In everyday life, the visual system is remarkably good at recognizing materials across a wide range of viewing conditions. This paper addresses the problem of identifying real samples of materials from appearance. Here, we consider gloss as an appearance attribute that could reveal certain information about object properties. We prepared twelve samples of glass and PMMA and eroded these using different agents. The gloss and haze of the samples were measured at 60 degrees via a gloss meter. For all samples, the surface roughness properties were measured. Microfacet distributions were derived from measured BRDFs using an inverted microfacet model. We conducted a visual ranking experiment using the pair comparison method. The psychophysical gloss ratings correlate well with the 60 degrees gloss index. Principal component analysis of the psychophysical results revealed a somewhat more complicated picture in which three components seem to play a role. We conclude that observers can apprehend the physical nature of the surface of real objects from features that are included in the BRDF and available in the gloss appearance.