Clear glass-like chairs, tables, and decorative items produced from methyl methacrylate or simply called transparent thermoplastic, are known to add a space-expanding and modern touch to any decor.
Called Plexiglass by Rohm, Lucite by Dupont, or acrylic, these clear home pieces are sometimes ghosted furniture because these items almost disappear when looking at the room. Clear lucite works perfectly when you don’t wish to hide or overshadow a magnificent view and in small spaces.
Although acrylics were developed during the late 1920s, it was introduced into the market in the 1930s. Acrylic production became popular during the Second World War for military purposes, and after the war, clear acrylic furniture reached its market peak during the 1960s and 70s.
What’s more? Manufacturers discovered that besides furniture, acrylics are perfect for room dividers, picture frames, glass replacement, and screens. During the 2000s, clear lucite furniture made a resurgence thanks to the material’s light refraction abilities, cost, and flexibility.
Besides being difficult to break, you can readily clean clear lucite furniture, and with the help of the right products, you can maintain its prized transparency with ease.
How Often Should You Clean Lucite and Acrylic
As a homeowner with acrylic furniture, it’s paramount you remove dirt and dust obscuring the acrylic’s sparkling clear quality. Consider weekly dusting to prevent excess build-up of dust that might lead to ugly scratches.
When scratches eventually occur, treat them immediately before they multiply or become more profound, making them hard to remove.
What You’ll Need
- Bucket
- Acrylic cleaner
- Equipment / Tools
- Dishwashing liquid
- Hairdryer
- Microfiber cloths
- Materials
Cleaning Instructions
Follow this step to care for your cheap acrylic furniture:
Remove Dust
While dust is tiny and may appear innocuous, each speck has sharp edges that can easily scratch acrylics. To avoid scratches, don’t wipe acrylics with dirty cotton or any other lint-producing dirty dust cloth. Use only a slightly damp microfiber and clean cloth.
One way to ensure you aren’t causing scratches by dragging dust particles with a dust cloth across the surface or rubbing too hard is by using a handheld hair dryer to blow away the dust. Set the hand dryer to cool air and hold at a 45-degree angle many inches away from the acrylic surface and run it side-to-side and top-to-bottom of the surface.
Remove Soil and Fingerprints
You can clean acrylic accessories and furniture with just warm water solution and dishwashing liquid. Get a clean bucket, pour one gallon of warm water and add a few drops of dishwashing solution.
Dip a clean microfiber dust cloth in the soapy water, wring out and starting from the acrylic piece top, wipe down each section. You don’t need to rinse the surface with clean water unless it’s too soapy and looks dull after cleaning. Simply allow the furniture to air-dry.
Suppose you prefer using a commercial acrylic cleaner; we recommend Brillianize. Remember to follow the label directions for effective use.
Clean Away Scratches
Suppose there are scratches on your clear lucite furniture; consider using a commercial acrylic cleaner, such as Novus 7100 Plastic Polish Kit. This kit offers formulas for removing both heavy and light scratches. Ensure you follow the product use directions on the label carefully to get the best results.
Tips for Maintaining Your Lucite and Acrylic Furniture
- Use the correct products and cleaning tools to avoid discoloration and scratches
- Don’t clean the surface roughly: no scouring and scrubbing
- Dust furniture frequently
- Don’t use ammonia-based products to clean acrylics.
- Lift and place items on lucite furniture to avoid unnecessary scratches
- Cover acrylic furniture with a dust cover or bed sheet and store it in a climate-controlled area
- Ensure your lucite furniture is protected from extreme temperature changes and excessive UV rays to avoid expensive damages to your piece
- Use protective pads when dropping metal objects on your acrylic furniture to avoid scratches
Difference Between Acrylic and Lucite
Are you considering designing your home with fine furniture? Suppose you have searched for acrylic furniture near me and seen various types? Stay with us to know the difference between acrylic and lucite.
Many manufacturers are presently using acrylic plastics to replace glass with various degrees of constructive and visual qualities. Lucite is a higher form of acrylic used to produce furniture, windows, and other fashionable interior designs due to its crystal transparency, strength, flexibility, and resistance to wind, water, and UV rays.
Lucite is scratch-resistant and crystal clear, meaning it won’t lose its perfect look easily. It’s exceptionally flexible for such a strong material, making it ideal for creating custom-designed handles and knobs.
What’s more? You can also change lucite’s color by adding pigments, dyes, and other substances to produce a unique look. The truth is, there’s no real difference between lucite and acrylic. Lucite is simply the perfect version of acrylic. Acrylic companies often sell various acrylic products with different qualities ranging from the poorest to the highest.
However, there’s no way to know a product’s quality until you see it yourself. The glass was previously the standard-bearer for clear home furnishings for a long time. Presently, lucite home furniture has replaced glass fixtures due to the many benefits it has over the glass, including durability.
Glass can easily break, and once broken, the shards are always sharp and may cause injury, especially where there are kids. Following the advent and development of clear lucite furniture after World War II, where it was extensively used for military motives, glass has become less prevalent ever since.
Today, lucite is still valuable for home furnishings, primarily due to its material strength, break and scratch resistant nature, making it safer and ideal for furniture pieces.
Summary
Beyond searching for lucite furniture for sale, you need to know how to care for them. Room furnishings made from transparent, clear materials like lucite and acrylic add a chic and playful touch to the home while seamlessly enhancing and complementing your existing color scheme and decor.
Lucite pieces minimize bold accessories’ impact thanks to their sharp edges and sleek lines, whether a cocktail table, chair, or lamp.