Mixing and Applying Flex-Tec Anti-Shatter Coating
Shattering and Breaking are Two Different Things
It's important to realize that an Anti-Shatter coating on your glass will not prevent your glass from breaking. It's there to prevent your glass from shattering.
Flex-Tec is a safety coating for pieces displayed in outdoor areas or areas where the glass may break. It prevents glass shards from flying in different directions and possibly injuring individuals. The Flex-Tec coating will also hold the glass together in the event that it breaks and prevents the piece from coming apart.
Flex-tec is extremely versatile and can be coated on one or both sides of a piece of glass or even used to laminate two pieces of glass together (i.e. a piece of tempered glass on a piece of fused glass for added protection and integrity).
Flex-Tec is easy to mix and use and can be dyed to create colors with both dry artist pigments like Orasol or liquid pigments. Flex-Tec is UV stable and will not yellow with exposure to UV light, so it's perfect for use in outdoor installations for long-term reliability.
Make Sure it Holds
Flex-Tec is used quite often in outdoor environments with humidity changes and water intrusion. In order to make sure the Flex-Tec material stays bonded to your glass in adverse weather and humidity conditions, it's very important to use the A-1100 Amino-Silane material on your glass surface before applying the Flex-Tec material to your glass.
A-1100 is an adhesion promotor that chemically alters the surface of the glass in order for epoxy materials like Flex-Tec or HXTAL to more readily bond to the silica in the glass. For any area where the piece may be introduced to water, it is necessary to use the A-1100 on your glass before bonding with Flex-Tec.
Clean It Well
It's also vitally important that the surface of your glass is as clean as possible. When using any bonding material like Flex-Tec or HXTAL, the bonding agent will only bond to what is on the surface of the glass. If you have oils or dirt or other residue on the surface of your glass, then the Flex-Tec will bond to that material instead of to the surface of the glass.
You can use Acetone or Reagent grade Isopropyl Alcohol to clean your surfaces but realize that these are solvents and not cleaning agents. You'll need to clean the surface three or four times with these to make sure you remove all materials from the glass surface instead of just spreading them around.
Our preferred cleaning material is Whiting or calcium carbonate. It's a non-detergent cleaner moistened into a slurry and scrubbed on the glass surface. It will not mar the glass surface, but it will remove anything from it without leaving behind any other materials.
Watch Some Test Breakage
Check out our video below from several years ago when we first tested Flex-Tec in various scenarios for breakage. It's an excellent way to see how well the Flex-Tec material protects your glass from shattering.
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