fiberglass parchment alternative

Meteor Lights’ Lumicel light diffusion parchment offers a glowing luminescence superior to traditional fiberglass lighting parchment without the drawbacks of fiberglass splinters, airborne fibers, and offgassing. Translucent Lumicel is slightly heavier than traditional fiberglass parchment, and unlike that material, Lumicel won’t rip, tear, crumble, or result in blown-out holes. Like fiberglass lampshade or shoji parchment (e.g., Synskin by TAP Plastics), Lumicel cuts with scissors or a matte knife, and can be punched with a paper or leather punch, or poked through with an awl. Instead of a brittle fiberglass substrate, the fibers in Lumicel are made from recycled water bottles (PET). Unlike fiberglass, Lumicel fabric strands won’t break off and become airborne, and they won’t leave prickly shards in your fingers.

Back in the day when Elvis curled his lip and T-Birds roamed the highways, fiberglass lighting and shoji parchment was available off the roll in many varieties. In addition to the common type with laminated microfibers, many varieties were available with visible strands of varying length and thickness. The only type of fiberglass lighting material available today is the laminated microfiber version with no visible strands. On the other hand, Lumicel features long random, visible strands, evoking the classic midcentury lampshades.

Any painting, staining, or printing technique that can be done on fiberglass parchment can be done on Lumicel. Please observe the same UL wattage, heat, and safety guidelines with Lumicel that you would with fiberglass lampshade parchment or shoji washi.

Lumicel is flexible and conforms to a simple curve. Lumicel is great for conic, cylindrical (including ellipses), or rectangular shapes. It won’t conform to compound curves (like a sphere), so it isn’t meant for compression molding (sorry, no bullet planters..).

Our lampshade parchment is milled in Europe to our specifications. It comes off a 59″ wide roll by the running yard in white only, with a minimum 57″ of usable width. For colored or patterned parchment pieces, we stain and/or pattern each piece individually, and there are limitations on the size we can paint and pattern (i.e., slightly under the dimensions of our worktable).

Lumicel can be used for nearly any lighting diffusion application: lampshades and light fixtures, lamps and lanterns, windows and architectural lighting panels, shoji screens and room dividers, art installations and signage. We believe Lumicel is the best and most versatile lighting diffusion material you will find. Let us know what your lighting project is. We can send you a small sample (regular envelope) for free, or a larger sample (Manilla envelope) for a few bucks’ postage.

Order Lumicel in the midcentury lighting store.