The Fragility Of Custom Etched Glass
Because of the fragility of Jewel's drill etching process, ALL glass pieces etched by me are not recommended for boiling water, use in microwave, freezer or dishwashers!
Extreme temperature fluctuations in dishwashers, freezers and microwaves will weaken the tensile strength of the glass itself, causing brittleness. As such, the same temperature fluctuations of boiling water straight into an etched mug/glass causes an issue called "thermal shock syndrome". Failure to comply with these use/care instructions will, consequently, in time, cause cracking,"blow outs", and or shattering of the etched piece.
For HOT beverages:
Due to the risk of aforementioned THERMAL SHOCK, please do not subject Jewel's pieces to immediate boiling water from your kettle! Instead, allow the water to rest in the kettle at least two minutes, standing a teaspoon in the EMPTY mug before adding boiled water. This allows the teaspoon to act as a conductor, drawing the extreme heated water into a separate unit, ( though still within the mug) and allows the mug/glass to condition itself to the extreme temperature adjustment.
Thermal Shock Syndrome was brought to my immediate attention in 2018 by a mug failure for one of my customers. Fault lies within glass manufacturing itself. Proper chemical mixtures to produce food service industry approved glassware is costly, and so shortcuts and lesser chemical mixtures are being used to mass produce glass within the industry. Tensile strength quality within this process has become extremely compromised, but these products are still being sold in the retail stores to both you and I.
However, armed with this new information on thermal shock specifically, I am informing all of my clients of the potential hazards in food service industry glassware. Please heed all warnings and instruction in this disclaimer for your protection. I want my customers to enjoy their pieces for many years without injury!
To view problems in glass manufacturing yourself, please visit
www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/08/pyrex.html
Or type Thermal Shock in glass into your browser.
This problem is not caused by a drill etching process.
I have started drill etching names into Stoneware mugs to offer some other options to my customers. However, clear glassware is visually more beautiful to design, as there can be far more shade variations to enjoy. I am also researching tensile strength tables of marketed etching creams that are being applied to conventional bake ware by other glass engravers.
If I can safely bring this medium to my customers at some future point, as I have with rotary engraving, I will.
Jewel's Custom Treats 2019
