Melted Turf Grass: An Issue You Can Avoid

Artificial turf, also known simply as fake grass, is a great ground cover solution for homeowners with all sorts of different properties. If you have a yard that gets too much shade for a natural lawn to grow and thrive in the sunlight, then fake grass can be a great alternative to the moss, clover, and weeds that will soon otherwise take over in a shady yard. Likewise if your property gets too much sunshine or is too difficult or costly to properly irrigate and the grass regularly dries up and dies, synthetic turf grass is also as great choice. Artificial turf has no ideal growing conditions; once installed, it looks great indefinitely no matter what the weather does and of course it never needs watering, mowing, fertilizing, or other care.

On the other hand, unlike with a real living lawn, fake grass cannot grow back and restore itself of damaged. And while hearty and resilient in most conditions, artificial turf grass damage is all too real of a possibility in certain situations, with a common form of damage to fake grass coming from window reflections melting artificial grass and leaving the lawn looking worn and shabby and in need of costly replacement.

How Do Window Reflections Melt Grass?

You might think of windows as clear panes of glass that let light pass through them, but that’s only part of the story. With modern energy efficient low-e windows, some light does pass through. In fact these windows let in plenty of light from the visible light spectrum, keeping interiors bright and welcoming during the day. But they block 99% of the invisible but highly damaging light from the UV spectrum, and they reject much of the hot (and also invisible) light from the infrared spectrum – this is in fact what makes low-e windows energy efficient; by blocking solar heat, they keep interiors cooler and mean less use of power draining fans and AC systems.

In fact, low-e windows act largely like mirrors, bouncing away a lot of solar energy. That rejected solar energy, also known as heat, has to go somewhere, and when concentrated beams of heat fall on synthetic turf grass, they can cause it to heat up and eventually begin to wilt and melt.

What Is the Melting Point of Fake Grass?

Artificial grasses are made out of two different plastics, polyethylene and polypropylene. Both are durable and will last for years looking great under decent conditions, but both materials can be melted by window glare if certain conditions present themselves. When these fake grasses reach or pass a temperature of about 165º Fahrenheit, they can no longer withstand the heat and will melt with any extended exposure. So if window glare hits your fake lawn for more than a few minutes at a time, the synthetic grass you so love for its lasting looks may soon be melted into disrepair. And fake grass melting points can be reached even on mild to cool days, so just imagine how rapid and severe the damage window reflections on fake grass can be on hot, long summer days.

The Best Solution for Window Glare Melting Fake Grass

The best way to stop window reflections melting turf grass is to break up the window glare with Turf Guard Window Film. Turf Guard Window Film is the best solution for grass melted by window glare for three primary reasons:

• Turf Guard Window Film stops sun glare melting grass immediately
• Turf Guard can be applied (and removed) quickly and with minimal impact to the home
• Turf Guard films stop dangerous glare outside without affecting how well your energy efficient windows keep your home cooler and safer against UV damage inside

Also there’s the cost to consider: Turf Guard Window Film is an affordable way to stop window glare melting fake grass, and it’s one that will save you money and even pay for itself many times over when you never have to replace fake grass melted by sun reflections bouncing off energy efficient windows.

When you consider the other ways to stop window reflections melting fake grass, which range from the unfortunate like shutting shutters and blocking your view out and reducing natural light inside, to the unsightly like adding awnings over your windows, to the impractical like replacing low-e windows with some different type of glass, you will agree that applying Turf Guard Window Film to the exterior of your windows to stop sun glare melting the synthetic lawn is definitely the best solution to sunshine melting the grass.

How Does Turf Guard Window Film Work?

Think about a sheet of smooth paper: to the naked human eye, it looks perfectly flat, right? But under the microscope you would see a huge variation to the surface, hardly a uniform flat surface at all. Now imagine a sheet of “flat” material that had been punctured with tens of thousands of holes; that surface would look like a network of canyons and mountains under the microscope, and that’s exactly how those sub-microscopic particles of light find the surface of Turf Guard Window Film. All the minute perforations poked into this film create a surface that sends light particles that bounce off it scattering in every imaginable direction instead of most of the reflected light all heading in one direction. And you guessed it: if that one direction is your yard’s fake grass, the result will soon be melted turf that just looks terrible.

Can You Repair Fake Grass Melted by Sun Glare?

