The glass has already been manufactured for the stock and is on route to the warehouse. We expect to have this ready for delivery mid July.

The glasses to be supplied are specially coated with a nano coating on both sided of the glass making them hydrophobic.

More information on the slef cleaning glass solution by Balcony can be found here on the self cleaning glass area of the website: http://www.balconette.co.uk/self-cleaning-glass/

Balcony Systems do not intend to raise the price of the balconies and thus this development will increase the Juliet balconies value for money and make them self cleaning Juliet balconies.

The pyrolytic Self-cleaning glass consists of a hydrophilic coating with photocatalytic properties fused into the glass at high temperatures during the manufacturing process.

This type of coating typically reacts with the sun’s ultraviolet light and water (rain or induced water spray). Thus, these two elements (sunlight and water) must be present for the coating to be effective, creating a sheeting action so that water can easily rinse the loosened dirt away.

Due to its integral characteristics, there are many limitations to this concept of “self-cleaning”, such as the following:

• glass must receive both sunlight and water
• it is not applicable to all kinds of glass
• cannot be applied in the field but rather at manufacturing level only (making repair or replacement a lot more expensive)
• it’s typically a lot more expensive than hydrophobic coatings.

By contrast, hydrophobic coating requires no ‘activation’ since it chemically reacts during its own process in less than 2 seconds and immediately bonds to the surface. Although othertheories refer to the “self-cleaning” glass as those coatings with contact angles in excess of 105º, where the mechanical action required is virtual unnecessary and no accumulation of contaminants occurs.

This is probably the single most relevant question one can ask about any hydrophobic easy-to-clean coating and perhaps the MOST HIDDEN fact by most coating suppliers as it truly uncovers the truth behind the quality of the product. Yet, most coating suppliers will typically evade this critical issue with all sorts of misleading statements and false claims:

The unequivocal and irrefutable scientific FACT

The important fact to know is not necessarily the initial contact angle measurement after the glass surface is treated but rather how it will perform over time or, in other words, how will the contact angle behave with the normal tear and wear once the surface is exposed to the different environments.

Most hydrophobic easy-to-clean coatings have an initial contact angle anywhere from as low as 80 degrees to 120 degrees. The ones that are on the low end, especially under 95 degrees, are not interested, for obvious reasons, in disclosing any measurement thus they downplay or completely disregard any value to contact angle measurements, as they would not want to lose any “marketing edge” vs. any higher contact angle coating.

The contact angle measurement varies over time

You may hear a supplier calling this issue “the war of the bubbles” and the lack of relevancy they allocate since it really “doesn’t matter”, they claim. NOT quite so as it does matter and you should know why to therefore make a smart decision when choosing a coating for your own use, whether you are the owner of a building, business or simply for your own household or automotive use.

Specifically, the important aspect is to know how the contact angle measurement varies over time, thus if your coated surface still remains at a relatively high contact angle AFTER a significant period of time, let’s say after 1,2, 3 and more years to then be able to TRULY ASSESS the quality of the coating without the need to re-apply every few months, which is the case with MOST other coatings as they do not have a PERMANENT BOND.

Mediocre, good and excellent hydrophobic coatings

This is simply a matter of accuracy and disclosure of scientific facts that DO affect your every day life by having access to improved performance. The same way anyone likes having the best cleaner in the house, or perhaps the best paint for the living room walls, one should know the difference between mediocre, good and excellent hydrophobic coatings to enhance your glass surfaces and keep it cleaner for longer periods of time thus reducing the required maintenance.

The measurement that defines how water-repellent a surface is after being treated with a hydrophobic coating is called “contact angle”, also called ‘wetting angle’, which is the angle formed by the material’s surface and the tangent of the interface between the fluid (i.e.: water) and the environment at the point of contact (the glass surface for example).

Visit this Wikipedia webpage or further “contact angle” information

ABSTRACT

There are many companies around the world providing glass surface treatments today. Many of them simply sell a private labeled brand (someone else’s product) and only a few own their intellectual property, meaning that there are only a few companies that have truly done enough research and development to come up with their own product with distinct and valid claims, along with a solid track record, to support what they promote.

