Clear Glass vs. Low-Iron Glass
Counterintuitively, standard clear glass is not the clearest glass option available for shower doors. It has a very slight green tint to it, which in most cases isn’t offensive or deal-breaking, since it isn’t very extreme if you’re not specifically looking for it. For many decades this was the only clear glass option available in the shower door industry.
However, in the early 2000’s glass manufacturers had a eureka moment: why not experiment with tempered glass types that are more optically “clear”! This led to the development of Starfire, or “low-iron,” glass, which remains a very popular upgrade. We actually offer two different low-iron upgrades: Clear Plus and standard Low-Iron.
When you see clear glass side-by-side with low-iron glass, it makes the comparison between the two starker and more noticeable. This is why we encourage customers on the fence about which glass type to go with to stop by our shower door showroom in Frederick, MD to compare! The difference is most noticeable on the edges of the glass (as in the picture below), but you can definitely perceive the light green tint of standard clear glass when looking through the glass, as you would from outside or inside a shower enclosure.
So while viewing the glass perpendicularly on the edge does help illustrate the coloration differences between clear glass and low-iron glass, it doesn’t tell the full story. For example, Clear Plus glass has deeper coloration than standard Low-Iron glass when viewed from the edge, but it’s almost indistinguishable when looking through it. This is why we started offering the Clear Plus option: it gives similar optical clarity to Low-Iron glass at a better price point!
At the end of the day, upgrading from standard clear glass is a subjective decision. Most customers are fine with it, especially if it’s a bathroom with dark or earthy tile work, which makes the difference between clear and low-iron very difficult to perceive. However, some customers have lightly colored or intricate tile work that they want to show off fully, in all its aesthetic glory! In these cases, upgrading to Clear Plus or Low-Iron glass is absolutely worth it, because it will make these design choices more optically “true” (to color and design intent) when viewed through the shower glass.
