Obscure Glass

Elite Madrid composite front door with obscure glass banner

Our obscure glass provides privacy without compromising on natural light. We have 10 different types of obscure glass to choose from. Our range of designs and varying obscurity levels give you the freedom to create private windows that suit your needs.

Choose our Cotswold glass to increase privacy on your bathroom windows, or opt for classic stippolyte glass to obscure your porch. For more decorative textured glass designs, discover our autumn leaf or everglade designs.

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What is Obscure Glass?

Elite Madrid composite front door with obscure glass
Dark woodgrain porch door with obscure glass panels
Elite composite front door in dual sage green with obscure glass panels
White Chelmsford composite front door with obscure and shaped panels
White uPVC porch and front door with obscure glass panels
White Elite Oxford composite door with obscure glass panels

Obscure glass often means glass with reduced transparency to keep your home private, but still lets in the light. This glass has levels of obscurity ranging 1-5 with 5 being the most obscure. When we use the term obscure glass we mean patterned or textured glass, as opposed to silver mist frosted glass.

Where Can Obscure Glass be Used?

You can use obscure glass anywhere in your home where you want a little more privacy. It’s popular on bathrooms, overlooked rooms or those at street level. It is also popular on porches and exterior doors. Obscure glass can also be useful on conservatory toplights where your neighbours can see over your fence.

White wooden casement window with obscure glass from the Anglian wooden casement window range

Obscure Glass Windows

One of the most popular spots in the home for patterned glass windows is the bathroom. The most obscure options like Everglade, Stippolyte, Cotswold & Silver Mist are ideal for overlooked bathrooms where privacy can be an issue.

Half glazed uPVC white door with obscure glass

Obscure Glass Doors

Many people choose a textured glass door to block the view out from their porch or front door. More decorative choices like Autumn Leaf of Mayflower offer a touch of elegance and create a design feature at the front of your home.

Obscure Glass Patterns

Stippolyte Glass

Stippolyte glass is a popular type of textured glass in the UK. It distorts figures on the other side and the design makes it look like it’s covered in a winter frost. Stippolyte glass has an obscurity level of 4, making it one of our most obscure.
Cotswold Glass

Cotswold glass is a very popular obscure glass options . Its neutral design lets light in but has an obscurity level of 4, which like stippolyte, is one of our most obscure. This makes it the perfect choice for bathrooms or porches.
Minster Glass

Minster glass has a repeated pattern that looks like small dents on the glass pane. It is one of the more well-known designs and has an obscurity rating of 2. This makes minster glass more suited to porch windows and glazed doors than a bathroom window that needs more privacy.
Autumn Leaf Glass

Autumn leaf glass has etchings of foliage on a forest floor in a repeating pattern. It provides moderate privacy, with an obscurity level of 3. This means you will partially see through the other side, making it a good fit for the bottom half of a kitchen window or the toplight windows on your conservatory.

Other Textured Glass Options

We have more textured glass options with varying levels of obscurity. Our most obscure at level 5 is Everglade but we also have Mayflower glass, Taffeta, Everglade, Pelerine, Florielle, and Oak Leaf. You can see all the samples when we visit your home for a design visit and measure your windows and doors.

Florielle
Autumn Leaf
Cotsworld
Everglade
Oak Leaf
Minster
Mayflower
Taffeta
Pelerine
Stippolyte

Textured Glass Maintenance

dual anthracite grey Timber double front door with obscure glass banner

Glass Cleaning

Patterned glass is hardwearing and easy to maintain. Clean the glass using a microfibre cloth and warm soapy water or glass cleaner. If you use glass cleaner, apply it to the cloth rather than the window to avoid getting excess glass cleaner on the frame.

General Maintenance

Different materials require different maintenance. Try to give your uPVC obscure windows a clean at least twice a year to keep them looking their best. Try to avoid using harsh glass cleaners on obscure glass with wooden frames to preserve their finish.

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Your Questions Answered By Us

Is obscure glass more expensive?

Getting texture into glass that makes it obscure requires more intricate manufacturing process and more time to create. This typically makes it more expensive than regular clear glass. Other types of obscure glass that don’t have texture, such as silver mist frosted glass, still requires more work than regular glass and therefore carries higher costs.

Should obscure glass be on the inside or outside?

Obscure glass windows are double glazed, meaning one pane is obscure and the other clear. Textured glass panes are textured on one side and smooth on the other. To make cleaning easier, the textured side of the pane faces inward so that its inside the sealed double glazed unit. It was popular in the mid twentieth century to have glazed internal doors with textured glass, but this has gone out of fashion.

Does obscure glass let light in?

Obscure glass patterns are designed to let in as much light as possible while obscuring the view of what’s inside. Some obscure glass types let in more light than others, with the higher obscurity level glasses letting in a little less. Frosted glass lets in the least light while a textured glass like minster glass has a lower obscurity level and so lets in more light.

What is the difference between frosted glass and obscure glass?

Frosted glass describes glass that has a misted look, opaque for maximum privacy but translucent enough to allow in light. Obscure glass is usually the term for textured and patterned glass, which has varying levels of obscurity. Obscure glass can also be used as a catch-all term for all windows that obscure the view and provide privacy for your home.

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