Ref no.7659-01, Name: What is Fiberglass?  Date: 2008/08/09 02:04:21 AM

Fiberglass is just what the name sounds like...very tiny fibers of glass. Glass is one of the world's oldest and most available materials. Fiberglass was first created by accident in 1932 by a young Owens-Illinois researcher named Dale Kleist. He was working to attempt to weld together architectural glass blocks to form a vacuum-tight seal. A jet of compressed air accidentally struck a stream of molten glass he was working with resulting in fine glass fibers. Mr. Kleist then refined the process to utilize steam instead of air. Steam is cheaper, he reasoned, and would produce a finer fiber. Kleist was correct. The result was a glass fiber material thin enough to be used as a commercial insulation. 

From 1933 to 1935 Owens-Illinois expanded its research and manufacturing. In1935, realizing the marketing potential, Corning Glass approached Owens-Illinois with a proposal to join forces. Corning had briefly experimented with glass fiber manufacturing in the 20’s. Recognizing the benefits of Corning’s knowledge of glass formulations, Owens-Illinois agreed to the proposal. The two companies embarked on a path toward merger. 

In 1936 "Fiberglas®" spelled with one "S" was trademarked and in 1938 the original 1935 petition for a patent for "glass fiber manufacturing" was granted to Dale Kleist and Jack Thomas, his boss. 

In the late 30’s to early 40’s the companies began research on spinning the fibers into a cloth like material. Then in 1941, experiments progressed with heat cleaning and treating Fiberglas® cloth. The heat treatment gave the cloth more flexibility, and proved to be a key element in making Fiberglas® fibers suitable for use as reinforcements in plastic laminates. 

In 1942 Owens Corning partnered with the United States Army Air Force to develop low-pressure, plastic laminates for use in structural aircraft parts; these laminates were made from Fiberglas® cloth impregnated with resin. 

By 1944 Owens Corning had developed the first Fiberglas®-reinforced plastic boat hull. In 1946 they made Fiberglas® reinforced plastic fishing rods, serving trays and pleasure boats. In 1953 the company partnered with General Motors on the first production automobile with a body made entirely of Fiberglas®-reinforced plastic, the Chevrolet Corvette.

Fast forward to today. Many of the things we all take for granted are made with "fiberglass" spelled with "ss," the generic term. Fiberglass is a common term for fiber-reinforced plastic, or FRP, which is a plastic material, strengthened using glass fiber cloth. Most RVs and boats these days are made with fiberglass, along with pickup truck caps, some cars, roofing and even bathtubs! To give the fiberglass a smooth and shiny surface, a clear or colored gel resin material is applied to the outer surface in the first phase of lay-up production. For the most part, when you're looking at a fiberglass vehicle or surface, you're really seeing the hardened gel resin surface on top of the fiberglass itself. Most people refer to this as gelcoat, so we use the terms, fiberglass and gelcoat interchangeably. 

Gelcoat is available in many colors and is very durable, but it can become dull or faded as it weathers. Sunlight, heat and moist air combine to oxidize the gelcoat surface, fading it and making the surface cloudy. So how do you keep your fiberglass looking good? Simple: you coat the surface with either wax or a polish with great regularity.