About Our Quality Italian Glass Bottles and Glass Jars

About Us - Glass Packaging Solutions, LLC:

Glass Packaging Solutions, LLC is an American owned and operated wholesale distributor of quality European and American made glass bottles, jars and votives. Most of our products are Thermoshock tested and Heat safe glass from Italy. Our main warehouse is located in Lincolnton, North Carolina where we pack and ship most "less than pallet" quantities and some pallets. We have other warehouses located throughout the United States for our Pallet Quantity sales. We have negotiated rates with multiple freight lines to offer our customers some of the lowest Less Than Truckload (LTL) rates avalible. If you have any questions on our products or need help selecting a bottle or jar for your next project, feel free to contact us at (704) 736-1090. We are avalible between 9:30am and 5:00pm EST and always enjoy trying to find the perfect product for your projects. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card.

Glass Terms and Definitions:

Annealed (Hardened) Glass: Slowly cooling hot glass relieves internal stresses that were caused when the glass was formed. Usually performed inside a temperature-controlled kiln, annealed (hardened) glass is much stronger than normal glass. 

Heavy Bottom: Glass produced with a thick base.

Flint Glass: Using titanium dioxide and ziroconium dioxide (along with sand, soda and calcium), flint glass is produced to be clearer than normal glass (also known as Optical glass).

Recycled (Eco Friendly) Glass: By using recycled glass from previous production runs, Eco Friendly glass can reduce waste by up to 75%. Due to the different mixtures of recycled product, Recycled (Eco Friendly) glass usually has a light green tint to it.

Soda Lime Glass: Using sand, soda and calcium this is the most common type of glass. Usually found in: Wine Bottles, Food Jars and Pharmaceutical bottles.

Tempered (Thermoshock) Glass: Rapidly cooling the outside of the glass causes the molecules to realign creating a tension in the glass. When the glass breaks, this tension causes the glass to crumble into small chunks instead of shattering.

How Glass Is Made

  1. Ingredients (such as sand, limestone, soda ash, previously produced glass (recycled glass), titanium dioxide, zirconium dioxide and other materials) are combined in a furnace and melted
  2. The furnace heats the mixture to about 1,565 degrees Celsius (2,850 degrees Fahrenheit) to create molten glass
  3. The molten glass is removed from the furnace. Once it reaches a uniform temperature the molten glass is cut into "gobs" 
  4. The gobs go into a forming machine that uses a mold to stamp them into the desired shape
  5. The formed glass containers pass through a lehr (a temperature-controlled kiln) that reheats the container and gradually cools them to relieve any internal stresses and stengthens the glass (this is the Annealing process)
  6. The final product is inspected under high intensity lights to make sure they meet the high quality control standards before being packaged and shipped

About Italian Glass

There is archelogical evidence from the 6th century of glass making in Venice, Italy. The Venetians were one of the first to experience glass production techniques being used by the East. Byzantine glsas artists immigrated to Venice during the Crusades. In the late 13th century the Republic of Venice decreed that no foreign glass could be imported and foreign glassmakers were no longer allows into the Republic of Venice to setup shop. Fearing fire and destruction to the city's mostly wooden buildings, the Republic of Venice ordered the destruction of all the foundries within the city in 1291, but it encouraged construction outside the city and the glassmaking industry moved toward Murano. By the end of the 13th century, Murano's glassmakers were soon the island's most prominent citizens. By the 14th century, glassmakers were allowed to wear sword and had immunity from prosecution by the Venetian state. Murano's glassmakers held a monopoly on quality glassmaking for venturies and had a major role in develping or refining many technologies including: Crystalline glass, enameled glass, glass with gold interwoven, multicoloured glass, milk glass and imitation gem stones made of glass. 

Most Murano glass is made from silica, which when subjected to high temperatures becomes a liquid. When the glass transitions from liquid to solid state, it becomes soft before it hardens completely and this is when the glass can be formed into various shapes.