Do you ever look at the whiteboard in your conference room and think about how drab it looks? Have you ever been in a meeting with clients and felt the need to apologize for the stains from last week’s production meeting still showing up on the white surface? What if we told you there’s a way you can have a gorgeous whiteboard that will never stain and will dazzle your employees and clients alike?
Glass whiteboards can be a tremendous addition to your office. Read on to learn more about them and why you need one (or several) in your building.
What Is a Glass Whiteboard?
Before we dive into all the reasons you should consider a glass whiteboard, let’s take a second to talk about what they are. A glass whiteboard is more or less what it says on the tin – a sheet of tempered glass that you can use to draw or write on much the same way you might with a traditional whiteboard. These have a number of benefits over their white plastic cousins.
Glass whiteboards come in a variety of sizes and thicknesses. The thickness usually ranges from three millimeters to eight millimeters, though the glass may be slightly thinner for magnetic glass whiteboards. You can get these whiteboards in plain solid colors, or you can have them printed with any image you like, provided you have a high enough resolution version of it.
Aesthetic Value
One of the best things about glass whiteboards is their aesthetic value. At some point, you’re going to want some sort of whiteboard in your office, and no matter which way you slice it, there is nothing elegant about a framed plastic whiteboard. If you’re meeting with clients and are trying to communicate that you’re a high-quality business, aesthetics can be critical.
But the look and feel of these whiteboards can be important for your day-to-day operations too. Employees are going to be more enthusiastic, energized, motivated, and innovative if they’re working in a space that seems to promote those ideas. If you’re having trouble believing this, imagine going to work in a whitewashed cinder block cube every day rather than working in a sunlit office with great décor and a slick glass whiteboard on one wall.
Environmental Impact
You may not be surprised to learn that glass whiteboards are much better for the environment than their plastic cousins. Plastic whiteboards usually start with a base of particleboard, a mulch of wood pieces that are blasted with chemicals and shaped into a flat board. From there, these boards are coated with another harsh chemical layer that becomes their shiny, white surface.
But glass, on the other hand, is a totally natural material made from melted sand. Tempering glass merely involves heating it up to a certain temperature – no chemicals are involved in making the glass stronger. This means that glass whiteboards can be 100 percent environmentally friendly, a fact that your marketing department will love.
Manufacturing Options
You may have in mind that glass whiteboards will be one thing – clear, non-magnetic sheets of glass similar to the ones you see Bruce Banner working on in the first Avengers movie. While they certainly can be that, glass whiteboards are much more versatile. There are a variety of manufacturing options you can take advantage of, and we always use the highest-quality materials to avoid the greenish tint you can sometimes get with inferior glass materials.
If you’d like an image or your logo printed on your glass whiteboard, we can handle that. We can make your whiteboard magnetic by affixing a thin sheet of steel to the back of the glass pane and using rare earth magnets on the front. And all image printing is done on the back of the pane to ensure that you can use each and every inch of your whiteboard to its best capacity.
Installations
Many people get nervous about getting glass whiteboards because of the installation risks. Large glass whiteboards can be heavy and unwieldy, which makes transporting and hanging them difficult. But don’t worry – with Starfish, we handle everything for you.
Our installers will handle every aspect of the delivery and installation of your glass whiteboard. Most boards are installed using brushed aluminum edge mounts which provide a very secure attachment and a clean look. We usually use between four and eight of these mounts per board, depending on the size.
Safety Concerns
Some people also have concerns about the safety issues glass whiteboards might pose. After all, isn’t having a large pane of glass hanging in the office dangerous? Not to worry; this is where the strength of tempered glass really comes into play.
Tempered glass can be up to four times stronger than regular glass, so it’s very difficult to break it. In fact, it would take about 24,000 pounds of force per square inch to break it. And our glass whiteboards are thicker than most, meaning that, short of shooting it, you’re going to have a hard time doing damage to one of these boards.
Maintenance
What goes into maintaining a glass whiteboard? Well, you probably know that traditional whiteboards require regular cleaning, and even then, they can become stained. With glass whiteboards, that’s never a worry.
Glass isn’t porous, so ink from dry erase markers can’t sink into them. No matter how frequently you use the board, you won’t have marker stains. And using proper glass cleaning solutions can ensure that the finish on your board stays smooth and perfect for years to come.
Learn More About Glass Whiteboards
Glass whiteboards can be a stylish and practical option for your office notes. They can be printed with just about any image you like, and the tempered glass material means safety never needs to be an issue. These boards are beautiful, easy to use, and essentially maintenance-free.
If you’d like to get glass whiteboards for your office, check out the rest of our site at Starfish Signs. In addition to glass whiteboards, we provide interior and exterior signs, vehicle signs, wall and window graphics, and more. Request a quote from us and start displaying your message to the world today.