Alkaline glass melting with porous cover

In a process of melting soluble silicate glass in an electric resistance furnace, said soluble silicate glass having a ratio of below about 2.8 SiO.sub.2 /Na.sub.2 O wherein there is a tendency of the batch to produce escaping gas during sintering while the said batch is used as a heat insulating blanket over the melted glass, the improvement comprising forming the raw batch materials consisting essentially of silica, sodium oxide and an alkali metal salt which is decomposable by heat to a melt component and a gaseous component wherein the ratio of SiO.sub.2 to Na.sub.2 O is below about 2.8, with a solution taken from the group consisting of water and dilute alkaline solutions, into particles having a mean diameter of about 0.04 cm and applying the formed particles over the melt as a porous blanket in the said electric resistance furnace to permit the escaping gases to pass through said cover during the melting process whereby volcano-like eruptions are avoided.