Is glass table top a good idea?

About a year ago we purchased a new wooden kitchen table. Upon its arrival, I noticed that it didn’t have a thick clear coat like tables I’ve owned previously. My children are SUPER messy when they eat, especially with their cereal for some reason, so that means we have a constant mess on our kitchen table. Naturally, I started looking for a way to protect our new wood table from the mess. I searched around the internet a bit to see if you should use glass to protect a wood table, but didn’t come up with much information. I decided it would be the best solution anyway, ordered a custom piece of glass, and regretted it since day one. After reading this, you may still decide a glass table protector is right for your situation. I’m just here to tell you some of the reasons you might not want to go that route.

So let’s get straight into the “should you use glass to protect a wood table?” question.

I’ll answer that question with some other questions: Would you want a mirror as your tabletop? What would cleaning and maintaining that be like? Well, I don’t know if it’s just because the wood on my table is dark, but that’s what it felt and looked like to me. The highly reflective surface with the dark background means it shows every fingerprint, every crumb, and every streak even after cleaning it. I’ve got four kids that are constantly touching the table and putting dishes on it, which means my pretty table looked like garbage 24/7.

The only way to get it really clean was to use window cleaner, and even then it was still streaky and ugly. Some of this is on the surface, but a lot of it is also trapped underneath the glass that I couldn’t even get to for cleaning.

When the glass company first brought the glass over, they brought some clear spacers to go underneath. The spacers are supposed to allow airflow under the glass so it doesn’t ruin the tabletop. Well, that just made the top look even uglier, and the kids kept spilling stuff that would slide under the glass. I thought taking the spacers out would help, but it didn’t at all. No matter what I did, the food, especially anything liquid, still got under the glass. That spot on the left where the spill goes all the way to the edge goes under the glass, and the spot below it is actually under the glass. This happened daily with my kids.

Those wet spots mean I had to slide the heavy glass, carefully lift it, and clean and dry under it any time there was a spill. It was seriously the biggest pain, and sounds way easier said than done!!! And even after all that, the edges still had a constant supply of crumbs that somehow managed to make their way UNDER the glass! How does this even happen?! There were no spacers being used when I took these photos!

What did I do about it?

So I finally decided about a month ago that I’d had enough of fighting with this thing, and I’d rather have a ruined table. I took the glass off and gave it away on marketplace. I put a clear coat of something on it that I actually don’t recommend, so I won’t tell you what it was. Even though the clear coat I put on it doesn’t make it look great, it still looks a million times better than that stupid piece of glass that I had on it for a year. It’s so much easier to clean! Now we are using place mats and the the spills actually wipe up much easier. It’s not a perfect solution, but better than the glass.

What should I have done instead?

Bought a different table! Seriously though, I wish I had done a little more research and gotten something that had a better clear coat on the top to begin with. If you’re already stuck with a table that doesn’t have that, try looking up finishes you can apply yourself. I think I probably should have gone with a coat of polyurethane or varnish instead, but I was too irritated to research any more options. Glass for the table should NOT have been something I considered with my messy kids, so maybe it would work if you don’t have kids?? …but then you probably wouldn’t need to protect your table anyway, so maybe it should just never be an option.

Have you tried glass on a wood table? Did you love it? Hate it? Think I’m crazy and my kids are slobs? One or both of those might be right. Anyway, leave a comment with your suggestions and maybe we can collectively come up with a solution to have a nice looking kitchen table with kids. I’d love some other options!

I have attached a picture of my hardwood table. One end of the table is shown, because i didn't have the patience to remove all items on it and take the whole table. Basically, the design is the same on both ends of table, and the mid-section of table does not have any designs (ie. curvatures) but straight edged center section. A second picture shows the length, width and thickness of the glass top i want to put on it. I have decided to go with a "pencil-edge shiny finish" for the edge of the table top. I have the following questions:

1. I went to a pro glass cutting shop to order the glass, and the owner has been doing this business for 40 years. So i have to respect his experience. He says tempered glass will shatter, if i bang an object (like a heavy steel vessel used for cooking and serving later) against the edge of the glass top. I understand that tempered glass has a tendency to shatter, but i am wondering if it would be so easy to shatter it. (Note that i want the glass edge to protrude slightly - ie. about 1/8th of an inch - more than the edge of the table. This has been decided after my research on the web, and reading about other people's experience with glass table tops for dinner table). Comments from those with experience having a tempered glass are greatly appreciated.
2. The weight of the glass top will go from 114 lbs to 171 lbs if i increase the thickness from 1/4" to 3/8". The hardwood table has 4 legs on corners, and the center part has 2 leafs that are attached using a sturdy mechanism underneath the table. This is one of the high end tables from Macy's furniture - so the quality is good. But, i wonder if it can stand the weight of a 3/8" thickness.
3. I am considering ordering 3 pieces of glass, rather than one long piece. The advantage of this would be the ease of maintenance if i need to clean underneath. The price might also go down, with reduced size of glasses i would order as the 3 pieces. I will put them on top, and there would be 2 places on table where there would be a gap formed by the glass tops. These 2 places, i plan to cover with decorative table top linen to hide them as well as protect the table from liquid that may spill on the table. The linen would absorb the moisture, and after dinner, i can clean it up in case it is a big spill. The second advantage of this idea is based on the assumption that the reduced size of 3 pieces would make it possible for the table to withstand the weight of 171/3 = 57 lbs, in the center section which worries me. Comments on this idea are appreciated.

I have searched the net, and could not easily find a solution that directly is applicable to my situation. So, i am posting in couple of places, to seek input. Thanks for all feedback.