Acrylic Vs Glass: What Material Is Best For Picture Frames?

If you want to add colour or a personal touch to your home interior, picture frames and artwork are the typical solutions. Whether it’s a family photo or a landscape painting, framed pictures and images can be used to make a space yours.

But when it comes to framing, there are several bespoke options available to you and it’s not always easy to decide which one is best. While it’s easy to pick up frames for smaller photos from your local design or DIY store, for larger images you may need to invest in a bespoke or made-to-measure frame.

So how can you decide which option is best? Well, below we’ve broken down the materials you’ll encounter when framing and finally answer the question: should you use acrylic or glass for picture frames? Let’s dive in.

What Are The Main Materials For Picture Framing

There are two main materials used for framing: glass and acrylic. Traditionally, before plastics were widely used, glass was the main choice for framing. But as the benefits of plastics have been realised, more people are turning to them as an alternative.

In this blog, we’re going to compare them to decide which is best for your home. We’ll be considering criteria such as price points, durability and movability to help you make the best decision.

If you decide that acrylic or plastic frames are best for you, you can get an instant quote for your bespoke frame today on our website.

Should You Choose Acrylic Or Glass Frames?

Both materials, of course, have their pros and cons and, depending on what style and use you have in mind for your frame, you may decide that one is better than the other. The major points of comparison between these two materials are as follows.

Durability

• Glass is a notoriously fragile material that can easily shatter if dropped or knocked. As a result, a broken glass frame could potentially damage and tear your photos or artwork.
• On average, acrylic frames are 10 times stronger than traditional glass ones and so offer high levels of protection. What’s more, acrylic is shatterproof – this means that instead of splintering into lots of sharp pieces, acrylic snaps into a few large, dull pieces, which are less likely to damage your pictures and are easy to dispose of.

For durability scores, acrylic wins. If you have a house with lots of traffic, people coming and going, kids running, then this could be the option for you.

Weight

• While glass may seem lightweight because of its fragility, it’s actually quite a heavy material, especially if it’s a larger pane.
• Acrylic is about half the weight of glass, making it easier (and cheaper) to both ship and install.

It’s important to consider weight when purchasing a bespoke picture frame, as this can impact shipping times and costs, as well as where and on which walls a photo or piece of art can be safely hung.

Tip: if you think you might be moving your pictures around a lot, or have particularly large photos to put up, plastic is definitely a better choice for you.

When it comes to weight, acrylic wins every time. It’s lighter making it easier to ship, move and install.

Scratch-resistance

• Glass is an easy material to clean and has a tough surface, so it’s unlikely to scratch.
• Acrylic and Perspex are more prone to scratching. Nonetheless, you can remove scratches from acrylic plastic at home with ease.

Obviously, when you install a picture frame, you want it to stay clean, clear and scratch-free. So, glass looks to have won on this front. However, removing scratches is far easier with plastics than with glass. You can find a full guide on how to remove scratches from acrylic and Perspex here.

UV Protection

When it comes to protecting your art and pictures from UV rays, both materials offer a similar level of protection, helping to ensure that discolouration does not happen too quickly. If you need a completely UV-resistant material, we recommend looking into polycarbonate plastic.

Price

• You might be surprised to learn that the traditional glass frame is typically cheaper than acrylic.
• Acrylic may be marginally more expensive, but it’s important to factor in its weight and durability, with a glass frame usually being heavier and more likely to break in transit.

There are pros and cons to the cost of both materials, but the risks when buying acrylic are far lower than with a glass frame.

Glare

• Glass always has more glare than acrylic, which means that in direct light, the picture will be harder to view.
• Acrylic has less glare and is available in a non-glare variant to help with this issue.

We put up photos and artwork primarily to look at them, so considering the levels of glare caused by acrylic and glass is important. In this case, acrylic wins every time, with much less glare than glass.

The gallery feeling

• Glass frames typically require a material such as wood or metal to border them, creating a more traditional look.
• Acrylic frames, or floating frames, don’t use this traditional border and so draw attention straight to the artwork, creating that seamless gallery feel even when you’re at home.

If you’re looking to create that gallery feeling, at work, at home, or even in your gallery, acrylic frames come out on top every time.

Acrylic Vs Glass Picture Frames: Summary

Well, it seems pretty obvious to us that acrylic is overall a better material to use for bespoke framing. Though it can be costly to procure, acrylic is a more durable, lighter weight material, which is easier to work with and install than glass.

Make sure to check out our made to measure picture framing services to get an instant quote today. We offer to polish edges and drill holes in the material for you, so all you have to do is slide in your picture and put it up on the wall for all to admire.

Further Help On Acrylic Picture Frames

If you need more advice on picture framing – or anything to do with using acrylic in your home – then don’t hesitate to get in touch with our customer services team.

Image by Freepik