With this in the news today & in todays desperate society, I'm sure it could be of interest to many professional window cleaners: -
Film could allow removal of security bars on Main Street, Arizona: Pictured left, a local business owner inspects a sample of glass using Armorcoat. The film keeps broken glass held together so as to deter easy entry to a facility, and avoid injury. The campaign to remove the bars from the windows comes from Main Street Revitalization consultant Maralan Hutchins, to make downtown more appealing and windows more open to window-shoppers. With the bars, cleaning windows is also a much more problematic chore. Representatives Aaron and Ron Rumfallo with Queen Creek company Advanced Window Films gave an overview of the product they sell from renowned window film manufacturer, Armorcoat. According to Aaron Rumfallo, the product is used worldwide but picked up in popularity after Sept. 11, 2001; it has been used to retrofit all Washington government building windows to make them more resilient to blunt force. 
The film comes in various tensile thickness, which Aaron suggested 8 mil and thicker for commercial storefronts. Showing a short video, business owners saw a presentation demonstrating how the windows with film stand up to different weapons such as a baseball bat or 2x4. Samples of glass tempered with the film were also passed around, showing the criss-crossed webbing of the broken, but unpenetrated, glass. The film is designed to keep the window from breaking apart, and slow down a criminal.
"I want to make this clear to everybody right now. There is no guarantee, just like any other security product, that it's going to stop everybody from breaking through. Just like the current security bars - I've seen bars ripped out of the walls with a chain and a vehicle. Nothing is a 100 percent. The product is not designed to stop glass breakage...what it does do is hold that glass together. It's an invisible barrier. Consider it an invisible peace of mind." According to the FBI's Unified Crime Report, almost 70 percent of burglaries are performed through breaking a window or forced entry through doors. With the film, windows are equipped to stand an incredible amount of force, and would take many repetitive attacks before it could be penetrated. Even at that, it would take much more work on the would-be thief's part to pry a hole big enough in the glass to gain entry. "Most criminals if they don't get in and out in less than a minute, they start making mistakes and their adrenaline gets pumping - and so, they're gone," Aaron explained. "They want to get in and out to the easiest target. In most cases they'll try to break in a couple times. They'll take a few blows to the window and realize that they're raising all this noise and exerting all this effort, and most move on."
"I want to make this clear to everybody right now. There is no guarantee, just like any other security product, that it's going to stop everybody from breaking through. Just like the current security bars - I've seen bars ripped out of the walls with a chain and a vehicle. Nothing is a 100 percent. The product is not designed to stop glass breakage...what it does do is hold that glass together. It's an invisible barrier. Consider it an invisible peace of mind." According to the FBI's Unified Crime Report, almost 70 percent of burglaries are performed through breaking a window or forced entry through doors. With the film, windows are equipped to stand an incredible amount of force, and would take many repetitive attacks before it could be penetrated. Even at that, it would take much more work on the would-be thief's part to pry a hole big enough in the glass to gain entry. "Most criminals if they don't get in and out in less than a minute, they start making mistakes and their adrenaline gets pumping - and so, they're gone," Aaron explained. "They want to get in and out to the easiest target. In most cases they'll try to break in a couple times. They'll take a few blows to the window and realize that they're raising all this noise and exerting all this effort, and most move on."
Cost of the installation of the film is approx. $6-8 a square foot, and $5-6 a linear foot for the attachment apparatus. A group rate is "totally negotiable," Aaron added. According to Hutchins, the city has been working with El Paso Gas Corp., which could be donating a sizeable amount to help cover costs of the window project. The only downside to that would be that should an attempt at breaking the window be made, the cost would be back on the storeowner to replace the window, and a reapplication of the film. But several storeowners were critical that the film would help at all. Western Auto owner Lupe Galaviz recounted how she and her sister and co-owner Janie Rodriguez had to resort to plexiglass several years ago after constantly replacing glass windowpanes. Other business owners have had the same experiences, replacing countless windows, broken the majority of the time by rocks.
Armorcoat is a strong, resilient film that helps protect people and property from the hazards of broken glass. Manufactured by Bekaert, a world leader in window film, Armorcoat has met impact requirements for some of the most stringent tests in the industry and has been field tested for over 20 years. Armorcoat is made from only the highest quality materials, such as tough, high tensile polyester and ultra-strong mounting adhesives – available in thicknesses ranging from 4 to 14 Mil, with thicker films offering greater protection.
There are many other manufacturers, including the range from Bekaert also 3M, DIYwindow security & Shatterguard.
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