Why Choose Plexiglass for Safety?
Key points
Plexiglass is a durable, lightweight acrylic plastic that reduces breakage costs, enhances safety in schools and banks, meets legal standards, and withstands impacts and weather for long-term use.
Key takeaway
Plexiglass acrylic plastic has proven to be a versatile and essential material for modern safety and environmental control. From reducing school vandalism costs—saving millions, such as $1 million in one city in 1970—to providing bullet resistance in banks and meeting 1971 safety glazing laws in 14 states, its impact resistance, lightweight nature (half the weight of glass), and durability make it ideal. It withstands extreme tests, like a .38 caliber pistol and heavy impacts, while offering long-term weather resistance, retaining properties after over 25 years outdoors. As a transparent protector, Plexiglass balances safety, cost-effectiveness, and design flexibility across schools, homes, industries, and public spaces.
The Transparent Protector: Plexiglass
The life of a premature baby depends on an enclosure that ensures a controlled environment, is safe from breakage, germ-free, and transparent for constant visibility. This is a job for Plexiglass acrylic plastic—the transparent protector.
But the need for protection extends throughout a lifetime, against accidents and vandalism in schools, industry, and homes.
The High Cost of Breakage
Last year, replacing broken glass in schools cost taxpayers over $40 million, or $15 per pupil, a major maintenance item. Glass breakage, due to accidents and destruction, is increasing, accounting for almost one-third of all damage. One city reported that vandalism alone caused $1 million in school glass breakage in 1970.
A Durable and Economical Solution
An effective solution is Plexiglass, a transparent, durable material half as heavy as glass yet many times more impact-resistant. It has the clarity of fine optical glass and installs similarly. Most importantly, it is economical compared to repeated glass replacements in high-breakage areas.
School officials, like those at Washington and Lee High School in Virginia, an elementary school in Indianapolis, and a high school in Nevada, have used Plexiglass to break the cycle of damage and replacement.
Protection for Industry and Institutions
Industrial and other institutions prone to damage, such as a store in Chicago or the Narcotics Institute in New York, reduce vandalism by glazing with Plexiglass. In heavy industry or where vandalism is critical, Plexiglass 70, the toughest acrylic plastic, withstands severe strength tests. Even baseball slugger Harmon Killebrew could not break a 3/16-inch sheet in a demonstration.
Security in Times of Unrest
Protection needs extend beyond glazing. In times of social unrest, public protectors require defense against rocks, bottles, and gunfire. On police cars, Plexiglass shields offer protection without hindering visibility, mounted quickly for danger and removed for normal duty. For firefighters, enclosures make navigating hook and ladders through narrow streets safer.
Safety for Financial Institutions
With rising robberies, banks seek greater personnel protection. Laws now mandate protective devices to discourage robbery attempts. Many institutions use Plexiglass, which costs one-third less than bullet-resistant glass, is lighter, easier to install, and can be cut on-site for specific sizes. Floors and counters need no extra support.
Even at 1 1/4 inches or thicker for bullet resistance, Plexiglass maintains transparency, giving an open, welcoming feel. In a test, three shots from a .38 caliber pistol only marred the surface without penetrating the 1 1/4-inch thick Plexiglass. Thinner sections also deter sneak thieves from accessing cash drawers.
Safety in the Home
Most accidents occur at home. By the end of 1971, 14 states with over half the nation's population passed safety glazing laws prohibiting common window glass in hazardous home locations. Plexiglass meets the American National Standards Institute requirements underlying these laws. It is available through hardware stores, building suppliers, and glass dealers.
Shower and tub enclosures must use approved safety glazing materials, another area where Plexiglass provides transparent protection.
A Versatile Building Material
Beyond accident and vandalism prevention, Plexiglass is a versatile building material for environmental control. It ensures good shopping days regardless of weather, creating glamorous daylight atmospheres in centers like those in New Jersey, Las Vegas, Houston, and El Paso. Motels and hotels use it to make pools year-round attractions.
Its lightweight, toughness, weather ability, and ease of forming enable enclosures like Man and His World in Montreal, the world's largest transparent building.
Durability and Solar Control
Available in transparent gray and bronze colors, Plexiglass allows control of solar glare and heat. It resists change and strength loss after continuous weather exposure, retaining high impact strength, surface gloss, and light transmission after over 25 years outdoors.
Dome skylights exemplify its durability in all climates, used in homes, schools, warehouses, factories, and public buildings nationwide. Solar control Plexiglass offers clear sky views while managing heat and glare.
Applications in Sports and Aviation
In sports, large flat sheets protect spectators and players, such as in the transparent bullpen at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. In aircraft, Plexiglass has been the standard from World War II to today's jumbo jets. Giant hemispheres from single sheets enable helicopter designs with pilot protection and maximum visibility.
The Proven Protector
As a time-tested acrylic plastic, Plexiglass is the preferred material between humans and environmental hazards, combining beauty, strength, and practicality—the transparent protector.
Frequently Asked Questions
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