12 Questions to Ask a Mirror Manufacturer Before Your First Order

Short answer: ask about the glass substrate and coating, the backing class, the packing standard, the documents issued with the shipment, tooling ownership, and what happens when a panel arrives broken. Those six areas cover almost everything that goes wrong on a first mirror order.

Glass and coating

1. What substrate — standard float or low-iron? Standard float carries a green cast that shows on exposed edges and large panels. Low-iron reduces it. Both are legitimate; you should know which you are buying.

2. Copper-free or standard silvering? For bathrooms, wet rooms and commercial washrooms, copper-free resists edge corrosion better. Ask which one the quote is based on, because the price difference is real.

3. What thickness, and is it consistent across the order? Thickness affects colour, weight and how the panel behaves in a frame. A quote that does not state it is not a quote.

Backing and safety

4. Is safety backing included, and to which class? "Safety film applied" describes a material, not a class. If a class is specified, ask for the classification certificate for the batch you are buying.

5. Tempered, backed, or both? They solve different problems — tempering changes how glass breaks, backing holds the fragments. Specifying one does not give you the other.

6. Can this shape be tempered at all? Mirror glass cannot be tempered after silvering, so a tempered panel is toughened first and silvered second. That means every hole and notch has to be final before the furnace, and nothing can be cut afterwards.

Packing and transit

7. What packing standard, and for which shipping mode? A panel going to a warehouse and a panel going to a consumer by courier need different cartons. Ask what profile the packing is designed to.

8. What is included when a panel arrives damaged? Ask specifically whether spare parts ship with the order. Replacing one panel is far cheaper for both sides than processing a return, and a supplier who has thought about this will have an answer ready.

9. Who pays for the re-test if a marketplace rejects the packaging? Worth asking before it happens, not after.

Documents

10. What documents ship with the goods? Material declarations, a packing list, and where relevant a backing classification certificate. Ask for the list up front — whether it arrives with the quotation or three weeks after the order tells you a lot about how the rest of the job will run.

11. If a market requires product certification, whose name is on it? On an ODM programme the normal arrangement is that certification is arranged for the buyer's brand, at the buyer's cost, with the certificate naming the buyer. Confirm this early, because it changes the budget and the timeline.

Commitment

12. What is the minimum order, and what is the minimum for a change? Two different numbers. A factory may take a single piece as a sample but need a much larger quantity to change a frame colour or a packaging print. Ask for both before designing a programme around one of them.

How we answer these

Minimum order runs from one piece across most of the catalogue, mixed containers across categories are normal, and samples run from a drawing or a reference image. Certification for a market is arranged under your name and at your cost. A spare-parts kit ships free with every order.

Send the models and quantities from the full catalogue and we will come back with pricing and the document list within 24 hours. The OEM and private label programme sets out the branding and tooling terms.