Frosted Glass: How to achieve it and why sandblasting is the best choice
Increasingly popular in contemporary design, frosted glass has become a key element for those who want elegant, bright, and private spaces.
Whether you’re designing residential, commercial, or industrial spaces, understanding the different frosted glass techniques is essential for choosing the most suitable finish for your project—especially with sustainability, quality, and innovation in mind.
But what’s the best technique for achieving frosted glass?
In this guide for glass professionals, we’ll analyze and compare four of the most common surface treatment techniques, highlighting their advantages, limitations, and ideal applications: chemical etching, satin laminated glass, laser engraving, and sandblasting.
Chemical etching
Chemical etching, also known as acid etching, uses corrosive substances to alter the glass surface and achieve a smooth, uniform frosted appearance.
This technique creates an extremely consistent finish, pleasant to the touch and fairly scratch-resistant.
However, it comes with several drawbacks. The process involves hazardous acids, which pose risks to both human health and the environment. Additionally, it requires costly chemical waste disposal and offers zero flexibility for customization: no logos, gradients, or custom designs. It’s also a slow and rigid process, difficult to adapt to different production needs.
Satin laminated glass
Satin laminated glass is created by bonding two glass sheets with an opaque plastic interlayer (PVB), resulting in a product that combines clean aesthetics with excellent safety and sound insulation performance.
This technique is especially useful in public spaces or high-traffic areas where safety and structural strength are crucial.
However, the main limitation is the inability to customize the finish with graphics, logos, or gradients—the result is permanent and cannot be modified after production. Costs are also generally higher compared to other techniques.
Laser engraving and custom decoration
Laser engraving uses a concentrated light beam to alter the glass surface in specific areas, allowing for the creation of logos, text, and intricate designs with incredible precision.
It’s an exciting and powerful technique, particularly suited for small productions, prototypes, or artistic pieces, offering unique, one-of-a-kind results.
Laser engraving is a dry process—no chemicals involved—but it’s not suitable for large surfaces. Equipment and maintenance are expensive, and the micro-engraving process can reduce the mechanical strength of the glass, sometimes creating microfractures.
Glass Sandblasting: flexibility, sustainability, and quality
Sandblasting is a highly versatile technique that uses a controlled jet of abrasive material to frost the glass.
It can be applied to all types of glass—including laminated and tempered—and allows for both uniform finishes and creative designs with gradients or personalized patterns.
Sandblasting is a safe, environmentally friendly method with low operational costs and reusable materials.
However, frosted surfaces may retain fingerprints more easily—though this issue can be resolved with protective coatings such as MIX30PRO or one of our nanotechnological glass treatments. These invisible coatings help preserve the aesthetic, durability, and frosted effect of treated surfaces over time.
All in all, sandblasting is the ideal solution for those seeking the perfect balance between sustainability, creative freedom, and cost-effective production. It’s also well-suited for large-scale surfaces.
How to choose the best frosting technique
Choosing the right technique to frost glass depends on several factors. Desired aesthetics, technical requirements (safety, durability), level of customization, environmental impact, and budget are all elements to evaluate early in the design phase.
Taking all this into account, sandblasting stands out as the best compromise in terms of quality, flexibility, and sustainability, offering excellent performance, creative freedom, and a safe, economical production process.
Looking to add sandblasting to your production line? Choose our Sandblasting Machines!
Fratelli Pezza’s automatic sandblasting machines—Mistral EV+ and Zephir+—offer the perfect combination of cutting-edge technology, reliability, and customization.
If you want to integrate sandblasting into your glass production process, contact us today for a tailored consultation. From small artisan workshops to large industrial glassworks, our solutions meet every need with 100% Italian quality. Together, we’ll find the ideal machine for your company, fully customized to your workflow.