Polycarbonate Roll Stock, Non-Glare Matte

Non-glare polycarbonate sheet carries a matte texture that scatters reflections instead of mirroring the room back at you. It is the sheet for framed artwork and photographs, display and menu panels, instrument and gauge covers, backlit signage and anywhere a specular reflection gets in the way of reading what is behind the panel. The matte surface also hides fingerprints and minor scuffs far better than a gloss face, and takes hot-stamp and silk-screen ink well.

Two honest points about what a texture does. A matte-finished sheet is translucent rather than transparent - that is the whole mechanism, and it softens the view through the panel as well as the reflection off it. And texturing reduces light transmission, but no manufacturer publishes a transmission, gloss or haze figure for these matte finishes, so we are not going to put a number on it. If the optics are critical, ask us for a sample before you commit to a size.

Mechanical and thermal properties are general-purpose polycarbonate's - makers note their published values are measured on untextured sheet: tensile 9,500 psi ultimate on a 340,000 psi modulus, flexural 13,500 psi on 345,000, compressive 12,500 psi, Rockwell M70 and R118, heat deflection 270F at 264 psi, specific gravity 1.20, and the full notched impact advantage over acrylic. Matte product is usually textured on one face only, so check which way round you want it.

One thing to check before you order, and this is distributor practice rather than anything a manufacturer prints. Polycarbonate sheet sold as "1/4 inch" is commonly 0.220 inch, which is the 5.6 mm North American extruded gauge, or 0.236 inch, which is the metric 6 mm gauge - not 0.250 inch. Those are 7% apart in thickness and in weight, and the difference matters wherever the sheet has to fit a frame, a channel or a glazing pocket. The thickness on each listing here is the actual decimal, not the nominal label.

Chemical compatibility and cleaning, which is where most polycarbonate failures start. Clean it with mild diluted dish soap and a soft microfibre cloth, or an ammonia-free glass cleaner. Do NOT use ammoniated glass cleaner - the common blue kind - because ammonia attacks polycarbonate, and the resin maker's own testing shows 0.1% ammonia is enough to do damage in the presence of water. Also avoid abrasive or high-alkaline cleaners, scrapers and squeegees, dry rubbing, and solvent in direct sun. Isopropyl alcohol diluted 50/50 with water handles oil and tar. Acetone, MEK, methylene chloride, chloroform, toluene, xylene and aromatic fuels all attack it, and so do amines and the plasticisers that migrate out of flexible PVC - which is why PVC gasket, tape and cable tie contact is a real failure mode. The important subtlety is that chemical resistance is not a fixed property: stress cracking only develops where the part is in tension, so a cold-bent, over-torqued or tightly framed part will fail with chemicals a compatibility chart calls safe.