The purpose of these posts are to provide clarity to the public with regards to the core characteristics of glass surface treatments that one should be aware of (to make a smart choice) but more specifically with regards to hydrophobic (water repellent) or the so-called easy-to-clean glass coatings. The Q&A format has been chosen for simplification purposes and in order to explain in a more colloquial manner to any end-user rather than to an expert in this related field.

Added-Value Functions: Core Properties of Easy-to-Clean Coatings

How hydrophobic is the surface and why do you need to know

As its name denotes, one of the first and foremost core properties of any hydrophobic coating that one should know is precisely how hydrophobic, or water repellent, the coating makes the surface.

Why? Simply because the more hydrophobic the surface becomes, the easier it will be for the treated surface to be cleaned. It works like a Teflon® cooking pan and the difference in cleaning a Teflon® coated pan vs. a non-Teflon® one.

The dream and the truth:

Isn’t it a dream come true, glass that cleans itself? No more dust, grime, calcium deposits and dirt to ruin the views?

One of the most tedious tasks in life is maintenance and cleaning. Just the words “self cleaning” will sell almost anything. There is no need to get into asking if this is a required trait or not. I think its quite obvious that most consumers will pay a bit more, within reason, for “self cleaning” glass.

We would like to believe that there is a glass that cleans itself but it seems again that, like life, there usually is a compromise and “self cleaning” should actually be renamed into “lower maintenance” to limit customers surprise when they wake up to dirt on their glass that should have cleaned itself.

What is self cleaning glass?

Well I would divide this area into two categories:

1. Glass coated or applied with hydrophilic layer that uses photocatalytic decomposition
2. Glass coated or applied with a hydrophobic coating. Also known as the “lotus effect”.

Now before you fall asleep from the words I will explain in simplicity what these terms actually mean and do and try to point out the important pluses and minuses of each type.

Lets start with the two major differences; hydrophilic and hydrophobic.

• Hydrophilic simply means that the glass will attract the water and make it spread out like a thin film.
• Hydrophobic means the glass will repel water and any water that comes in contact with the glass will tend to have a minimum amount of contact with the glass and will create spherical droplets on the surface.

Hydrophilic

this is glass that is based on having a film of titanium dioxide coating. The glass works in two stages. The “photocatalytic” (simply meaning the accelerated process of using the ultraviolet light to break down the organic dirt on the glass) and makes the glass hydrophilic, During the following “hydrophilic” stage rain washes away the dirt, leaving almost no streaks, because hydrophilic glass spreads the water evenly over its surface.

Pluses:

1. Under the right conditions, meaning frequent sun and rain, or if hosed down regularly will reduce the cleaning cycle required of glass.
2. The coating is stable and has a long life span.

Minuses:

1. Titanium dioxide-based glass cannot decompose inorganic dirt, thick non-transparent deposits, such as paint or silicone, waterstop fingerprints, or dust produced during construction.
2. This glass also negatively reacts with silicone and will require specialist glazing.
3. If damaged will require replacement of the glass as no onsite application is possible.

Hydrophobic

The second type of self cleaning glass is glass applied with a hydrophobic coating also known as having the “lotus effect” which refers to the very high water repellency exhibited by the leaves of the lotus flower. Dirt particles are picked up by water droplets due to a complex micro- and nanoscopic architecture of the surface which enables minimization of adhesion. This form of glass works in a similar way to “Teflon” on a frying pan. It produces a non stick surface and water will run off of this surface quickly and not streak. Glass, despite looking like a smooth surface, has on a microscopic scale, peaks and valleys which on untreated glass attract and deposit dirt and grime. The coating or applications of this type are silica based and create a nano scale film that covers these valleys or troths.

Pluses:

1. Works on organic and inorganic dirt alike.
2. Scratch resistant and will reduce the need for use of chemicals in any cleaning required as dirt will easily wash off.
3. Protects the glass from graffiti and paint.
4. Can be reapplied on site if required.
5. Cost wise the hydrophobic coatings and applications are usually about half the cost of the hydrophilic type glasses.

Minuses:

1. This application, depending on the exact product, has a life span of 5 to 10 years in external conditions.

In summing up we can say that to date there still is no ideal self cleaning glass or a glass that requires zero cleaning but there certainly are some great advantages to the use of these two types of glass products which will both greatly reduce the cleaning chore and cycle.