In a word, no, no you can’t. Once fake turf grass has been melted by sun glare off windows, it has to be cut out and replaced. This can often be a much costlier endeavor than you might expect, because even though it’s synthetic and inert, fake grass still “ages” the more time it is out there in your property. When your entire yard changes its looks slowly over time in a uniform manner, you’ll hardly ever notice the slight changes to the hue of the turf. But if you tried to cut out and replace a smaller swatch of artificial grass melted by window glare, you will quickly notice how different it looks, standing out against the older grass and drawing just as much attention as the melted turf patches did.

So unfortunately, if your windows are melting your grass in a few spots, you may need to replace the entire yard’s turf, or at least a large section of the fake grass, to re-achieve that uniform and handsome look you love. Thus the far better approach is to get Turf Guard Window Film and stop window glare damaging fake grass in the first place

Turf Guard Window Film Will Not Impact the Way Your Window Work

Many potential Turf Guard customers ask us if using window film to protect fake grass is a sacrifice that’s worth it because the worry the anti glare window film that protects their yard will damage the way their low-e windows work and how they look. We want to put those concerns to rest right now. Window film to stop sun glare comes in many color varieties, some of which can add style to your home, like crisp white and dark black window films. We also offer clear anti glare window film that will stop window reflections melting fake grass but won’t change the way your windows look from the outside.

And no matter what type of Turf Guard Window Film you choose, you will still be able to see through your windows and you will still enjoy the benefits of energy efficient windows like reduced infrared heat, almost total rejection of ultraviolet light, and just enough reduction of visible light to cut the harsh glare while the interior of the home (or the business, school, or other property) will still be plenty bright inside.

Is Turf Guard Window Film Permanent?

Turf Guard Window Film can be applied to just about any exterior window on any home or commercial property, cut to fit and applied where it’s needed. It will last for years and won’t lose its efficacy in all sorts of conditions, from cold winters with lots of snow to hot summers with drenching rains. But while this anti glare window film will last for years, it is not a permanent solution unless you want it do be, because Turf Guard Window Film can be removed from your windows with just as much speed and ease as it can be applied. So if you ever decide you want to replace your window film – say with a different shade of film – or you want to remove the window film entirely – maybe you decided to try a natural lawn again, you are replacing windows, or you are selling the home and want it in its original state – you need not worry about removing anti glare Turf Guard Window Film.

Can Window Film Stop Vinyl Siding Melted by Window Glare?

Absolutely. As the name makes rather clear, Turf Guard Window Film was developed to address the decidedly modern problem of an excess of sunlight bouncing off low-e windows and falling onto the modern ground covering solution that is artificial turf grass, a “meeting” that caused melting far too often. But window glare can damage much more than just the fake grass on the ground, and one of the other surfaces often damaged is vinyl siding. Window reflections melting vinyl siding can cause damage that’s not only unsightly and costly to fix (especially if a whole wall needs to be replaced to keep that uniformity of look much like we discussed with entire lawns being replaced after patches of fake grass are melted by window glare) but that can also be very awkward between neighbors.

Whereas window reflections melting fake grass is usually an issue your own windows cause to your own yard, when vinyl siding is melted by window glare off low-e windows more often than not the property damaged is not your own but is that of a home or business nearby to your own. So to stop your windows from damaging your neighbor’s property, you should preemptively get Turf Guard Window Film applied to any windows that face both the sun and a neighboring property even if you don’t have a single blade of artificial turf grass anywhere on your property.

Turf Guard Window Film is also a great solution to window glare damaging other things on and around your property. Sun reflections can damage materials like pool covers, patio furniture covers or upholstery, and other fabrics. And just as vinyl siding can melt in window glare, so too can plastic furniture, play structures, or toys out in the yard become warped and damaged by window glare off low-e energy efficient windows. Also, don’t forget about fences made from plastic or vinyl, which are often highly susceptible to melting damage caused by sun glare.

Window Film to Stop Sun Reflections Is a Matter of Safety

If window glare bouncing off energy efficient windows gets hot enough melt fake grass or vinyl siding, just imagine how dangerous this hot light can be to a living creature. Window glare can get hot enough to cause burns on your skin or to your pets playing in the yard, and these bright hot beams are particularly dangerous for the eyes of people and pets alike.

With Turf Guard Window Film on the windows of your home, hot spots of concentrated solar energy that could be unsafe for anyone or any animal in the yard are completely eliminated. That means a property that’s safe for the synthetic grass, for the vinyl siding nearby, for the fences and furniture, and for all other materials and surfaces that will not be faded, discolored, or warped or melted by the damage created when sunlight goes caroming off an energy efficient window left untreated with Turf Guard Window Film, the best and most cost effective solution for the damaging effects of sun glare heat.