The glass is made from silica which becomes liquid at elevated temperatures.
Before the glass steps from a liquid state to a solid, there is a range in which the glass becomes soft and malleable before it completely hardens, allowing the craftsman to shape the material.

In addition to silica, other raw materials, flux or fluxes calls, soften at lower temperatures. More sodium oxide is present in the glass, this is more slowly solidifies.
This is an important factor for the manual glass processing, because it gives to the glassmaker more time to shape the material.

The various raw materials that a craftsman can add to a glass mixture are sodium, to make the glass opaque surface, nitrate and arsenic, to eliminate the bubbles, and colorants or opacifiers.

Colors, techniques and materials vary depending on the result that the glassmaker is trying to reach.

The Murano glass processing can be divided into two categories: primary processing and secondary processing.
Included in the first processing those processes which use the raw material, namely sand, soda and other compounds, or the raw glass, said "cotisso".

These elements are melted in specialized furnaces in order to obtain the vitreous mixture which is subsequently machined.

secondary processing includes "a lume" technique with the use of glass rods, the glass melting and cold "processes" such as the decoration, engraving and grinding.