Frosted plexiglass is used in lighting fixtures, color and music installations, light boxes for posters, stands, rear projection screens, and other products. The process of turning transparent plexiglass into frosted is called matting.
Instruction manual
1
Mechanical matting of plexiglass can be done with sandpaper. It should be fine-grained. Take a relatively large piece of such paper (it should be larger than a palm). Press the sheet to the plexiglass and move on the surface of the latter through a protective glove. Change your hands periodically so as not to get tired. Stop treatment after plexiglass reaches the desired degree of haze.
2
If desired, frost the plexiglass in the same way and on the reverse side. Remember, however, that a smooth surface is much easier to clean. Therefore, it is better to make matte only one side of the sheet - the one that will face the inside of the product.
3
Chemical matting is a much more dangerous process, which, however, does not require physical effort. It is suitable only for medium-sized plexiglass plates that fit entirely into a cuvette. The latter should be acid resistant. Perform the process outdoors. Put the sheet in a cuvette, then fill in formic acid. Hold the sheet in the vessel for about half an hour, occasionally stirring it slightly with a metal stick (do not bend over the vessel so as not to inhale the vapors), then remove it, rinse thoroughly with a stream of warm water and dry it. Always wear glasses, a respirator, tweezers and protective gloves at all stages of the process.
4
It is possible to quickly and safely matte plexiglass by covering it from the side that will be turned into the product with a thin layer of white paint.
5
Do not use special pastes or sandblasting machines for matting. All of these products are designed to add dullness to ordinary glass, not plexiglass.
6
Install the resulting sheet of frosted plexiglass into the product in which it will be used. Make sure that its optical characteristics are adequate. If plexiglass was not matte enough, remove the sheet and continue matting.
note
Handle with extreme care any chemicals.
