Since glass was first created for beads, cups, and other household items, people have been experimenting with tinting it different colors. Glass is made out of sand primarily. When you mix certain types of minerals with the sand, it produces different colors after it is heated into glass. Ancient Egyptians and people in the Fertile Crescent made glass in small quantities and experimented with combining colors. Glass wasn’t used for windows until later and especially in the Roman Empire. Read on for our brief explanation of the history of windows and commercial and home window tinting and how it became the large industry it is today.
Early Windows
The Romans were prolific producers of glass. They began using glass to make windows in the first centuries of the second millennium. They were some of the first people to set up large-scale manufacturing for such goods. Stained glass began to be used for decoration, but not as purely functional windows, rather as decoration. Through the Middle Ages, stained or tinted glass was used to create elaborate window designs in cathedrals around the European continent. When light shown through these windows, the colors would be projected against objects in the churches. This eventually gave way to using colored or tinted glass in the way we know today.
Modern Window Tinting
Although glass itself was colored with minerals, it wasn’t until plastics were experimented with further in the 20th century that window tint was created. Polymers were synthesized and used to create objects like water bottles and plastic wrap. The technology to make thin sheets of plastic led to the window tinting that we know today. Window tinting is made out of polyester, which is thin plastic that won’t distort and helps stabilize the shape of glass, even in the case of an impact or damage to the glass. The tinting material and adhesive itself have only been perfected in the last several decades and has led to tinting being applied to houses and offices.