4 Tips to Prevent Damage to a Glass Tabletop

1. Think Carefully About Placement

Choosing the right location for your glass table can be the difference between an attractive piece of furniture and a shattered mess. Damage to glass tabletops often occurs when guests or children bump the table as they go by, so place your tables in low-traffic areas of your home. Glass tables in tucked-away corners or near windows create a sense of openness in the room without getting in the way.



When you place a glass table, don't forget to assess the area above the table. Heavy objects like potted plants, large books, or dishes can shatter a glass tabletop if they fall onto the table. Avoid placing the table under open shelving or near heavy wall-hanging decorations.

2. Don't Use the Wrong Cleaners

Fingerprints and dust have a tendency to stand out on glass tabletops, so you will likely find yourself cleaning the glass often. To keep your table looking like new, you will need to be sure you are cleaning it correctly.

Window cleaner is acceptable for cleaning glass countertops, although many homeowners prefer to use diluted vinegar as a simple and cheap alternative. Only use purified water, as tap water contains minerals that can cause scratches and streaking. A lint-free cloth is preferable for cleaning glass tabletops because paper towels and cotton cloths can cause streaks and scratches as well.

3. Add Bumpers to Prevent Sliding

Most glass tabletops simply rest on top of the table frame. Some glass tabletops have rubber bumpers or feet on the bottom to hold the glass to the frame more securely. If your glass tabletop doesn't have these bumpers on the bottom, you can resolve this problem by adding them yourself.

Most rubber table bumpers have an adhesive on the bottom to allow them to stick to the glass tabletop. Before you apply the bumpers, clean the bottom of the glass to remove dust and other small particles that may prevent the bumpers from sticking. Line the glass up against the frame and place several bumpers along the edges where the frame meets the glass.

4. Be Careful With Hot Dishes

Everyone enjoys piping hot food coming to their table, but getting in a hurry by placing hot dishes on your glass table can have dire consequences. The sudden temperature change from hot plates, pots, and pans can cause your tabletop to crack or shatter, even if it is made from tempered glass.

High heat is so dangerous for glass tabletops because glass is a poor conductor. The glass near the hot dish will heat and expand rapidly, but the rest of the glass will resist heat transfer and won't expand as quickly. This difference in expansion rates creates stress inside the glass that builds until it cracks or shatters.

Tables with glass tops have a unique elegance, but they are also more fragile than those made from other materials. Whether you are looking to better protect your current table or you are on the market for a new glass table, these tips will help you keep your table in new condition for years to come.

Call or visit us today at Palmetto Glass & Mirror for more useful info on glass tables and for all of your residential glass needs.

Borosilicate glasses such as old Pyrex and good laboratory pieces do well with both temperature and thermal shocks. Soda-lime glasses such as all current cookware only do well with temperature. Spilling cold additions to a hot pan onto glass is always going to have some risk of shattering.

The tempered glass you by in a store will not contain boron. So while it will easily endure high temperatures it will not withstand rapid changes in temperature. For example, you're sautéing some onions in a skillet and the bottom of the pan heats the glass to 600 degrees. You proceed to deglaze the pan with a nice white wine when a dog barks causing you to pour it onto the glass, which rapidly cools and breaks into a bunch of shards.

The root problem is that conventional glass undergoes a fair amount of thermal expansion. Borosilicate glass only expands about 33% of the amount another type of glass would when heated, so it's much less likely to blow up in your face when rapidly cooled. It's also more expensive, which is why Pyrex cooking goods are no longer made from it. (I'm guessing induction cooktops aren't either, probably using mass and fancy acrylics.) Nothing is stopping you from buying it (or a comparable glass) from a specialty supplier, just be sure you're clear with them about the use case.

A better bet would parchment paper or food grade silicone. Companies such as Silpat sell pan-sized solid mats made from fiberglass and silicone that you can use to prevent scratching the induction top. I believe you can also get carbon fiber pads sized to fit particular model ranges, for a whole-stove solution.

If you're committed to shopping at the hardware store rather than restaurant supply, how about a soldering heat shield? Metal grommets are out, but the flame retardant synthetics they're made from more than fit your bill. Pyron is good up to 2,500F and you can roll it up and stick it in a drawer.

One final thought, the typical temperature on an induction stove is well below the worst case. An empty cast-iron skillet, for example, will convert around 90% of the electrical power directly to heat. The cooktop itself has a bunch of mass and is a thermal insulator, you'll lose at least the mass with whatever you use. Silicone for example is good to 500F but can get gooey on high heat.

SINGAPORE - With Chinese New Year just around the corner, lovers of steamboats or hotpots planning to enjoy a warm meal on glass tables at home might want to take some precautions.

Following a tempered glass table shattering on Sunday (Jan 19) during a steamboat meal in which several people were hurt, experts warned that using steamboat or hotpot equipment directly on glass tables is not safe.

They recommended consumers to use thermal insulators underneath the hotpot equipment while making sure that glass surfaces do not overheat, even as they noted that imperfections in the glass overlooked during manufacturing could also make them more likely to shatter.

On Monday, Facebook user Stephanie Chu said a dinner with friends was ruined after her home's glass table shattered 30 minutes into their steamboat meal.

She wrote that some of her guests had "cuts bigger than the size of an eye" as a result, and that she was taken to hospital for second degree burns.

Speaking to The Straits Times on Tuesday, Ms Chu, 28, said the accident happened in a "split-second". She and her husband had placed the hotpot equipment directly on the table, as they were not warned against doing so by furniture retailer Comfort Design.

The couple bought the table from the retailer in June last year and, excluding the latest case, have hosted at least three other hotpot meals using the same table since.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said the accident led to one person being taken to Ng Teng Fong Hospital General Hospital at about 7.50pm on Sunday.

One possible reason for the tempered glass table shattering is that glass is a poor conductor of heat, said associate professor Dong Zhili from Nanyang Technological University's School of Materials Science and Engineering.