Fiberglass Insulation For Your Home

How Fiberglass is Formed

Silica, or other glass making material, is extruded into fibers which have a narrow enough diameter to be used in textile fabrication, you then have glass fibers. Even when it becomes a fiber, glass retains little crystalline structure, which is different than most other polymers. Glass that has been spun into fiber has qualities very much the same as softened glass. Glass is somewhat unique in that its composition during its liquid and solid state stays fairly consistent; however cooling it increases its viscosity enough that that it appears rigid. This process is reversible with the reapplication of heat.

While using glass fibers in the textile making process is relatively new, the method of creating glass fibers has been around for centuries. Fiberglass was first produced for commercial purposed in 1936. Two companies joined together in 1938, Owens-Illinois Glass Company and Corning Glass Works, creating Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation, with the distinct goal of producing and promoting fiberglass. They were the first to introduce continuous filament glass fibers, and continue to be an industry leader in the production of fiberglass.