Do acrylic mirrors give off the same refelection?

Sep 11, 2007 9 Replies

I am looking into getting a acrylic mirror for my 85 yr old Mothers bathroom. Is the reflection any different from a regular glass mirror? Thanks.



Yes, if you go through a glass mirror, you arrive in Wonderland but if you pass through a mirror composed of space age plastic, you wind up on another planet.

[8~{} Uncle Monster

I would assume his mother will look the same ;) Frank

No, not until it gets all scratched up. Which it will.

Acrylics have been used in aircraft windows and such for years, and yes, it can be scratched but you have to really abuse it. As a safety measure in a older persons bath, seems to me the advantages far outweigh the remote possibilty of minor physical damage. HTH

Joe

somewhat dimmer and not flat.

Thanks for a straight answer Joe.

I completely agree with Joe about the safety aspects, but disagree on some of the others.

Acrylic is pretty soft, and will get scratched to some degree if cleaned with anything that has even a tiny amount of grit in it (like a dirty cloth or paper towel).

Also acrylic is more flexible than glass - if mounted on a non-flat surface (like the back of a 6-panel door), there will be more distortion ("funhouse mirror" effect) than with glass.

Eric Law

Forgive me, I'm an incorrigible prankster. This company could possibly supply you with a scratch resistant Lexan mirror. Lexan is less likely to break than acrylic. They also stock acrylic mirror sheet.

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[8~{} Uncle Monster

I worked for a hot tub manufacturer and we put up a 4x8 foot acrylic mirror over the vacuum former so ourselves and customers could see inside the shell as it was formed. It worked great mounted on 3/4" plywood and a 2x4 frame hung by chains. Of course this mirror never got touched, so all it needed was/is a periodic blow job with the air hose.

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