painted objects were tested in
accordance with ASTM D-2803-82 specifications and exhibited superior tape
pull performance after being in a 10-gal-
lon humidity chamber at 85% relative
humidity for 30 days.
Real-life testing outside the lab
showed no color deterioration or
appearance change in items exposed
to direct sunlight or rain during a one
month outdoor test. They also resisted
damage from a variety of liquids such
as coffee and alcohol.
Interior designers contemplating
the use of large quantities of colored
glass need assurance of color consistency from one sheet of glass to another and one project to the next. Modern
formulation and paint production
technology assures that the color of
the coating will be the same from one
production order to the next.
Furniture or construction component
plants will be relieved to find that waterborne coatings present no fire hazard
and may be safely stored indoors without
special combustion precautions. The
area used for painting can be cleaned up
with tap water. The coating is also environmentally friendly with VOC levels
ranging from 1.1 to 1.4 lbs. per gallon.
Since testing has documented the
basic formulation’s resistance to
damage from environmental conditions and day-to-day use it was a logical next step to create color formulations which enhanced the versatility
of glass as a furniture component or
interior design material. The applications for this new technology, just like
the applications for clear glass, are
limited only by the ingenuity of the
people who love glass. CW
Ken Burton is president of Finishes
Unlimited, a Sugar Grove, IL manufacturer of waterborne coatings. They
can be located on the web at
www.finishesunlimited.com.
