Now Pyrex is simply a brand name that has nothing to do with the chemistry of the glassware being sold. Imagine my surprise one day in the early 2000’s when I decided it would be safe to boil water in a Pyrex measuring cup directly on the stovetop.the measuring cup cracked, sending broken glass and hot water all over the stove and floor! In fact, reports of “exploding glassware” began to crop up as other folks began to unwittingly expose World Kitchens’ soda lime glass to extreme temperature differentials while working in the kitchen. World Kitchens made this change because soda lime glass is cheaper to manufacture and more resistant to breakage from mechanical stress than borosilicate glass. However, World Kitchens began to sell soda lime glass for kitchen use – also under the Pyrex name. After the sale, Corning continued to sell borosilicate glass for laboratory use under the Pyrex name. sold rights to the Pyrex name to World Kitchens. This was indeed the case until the late 1990’s when Corning, Inc. I had always assumed that Pyrex glass was synonymous with borosilicate, thermal-shock resistant glass. This difference can be important! How many times have you rinsed a very hot beaker with room temperature water when working in the lab? I have done so many times, knowing that borosilicate lab glassware is capable of withstanding large differences in temperature without cracking. The video below dramatically shows the effect of thermal shock in a measuring cup made of Pyrex soda lime glass. What’s the difference? Borosilicate glass is resistant to thermal shock, but soda lime glass is not. Want to know what makes Pyrex ® the best choice for laboratory glassware? Then check out our Pyrex ® Features and Benefits guide her e.Did you know that Pyrex glassware used in chemistry labs is different than Pyrex glassware used in kitchens? Pyrex glass used in chemistry experiments is made of borosilicate glass, whereas the Pyrex used when baking is made of soda lime glass. There are very few products made so well that the brand becomes a generic name for everything similar. Thanks to its well documented thermal and chemical resistance properties, Pyrex ® continues to be a trusted tool of scientists around the globe. Pyrex ® glass possesses all of the qualities necessary for use in the most demanding laboratory environments. It is also highly resistant to chemical attack and can be used with most acids, alkalis and organic solvents. With a low coefficient of expansion, Pyrex ® glass is ideal for use over a wide working temperature range. at our glass manufacturing facility located in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire under licence from Corning Inc., using traditional glassblowing techniques and the latest glass production technology. The company changed ownership and company name a number of times over the subsequent years, becoming DWK Life Sciences Limited in 2008, following the break-up of Barloworld Scientific Ltd.ĭWK Life Sciences continues to produce Pyrex ® laboratory glassware in the U.K. and became part of Corning’s European Laboratory Division. manufactured Pyrex ® glassware at its Flint Wear Glass Works in Sunderland two years later in 1923. signed an exclusive licencing agreement with Corning to produce Pyrex ® glassware.
manufactured Pyrex ® laboratory glassware date back to 1921 when James A. In 1915 Corning registered the Pyrex ® brand name and went on to produce the first Pyrex ® laboratory glass items – beakers and flasks – in the same year. The heat of the lantern flame conspired with the cold air of winter to shatter traditional glass lanterns.Ĭorning quickly realised that the superior thermal and chemical resistance properties of Pyrex ® borosilicate glass made it the ideal material for use for laboratory glassware. Pyrex ® borosilicate glass was originally developed in 1908 by Corning Glass Works for use on the American railroads to overcome a problem with train lanterns requiring a glass that could handle changes in temperature.
PYREX ® - One of the most famous names in science