A: Polycarbonate vs Acrylic. Acrylic is a light, strong, flexible plastic that is available in a range of colours and finishes. Polycarbonate is heavier, a little more expensive, and scratches more easily, but is virtually unbreakable.

Perspex is a brand name for acrylic, the material is the same (polymethyl methacrylate or PMMA). Find out more about the difference between acrylic and Perspex.

We don't recommend using acrylic behind a cooker as it is a potential fire risk. We recommend aluminium composite for high heat applications.

Cast and extruded acrylic are manufactured in different ways - cast acrylic is better for machining, while extruded has tighter tolerances in terms of thickness. Clear acrylic up to 12mm is usually extruded, clear acrylic 15mm or thicker, and most colour acrylic is cast. The tolerance on cast acrylic can be up to 10% and + or - 0.4mm across the whole sheet of material in addition to the 10%. The tolerance on extruded acrylic is + or - 5%.

Acrylic can be polished, yes - however, for best results, we would recommend that we polish the sheets for you as we have specialist equipment for this.

Yes, acrylic sheet can be drilled on site.

Just use a regular battery type drill with a standard spiral bit suitable for wood. Keep the drill speed relatively low, and take your time when drilling through. Keep clearing the cut acrylic from the hole, and put a piece of scrap wood directly beneath the acrylic.

In general, use the same tools for acrylic that you would use for wood. We recommend a jigsaw with a fine toothed blade for cutting acrylic, and sandpaper if edges need to be sanded down.

It is possible to heat acrylic in order to bend it, but it is very difficult to get the sheet to the correct temperature at all points of the bend line without specialised equipment. We can heat bend acrylic to your specification so please call our sales office to discuss your requirements.

Yes, acrylic is completely clear - it actually has a slightly better refraction index than glass, so will allow slightly more light through.

We don't recommend using acrylic behind a cooker as it is a potential fire risk. We recommend aluminium composite for high heat applications.

Yes, acrylic is ideal for secondary glazing as it has excellent thermal and acoustic insulation properties, is lightweight and completely clear.

This will depend on which fixing system you will be using, as some systems are made for a specific thickness. Some (for instance Magnetglaze) will allow for various thicknesses, but in general 4mm is the thickest for most systems we offer.

This will depend on colour, but in general we recommend 5mm acrylic for use as a splashback as any adhesive used can be slightly visible through some colours in 3mm.

Essentially, the only difference between acrylic and glass mirror is the material used to cover the reflective surface. In practice, because acrylic is more flexible than glass, it can bend slightly leading to a distorted reflection if it isn't fitted completely flat.

We offer a range of cleaners which are designed for use with plastics, but other than these we would recommend using just warm, slightly soapy water as discolouration may be caused by other cleaning products.

Cast acrylic has a class 3 fire rating and extruded acrylic has a class 4 fire rating.