Mirrors on corners can sometimes peel or erode over time. This can result in the loss of the silver mirror finish or cause black or brown edges, which are not aesthetically appealing. This is what we call “creep,” and it’s the result of several factors listed below:
- Cheap, imported or manufactured mirrors deteriorate from the back.
- Chemicals, such as those found in cleaning products (e.g., bleach), can attack the mirror’s backing paint and, over time, damage the silver layer.
- Moisture, if left uncleaned, can turn to mould and eventually attack the back of the mirror.
- Flaking can occur due to poor manufacturing of the mirror and its backing paint, causing it to flake away from the glass.
We haven’t seen these issues as much in the past five years or so, as UK-manufactured mirrors are regarded as high quality. The backing paints used are ceramic, making them much more durable and less susceptible to the issues mentioned above.
However, low-cost mirrors, which are generally cheaper imports, tend to have many quality issues both when they are new and over time.
Many other e-commerce or smaller businesses use these cheaper products to remain competitive on margins, but this often leads to quality complaints, particularly if the mirrors are used in bathrooms, kitchens, or outdoors, where water can cause dampness and erode the mirror.