How to Make a Glassless Mirror

Sometimes...accidents happen. People (like me) are clumsy, and occasionally, things will break. What if I told you that you never had to worry about breaking a mirror again? Using Mylar Mirror Film, you can create a fully reflective mirror, without worrying about the potential breakage.

• Mylar Mirror Film
• Frame of Your Choice
• Tape
• Staple Gun
• Heat Gun (Or a really good hairdryer)

Are you ready?

For this step you can either buy a frame or make your own, depending on how big of a project you're looking for.

Rememeber, your frame needs to be strong! Once you start securing the film to it, it needs to be stable enough that it's not going to bow under the pressure. This is why we'd recommend using a thicker frame, rather than a standard dollar store frame.

Once your frame is built, you need to lay your film across the frame and tape the edges. Try to put the tape at least 1/4' away from the "face" of your mirror. Take a few pieces of tape and tape downwards, taping your film to the non-visible parts of your frame. This will help hold it in place for the next steps.

Now that the film is secured onto the frame, let's go for EXTRA strength and staple on top of each piece of tape. You should be stapling about every inch or so along each side of your frame. Make sure you don't staple directly on the mirror film--only staple on the tape.

Stapling on top of the tape is going to provide extra strength, as stapling on the film itself would make it hard to fine tune your tension later on. When you have your tape and staples both lining the edges of your frame, tape along the length of each side. This layer is optional, but it covers the staples and can provide a little more support.

Now that your film is secured, it's time to tighten the tension a bit. Using your heat gun (or hairdryer), go across the face of the mirror in sweeping motions. You don't want to hesitate on any one spot for too long, otherwise you might scorch your film. In the last step you should have gotten out most of your wrinkles, but this step will help with that too.

The heat is not only going to help with leftover wrinkles, but also to tighten the film onto your frame. While the tape and staples are securing the film, the heat is going to make it shrink to actually form to the frame.

If you're at the end of your project and notice that there are still some ripples in the middle of your mirror, don't panic! Based on where your ripples are, you should be able to pull out staples in that general area and kind of re-adjust your film.

We recommend using canvas pliers so you don't accidentally rip the film. After you remove the problematic staples and pull your film tight, be sure to put staples back in their place for extra tension.

After you do it a few times, you'll start to realize what works and what doesn't. If you don't get it perfect the first time, don't sweat it--practice makes perfect!

Standard mirrors are obviously more sturdy than the glassless option we just made, so they're better for applications that require constant cleaning--like a bathroom mirror.

As long as you're careful not to scratch your mirror, or rip it, it should last several years! When you're cleaning your mylar mirror, simply use a slightly damp, lint-free microfiber cloth.

If you have any questions on this process, please feel free to contact us! We'd love to help.