Material
Soda-lime glass
Family: Glass
What it is
Soda-lime glass is the everyday glass of jars, bottles, drinking glasses and most food storage, made mostly from sand, soda ash and limestone. It's cheap, clear and recyclable, and it cracks from sudden temperature changes more easily than borosilicate.
Why it matters in your kitchen
Picture a cold jar of leftovers dropped into hot water, or a hot dish set on a wet counter. That jolt is what cracks soda-lime glass.
On SCHOTT's data sheets it expands almost three times as much as borosilicate when it heats (9.1 against 3.3, in millionths per degree Celsius). A quick change sets up more strain.
Much of it is tempered, a heat treatment that toughens the surface. The glass itself is still soda-lime.
Good at
- Storage you can see into. Jars and containers are clear and inexpensive.
- Recycling. The Glass Packaging Institute says glass containers can be recycled endlessly with no loss in quality.
- Tempered pieces take knocks. One maker of tempered tableware says its glass is 2.5 times stronger than ordinary glass, and breaks into small, blunt pieces.
Watch for
- Sudden temperature changes. Don't pour boiling water into cold glass or set hot glass on a cold, wet surface. Warm it gradually.
- A chip in tempered glass. The same maker says not to use a chipped piece. Retire it.
- "Heat-resistant" can mean tempered soda-lime. Ask which glass it is, and follow the maker's oven and microwave limits.
- Decorated rims add a material. Printed logos and colored rims are a second material near your lips. Ask what they're made of.
Who it suits
Good for you if you want clear, inexpensive storage and drinking glasses for cold and warm food. Skip it for pouring boiling water or going straight from fridge to hot oven, where borosilicate copes better.
In short. Soda-lime is cheap, clear, recyclable everyday glass that cracks from sudden heat more easily than borosilicate.
Our guide to glass types compares soda-lime, borosilicate and tempered glass. For what research has and hasn't shown about kitchen materials, see our guide.
Where it is used
- Bottles and drinking glasses
- Jars and food storage
- Much tempered glass bakeware and tableware
How to care for it
- Warm and cool it gradually. No boiling water into cold glass.
- Don't set hot glass on a cold, wet surface.
- Retire tempered glass once it's chipped.
What the label tells you
- The glass type and whether it's tempered, when the maker names them.
What it doesn't tell you
- "Heat-resistant" isn't a glass type. Ask which glass it is.
- It doesn't support health promises.
Material pages describe the material in general. The profile on each product page says what we know about that product and how we know it.
Products with this material
Nothing in the shop uses this material yet. The page is here for the gear you already own.