When glass is being laminated, the process can create bubbles between the two glass sheets.
The integrity of the glass remains unaffected; it’s simply an occasional and minimal visual imperfection that is part of the bespoke process. Glass can have “seeds” inside, which are bubbles less than 1mm in diameter. These bubbles are caused by trapped gases in the melted glass or by incomplete melting. They are not harmful to the glass and do not affect the lifespan of the item. Bubbles larger than 1mm in diameter are called blisters.
We have a guide for lamination tolerance guidelines. A person must observe the glass/mirror from 3000mm away. Any bubbles/seeds that are between 0.5mm and 1.5mm in size are acceptable, with a maximum of two bubbles per 300mm. Anything larger than this requires the glass to be remade. At Me and My Glass, we conduct this inspection to ensure you don’t receive a flawed piece of glass. Large bubbles are not aesthetically pleasing, which is why the glass needs to be remade. Please see our tolerance guidelines.
What Causes Glass Bubbles?
Bubbles occur when the piece of glass isn’t completely flat. If one side is bumpy in a small area, it can create a bubble in the laminated interlayer.
Glass bubbles can also appear in textured glass, such as reeded glass. Larger laminated reeded panels often have air bubbles within the lamination. If you ever run your hand across the back of reeded glass, you’ll notice it’s quite uneven and not perfectly flat, due to the molding process used to create its texture.
When we laminate this slightly uneven surface onto a perfectly flat piece of glass, it inevitably creates small pockets of air bubbles. This is what you see in the images below. It doesn’t happen every time, but unfortunately, it does happen quite often. There’s no way around it, unfortunately.
This was the main reason we moved to the new, thicker 8mm reeded glass product.
