FABRICATION DEBRIS Definition: Fabrication debris is, as the name implies, material that should not be present on glass before it enters or travels thru the tempering furnace. It is made up mostly of glass fines but can include other debris such as insulation particles that have not been properly washed off the glass or cleaned from the furnace rollers. This debris will fuse to the glass surface during the tempering process and create a defective surface that window cleaners and others can dislodge and move across the glass surface in the process of properly cleaning the window. Razor blade before and after use on poor quality tempered glass Fabrication debris magnified Window Cleaning Industry It is well known by window cleaners that razor blades and glass scrapers alone will not scratch uncoated glass when properly used; the use of such tools has been the industry standard for decades. Razor blades and scrapers have been employed by not just the window cleaning industry, but are also widely used throughout the glass industry. In recent years, as a result of contaminated or defective surfaces on some tempered and heat-strengthened glass, window cleaners have been exposed to new challenges and unforeseen liability in window cleaning. When standard window cleaning techniques are employed to clean the contaminated or defective surfaces on poor quality tempered or heat strengthened glass, scratching of the glass surface can and very often does result. Quality Control in the Glass Industry Regular annealed glass is tempered or heat strengthened through a specific heating process in order […]