Have you ever stared into the mirror of a public bathroom and wondered if someone was on the other side looking at you? Thanks to the obsession with crime dramas, we can’t fault you for being a tad bit wary or even paranoid. Sometimes we find ourselves in that spooky hotel room or public restroom mirror situation.
While to the untrained eye, you may not pick out the difference between a one-way mirror and a two way-mirror, they do have their distinct differences. So here to help you figure out if someone is, in fact, spying on you through your mirror is us! These are the main differences between these two types of mirrors.
Build
A one-way mirror has reflective material on one side and is coated with translucent material on the other. It is the mirrors that we use in our bathrooms, cars, and so on. A two-way mirror is a mirror that has a reflective surface on one side and a clear surface on the other. It mimics a regular mirror, but you can see through the clear side to the side with the reflective surface.
The Image In the Mirror
When you look at the image in a one-way or two-way mirror, there is no clear distinction between them at first glance. However, there is a test that you can do to ascertain what kind of mirror you are looking into. This test is known as the fingernail test. Place your finger on the mirror and observe the reflection.
A one-way mirror will have a gap between your actual finger and its reflection; they should not be touching. However, if there is no gap between the two, you may be looking into a two-way mirror. This is the first major difference between these two mirrors.
The Installation of the Mirror
Usually, mirrors in our homes and bathrooms are installed onto a wall or a cabinet. It is easy to see where the mirror comes into contact with the wall. Two-way mirrors, on the other hand, are installed into the wall, literally. You’ll find no gap between the mirror and the wall to enable whoever is observing from the other side to see clearly.
The Lighting in the Room
For a two-way mirror to be effective, the light on the side with the reflective surface should be really bright. This is the only way that observers on the opposite side of the mirror can see what’s happening. If the light is not at least ten times brighter than the light on the reflective side, you can easily make out the observation room. For one-way mirrors, the light can be muted or harsh, and it still will work ok.
The Knocking Test
Since a two-way mirror is in the wall, there is a chance that there’s an observation room behind it. When you knock on a mirror, and it produces a hollow sound, chances that it is a two-way mirror are quite high. Imagine the sound a window would produce when tapped. That is the sound that a two-way mirror would also produce. On the other hand, a one-way mirror will not produce a hollow sound since a wall is directly behind it.
In Conclusion
Now that you know, you can ease your mirror paranoia. However, we can’t say that this knowledge will help with mirror ghosts. That’s a whole other territory.