Home » Toughened Glass

Toughened Glass

Toughened glass, also known as tempered glass, is often used for both residential and commercial projects. This type of reinforced glass can be up to 5 times stronger than regular glass, making it a popular choice of versatile safety glass for our customers.

Toughened glass can be used for balustrades, windows, table tops, shower screens, shelves, splashbacks, doors, and much more!

Clear Toughened Glass

Clear toughened glass is made from clear float glass during a process that exposes the float glass to high temperatures, then rapidly cools it down – creating a strengthened form of glass.

Float glass is a high-quality clear annealed glass, which acts as a base glass that can be processed into insulated glass, laminated glass, etched glass, sandblasted glass, or painted coloured glass.

The toughening process reinforces float glass to make it strong and safe enough for a wide range of challenging applications – from furniture to all-glass structural facades.

Its increased mechanical strength and thermal resistance make toughened glass suitable for a variety of glass products. This is because, unlike normal glass, toughened glass will break into blunt pieces under high impact, reducing the risk of possible injury or property damage.

This means that toughened float glass can fulfil most architectural needs – be it glass roofing, glass windows, greenhouses, balconies, or canopies.

Of course, it can also be applied in interior design for glass shelves, furniture, shower doors, and even balustrades for stairs and landings.

Bespoke Toughened Glass

At Express Toughening, we provide toughened glass for a selection of purposes, from screens and partitions to shelves and splashbacks.

Whether you want to order balustrades or table tops, you can scroll down to find what you need from our range of toughened glass products.

Choose your desired shape, dimensions, and thickness – from 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, or 15mm – to calculate a competitive price.

Once you’re satisfied with your options, proceed to check out and arrange your preferred delivery method, and we’ll do the rest.

For more information about our toughened glass, click through to view the details on each product page, read our FAQs, or contact us by phone or email for help from the Express Toughening team.

Click here for more information
How is glass toughened?

Tempering glass is a rigorous process that involves rapidly heating it to very high temperatures – up to 680°C – and quickly cooling it again, which balances the internal stresses in the sheet of glass.

After standard float glass is measured and cut to the specified dimensions, it travels through a furnace on rollers to heat it up, and then moves to the quenching area, where it is cooled back down with high-velocity cold air.

This compresses the surface and edges and creates compensating central tension, engineering counter-acting stress between the different layers. This is what increases the resistance to physical impacts and thermal stresses.

Toughened glass not only has a longer lifespan than general float glass, but is also more resistant to wear and tear like scratches and scuffs, so it will maintain its appearance for a long time, too.

Can you cut toughened glass to custom sizes?

We supply custom-cut toughened glass in most shapes and sizes at Express Toughening, with polished edges as standard – also offering a range of extras like pre-drilled holes, notches, cut-outs, and corner finishes.

However, if you would like a truly bespoke shape and size to accommodate the features of the location where you’ll be installing the toughened glass, you must be sure to make this request clear at the time of ordering.

This is because float glass cannot be cut or drilled after it has been toughened, as it will simply damage the glass and unbalance the internal stresses, weakening the integrity of the toughened glass and causing it to break.

When you request specific dimensions and extras from the start, we can use our CNC machines to create pieces of toughened glass cut to size perfectly, thanks to the precision of computer numerical cutting. Our drilling and polishing machines can also add any holes you might require and smoothen the edges nicely.

Where is toughened glass needed?

There are many possible uses of toughened glass in place of regular glass where there is a risk of impact that the standard float glass would not be able to withstand.

Anywhere with lots of foot traffic and potential hazards for tripping, falling, or dropping objects into or onto the glass would benefit from using reinforced glass instead – and in fact, it’s usually specified that certain types of safety glass must be used in certain situations by health and safety regulations.

This is why commercial and public spaces that feature glass elements will use toughened glass, though it can also be used for safety in private residences or workplaces, too.

Some of the most common applications for toughened glass include:

  • Glass windows and doors
  • Glass table tops and desks
  • Glass roofs and canopies
  • Glass balustrades and balconies
  • Bath screens and shower screens
  • Bathroom and kitchen splashbacks
  • Glass shelves and display units
  • Glass staircases and surrounds
  • Glass partition walls and floors

You can order toughened glass panels for any of these functions from Express Toughening, ensuring that the glass structure does its job well and poses a low risk of injury if it breaks under high impact.

Certificates & Partners

What Our Customers Say

Andrew Cooke

Superb customer service from the Express Toughening team – when I made a mistake on my order online, they dealt with the issue quickly organising partial refund immediately. My order arrived quickly and their courier messaged me before delivery to check I was in. Quality product at the best price I found online.

Rated 5 out of 5
Kiron Kular

A massive Thankyou to Helen from Express Toughening for being so patient, co-operative and helpful with my orders. She resolved a re-make without any fuss and in an extremely timely manner. If you want glass – go to Express Toughening and ask for Helen!

Rated 5 out of 5
Andy Beviere

Extremely easy company to deal with, glass ordered weeks ago and asked for a specific delivery date due to glass testing and no one being onsite. Delivered on time and when asked for other types glass stated they couldn’t help but recommended an equally helpful company!!

Wouldn’t hesitate to use again.

Rated 5 out of 5
Brian White

I’ve used Express Toughening twice now and have been very impressed with the glass they have supplied and also the helpfulness of the staff. The first job was a couple of years ago when they supplied me with a 6mm satin frosted toughened glass door for our shower room. From my measurements they supplied a fabulous door which had the hinge and lock holes cut out and also took into account the out of square measurement of the door frame. It fitted a treat and is stunning to look at.

More recently (late last year) they supplied me with painted toughened glass splash backs (7 items altogether in 6mm glass with the biggest being 2.1 metres long), all cut to my sizes and with numerous switch and socket cut-outs. My local glass supplier said they could not cut out the close together sockets and switches, but Express did and got it spot on!

As with the glass door, the splash backs were delivered to me by Expresses’ own transport and without any problems and quality issues.

After the scary bit of fitting them all the result is faultless and stunning. Thanks go to Alex who helped me with the ordering process and technical aspects of glass splash backs.

Rated 5 out of 5
David Convery

4mm toughened glass for greenhouse. Although slightly dubious about ordering from a company I’ve never heard of and not local (300mile away) I’m so glad I took the plunge. A great customer service from Helen and the team from start to finish, clearly there was nothing for me to worry about.

Their website is easy to use and made ordering online a doddle and for those shapes, they don’t have on their website a quick email and rough diagram sorted any issues there. All glass arrived on time well packed and with no breakages.

It’s a company I wouldn’t hesitate to use again and I’d definitely recommend it to others who need quality glass cut to size.

Rated 5 out of 5
Tony Fields

Excellent product.
Exactly what it says on the tin.
Brilliant, friendly service from Helen.
Definitely recommended.
(And we’re on the Scottish border)

Rated 5 out of 5
Tony Owen

Fantastic service, fantastic prices and fantastic products – I could not recommend Express Toughening highly enough – I got an immediate response to my request for a quotation, and Helen was so helpful in answering my questions. Order placement was easy and everything arrived exactly on time and as promised. I won’t look anywhere else for my next order – great prices (way cheaper than other quotes) and great service!

Thank you!

Rated 5 out of 5
Sam Richardson

We have been using Express toughening for a number of years, mainly for glass screens and Toughened Glass for balustrade. The company are always reliable, deliveries always on time and friendly helpful service.

Rated 5 out of 5
Return To The Top