There is 2 types of glass used in the maufacture of shower screens in Australia, Toughened (or Tempered) safety glass and Laminated safety glass.
But which one is best? Well, that all depends on the type of shower screen.
Toughened Safety Glass is used for Frameless shower screens, and Laminated Safety Glass is used for Framed shower screens.
Toughened Safety Glass
Used in areas where the glass panel is not supported fully by a frame such as frameless shower screens, pool and balustrade fencing. Toughened glass has very high vertical strength which is why it is used in these situations instead of Laminated glass. Toughened glass has a unique breaking pattern which when broken, produces 100's of small relatively harmless pieces, reducing the chance of injury from sharp shards of glass. Toughened glass also has a distinct green tinge colour to the glass.
Laminated Safety Glass
This type of glass need to be fully supported by a frame. It is a much stronger glass than toughened glass but does not have the same strength vertically. Laminated glass is used in Framed shower screens, windows, sliding doors, skylights, car windscreens and any other situation where safety glass is required where the glass panel will be framed. Laminated glass is constructed using 2 or more layers of glass bonded together by a plastic interlayer (polyvinyl butyral, or PVB), in the case of a breakage the glass is held together by the PVB layer preventing the glass from breaking into large sharp pieces. Laminated glass also has higher sound insulation and UV properties.