High Water Marks - Two Brands Giving the Best Value in Glass Protectant

A few months ago, American Glass's Lite Revelations gave you the skinny on the clarity retainment  product ClearShield that can keep your glass shower enclosure looking lustrous and pristine. Today, we’ll explore another worthwhile answer to the mineral etching and scummy build-up that can taint the pièce de résistance of your designer bathroom.

SHOWERGUARD

Showerguard is a permanent coating ionically-bonded to the glass which seals the surface and assists in preventing chemical corrosion and scale build-up. The limits of human eyesight allow us believe the surface of glass to be smooth and uniform, but place a fleck under an electron microscope and you’ll see that an amoeba would tell you otherwise. As you'll notice in the photo above, at this level of magnification the material is anything but even, with plenty of crags for coercive elements to nestle into and produce that milky etching that takes over an unmaintained shower door. Showerguard effectively seals the glass surface with a thick coating, filling the microscopic crevices, and offering protection from foreign elements. The coating is densely fused to the panel during the tempering process, which provides permanent protection, never calling for retreatment.

SHOWERGUARD VS. CLEARSHIELD

Bottom-line, which is the best product for your shower door? Well, with both sealants adding the same maintenance and hygienic benefits, that largely depends on the size of your enclosure. ClearShield is a flat fee up to 44 sq. ft, while Showerguard is priced by the square foot, so if you just need a door, or a door and a small panel, Showerguard might be the way to go. For anything beyond that, the pricing scale of Showerguard will greatly surpass that of ClearShield.

Other factors that might weigh into your decision are warranty and environmental concerns. With a lifetime-warranty, Showerguard is the clear winner in that category, compared to the ten-year warranty of ClearShield (although both are impressive.) In regards to the environment, both products eliminate the need to use astringent cleaners that end up down the drain and in our water supply, but only ClearShield highlights on its website the fact that it uses only non-hazardous materials. Now, that’s NOT to say that Showerguard does use harmful materials, it’s just reassuring that ClearShield states unequivocally that it is a safe product.