Some of London’s top hotels have turned to Ritec clearshield Ritec shower protection

Keeping a glass shower screen in pristine condition can be very labour intensive and the harsh chemicals used in keeping them clean can be damaging to the environment.

Salts and minerals (limescale) found in tap water bond to glass and eventually etch the surface. Dirt and greasy substances such as soap and shampoo will then accumulate in the microscopic valleys of the glass surface, making cleaning difficult and more labour-intensive.

Ritec’s solution to this problem is to treat the surface of the glass with ClearShield Shower Protect. This creates a chemically non-reactive and ‘non-stick’ surface, meaning that limescale and general dirt cannot bond to the glass. This protection system also possesses hygienic properties that hinder the adherence of bacteria.

Low maintenance glass

ClearShield upgrades ordinary glass into ‘non-stick’, Low-M (Low Maintenance) Glass and comes in three special formulations – Glass Protect, Sandblast Protect and Shower Protect. Its unique polymer resin forms a multi-molecular layer on glass, bonding chemically to the surface, to create a non-stick and easy-to-clean glass.

Stephen Byers, Managing Director of Ritec, says, ‘Glass is chosen for showers because it is bright, sparkling, has excellent visual appeal and is easy to clean. However, while glass often breaks its initial promise, it doesn’t have to’.

A leading UK shower enclosure manufacturer, Aqata Shower Enclosures, is giving its customers the option of having ClearShield Shower Protect applied to its shower doors and screens for added value.

Aqata has been applying Shower Protect at its factory in Leicester with excellent results, and it is proving to be a very popular choice among its customers. Around 70% of Aqata shower enclosures have the ClearShield treatment applied to them.

Hotel applications

The huge benefits of using the award-winning Ritec ClearShield technology have also been recognised by two top London hotels. When the Sanderson Hotel, a lavish urban retreat in the West End, decided to re-invigorate its bathrooms, the sandblasted glass shower cubicles in 150 rooms were treated. Although an attractive and popular option, sandblasted glass is especially vulnerable to surface contamination such as finger marks, and as a result can soon lose its visual appeal. The surface was renovated and the treatment spray-applied on site. Once cured, any residue polymer is simply wiped off.

It was a similar case at the Dorchester, where discoloured glass in shower enclosures in the elegant art-deco style bathrooms were renovated with specialist products before the ClearShield technology was hand-applied by Ritec applicators.

‘When combined with Ritec’s recommended after-care programme, ClearShield glass will look and perform like new for years to come while creating a consistently bright and sparkling environment for guests.’

ClearShield has been successfully tried and tested across a variety of industry sectors including architectural glazing, decorative glass, residential windows, conservatories and marine glass. For shower doors and screens, its application keeps them looking like new for longer and with less cleaning. Ritec claim that ClearShield is also environmentally friendly as the need for harsh chemicals is considerably reduced.