Sugar Glass
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How To Use
SAFETY
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This information is for guidance purposes and only.
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Always Read the Safety Data Sheet before use.
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Handle hot sugar glass with care, similar to the way hot oil is handled.
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The temperature of sugar glass will exceed boiling point. If water touches hot sugar glass it will react violently, do not let this happen.
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This is not a toy, do not let children anywhere near hot sugar glass. For adult use only.
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Broken dry sugar glass can sometimes have sharp points/shards, handle it with care and do not allow children to touch it unsupervised.
PREPARATION
Always prepare your mould and the pouring area before you start heating the sugar glass. Have safety equipment noted in the safety data sheet close to you.
Heating Sugar Glass
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Sugar glass needs to be heated before use.
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It melts at 115 DegC, and has a best pouring temperature of between 120 to 140 DegC.
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Treat hot sugar glass with extreme caution. Heat sugar glass slowly over a low flame in a pan that can be thrown away after use, or reused for further heating more sugar glass. Do not overheat or it ill smoke and eventually catch fire, similar to hot oil.
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Keep a constant check on it while it is heating – do not leave unattended at any time during heating.
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Sugar glass will give off vapours during heating that may cause irritation to the respiratory system. Heat in well ventilated space, or heat outside. Must strictly NOT be heated in or close to a residential property.
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Heat until most of the bubbles have dissipated.
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Do not expose to water while hot.
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Use suitable gloves while handling hot sugar glass.
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Protect area around your mould against spillage. Thick layer of newspaper can be used.
MOULDS FOR GLASS SHEETS & BOTTLES
To Make Sheets Of Sugar Glass
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Make glass sheets 300mm square or more, by pouring molten sugar glass into a clean flat cooking tray, or make your own mould by using Melamine board with timber or Melamine battens at the sides to hold the hot sugar glass in place as it dries. If you use timber battens always line them with sticky tape to stop the dry sugar glass sheet from sticking to them.
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To help release the sugar glass from the mould, coat it first with slightly diluted Fairly liquid and pour while the mould is still a little damp (but not wet otherwise water vapour bubbles will form on the mould under the sugar glass), or apply a coating of silicon (Vaseline) or Ambersil formula 6 film spray.
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The better the mould the better quality sugar glass sheet.
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To make sugar glass sheets it is better if the mould is warm so that the sugar glass does not dry too quickly.
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Pour swiftly and evenly in one go from one side of the mould to the other. Do not go back and pour over the same location twice.
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Leave mould to cool on a level surface.
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Ease the sugar glass from the mould slowly. There are several methods of doing this, depending on the mould, but the sheet usually needs to be released initially by sliding a knife around and just under the edges of the sheet, being careful not to shatter it. It may then release freely depending on how well the releasing agent was applied. Another way is to ease it from the mould while still a little flexible, then lay on a clean flat surface to cool.
To Make Sugar Glass Bottles (& Other Similar Objects)
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A purpose made/proprietary rubber mould which is best, but if this is not available then make your own using clay/DAS.
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Depress a bottle into a clay/DAS mould until you have half the bottle moulded. We push it in to get a rough shape first, then roll out a thin sheet of clay/DAS, dampen it and use the thin sheet to line the mould. Push the bottle in again to get a tight fit. The better the mould the better the bottle.
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Remove the bottle from the mould – it should look like half a bottle.
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Coat the inside of the mould with the releasing agent.
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Heat the sugar glass as noted above, adding colouring paint powder of your choice – do not add water based colours to sugar glass.
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Put on heat insulating protective gloves – oven gloves or similar.
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Pour the hot sugar glass into the bottom of the mould and quickly roll the mould around so that the sugar glass coats the inside of the mould evenly, ideally you need to have a roughly even 3 mm thick coating.
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This coating process can be done a few times to get the thickness, but the first coating is most important - try and start at one end and cover all surfaces of the mould in one go otherwise you will get a joint.
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It does not matter if some of the hot sugar glass overlaps the top of the mould as this can be broken off when cool.
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When cool, release the sugar glass from the mould carefully.
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Repeat the process for the other side of the bottle.
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Trim the edges – we use scissors to do this, but by scraping rather than cutting.
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Use some remaining hot sugar glass to join the two half’s together.
- Videos are on You Tube showing how this is done, search for sugar glass, or sugar glass bottles, or sugar glass bottle moulds.
