SECURITY FILMS
Glass is a material that will never go out of fashion. There are many reasons why builders and architects make extensive use of glass. For one, it lets in the light and thus cuts down on the amount of lighting needed in the daytime. Two, it looks good and creates a slick modern frontage for commercial establishments. Three, it allows people to look into the interior, especially at night – which is important for businesses like retail, restaurants and so on.
But glass also poses some amount of risk, simply because it’s so brittle. According to a US government study, flying glass pieces are the biggest cause of injury during a blast or a storm.
The answer to this problem is safety film. A safety film holds the glass together after a violent impact, preventing the shards from flying around and causing damage.
Safety film is considered `elastomeric’ — it has the ability to stretch. It is applied to the interior surface of glass using in extremely aggressive pressure-sensitive acrylic adhesive. This holds the surface together when there’s a violent impact. It is manufactured with single or multiple layers of polyester film – clear or tinted – in a variety of ways. The more the layers, higher the protection offered.
Another benefit of safety film is that it offers a certain amount of protection against theft. A thief cannot just hurl a stone at a glass window to shatter it. When the projectile hits a window protected by safety film, it breaks, but doesn’t shatter; instead, the pieces are held in place by the film. So security personnel have enough time to rush to the spot and prevent the burglary from taking place.
For commercial establishments like stores and restaurants, it’s important to have an absolutely spotless glass frontage. Safety film prevents unsightly scratches from appearing in the course of daily cleaning. Stains like hand prints or graffiti can also be easily removed from a glass window coated with safety film.