The method of section etching by HF solution is very effective to research the interaction of glasses of simple composition with water and its solutions [1–2]. The essence of the method consists in the dissolution of glass layers and the extract analysis after etching. In this case a glass layer of approximately 0.5–1.0 mm is dissolved during one etching. We used the method of section etching to reveal the changes in the composition and structure of the surface layers of industrial glasses [3]. The aim of the undertaken investigations was to study the influence of alkali metal cations concentration in the surface layers of industrial and model inorganic glasses on the rate of their section etching by HF solution.   The objects of investigation were flat glass samples, bottles and jars of colorless glass, bottles of green glass, ampoules made of medical glass, illuminating glassware made of transparent colorless and milk glasses  and model inorganic glasses in the Na₂O–R₂O₃–SiO₂ (R₂O₃ – Al₂O₃ and B₂O₃) system. The analyses of glass surface layers were carried out with the help of section etching by HF solution. Three glass samples were fixed in fluorocarbon polymer cassettes and then fused with a polymer wheel and put into a weak HF solution. The samples were rotated in the solution with a speed of 100 rotations per minute. In the following experiments samples were kept in solution in stationary position, i. e. without rotation. After etching the samples were washed with distilled water, dried and weighed. The duration of etching changed within 3 to 120 minutes. The thickness of the dissolved layer and rate of dissolution in HF solution of glass surface layers were calculated based on mass losses of the samples before and after etching. The concentration of Na⁺ and K⁺ was measured in extracts after etching using the method of flame photometry.   Our experiments showed that the rate of dissolution of glass depends on the temperature of HF solution and its concentration, on the volume of solution and on the time the samples were exposed to it, as well as on hydrodynamics conditions. The temperature of HF solution, its volume and concentration remained unchanged in all the experiments. The dissolution of surface layer with the necessary thickness was achieved through the exposure to different time of etching and changes of hydrodynamics conditions (the samples were rotated in solution or kept in stationary position). The thickness of the glass layer dissolved in one etching ranges from 0.05 to 10 μm. For the given experiment series the concentration of HF solution and the duration of the etching did not change. The analysis of samples was carried out at the depth 50 µm.   The experiments showed that the industrial and model inorganic glasses consist of layers without any determined orientation. The stratification of inorganic glasses depends on their homogeneity. The correlation between the concentration of alkali metal cations in the surface layers of industrial and model inorganic glasses and the rate of their dissolution was established: with the increase of concentration of alkali metal cations in the surface layers of inorganic glasses the rate of their section etching by HF solution grows up. The method of section etching can find its application in the study of mechanism of interaction of industrial glasses with environment (reagents of different nature, physical fields and so on) and in the control of stability of technological process of glassware manufacture.