Obscure Glass

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.

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.

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.

 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.