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Thread: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

  1. #1
    vilago Guest

    Default Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    So I'm a little confused about how sunlight fades the hide. All my windows face north and the light that does come in the window is diffuse, reflected light (and my furniture is protected leather). Can this sort of light cause fading? All the comments I've read about sunlight just touch on it by saying keep it out of direct sunlight, but what counts as direct sunlight? "beam" sunlight?

    Also unrelated question, if the leather is beginning to darken from hair oils etc can that ever be reversed?

  2. #2
    hglaber Guest

    Default Re: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    What fades things is mainly ultraviolet light. I have a fabric sofa that was in front of a north window for several years and it is definitely UV faded - not to an extreme extent, but definitely discernible. So north windows do have UV exposure, although not nearly to the extent coming through east, west, or south windows.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    You will get UV fade from indirect light, albeit at a slower rate than direct.

    Once leather has darkened from lack of cleaning it can't be reversed.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  4. #4
    vilago Guest

    Default Re: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    I just don't get it. it is impossible to keep it out of the sun all of the time. you can throw a blanket over it or whatever but what about when you're home on the weekends? Do people just keep the shades drawn like recluses living in a cave? seems a bit extreme

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    Its not like the sun if going to attack it immediately - it takes several years for fade. What I do in my own home and we have have a very bright family room - is to put solar film on all the glass (a very light shade, but it has UV blockers in it) and then we put throws on the tops of the good leather during the week when my wife and I are both at work. On weekends, we leave them off entirely. 5 days out of 7 being covered is good!
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  6. #6
    hglaber Guest

    Default Re: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    Yeah I think you are suffering from an Internet malady I see a lot. It's called forumnoia. It's contracted when people get on a forum catering to people interested in a topic, get a straight, undiluted shot of the good AND the bad, and start to worry.

    An analogy might be someone deciding to buy their dream car. Given the recent reveal, let's say it's a Corvette. So off to the MyCorvetteForum.com she goes. There, she reads a thread about why keeping it in a garage is so important: the sun will fade the interior, the acid rain will ruin the clear coat, bird feces will etch the paint, random passers by will scratch it, air pollution will rot the tires...

    "Man!" she says, "Why are these cars so fragile??" Well, they're not. So were the forum folks lying? Not at all. All of those things do happen. But they've been happening to the Camry she's been leaving in the driveway for the last 10 years, too. She just isn't a rabid Camry fan, and hadn't really noticed. So if the Camry looks fine to her eyes, and she wants to park the Corvette in the driveway, it will probably be fine too. Parking it outside isn't going to keep it mint for 30 years, but it also won't turn it into a rusty, paintless, scratched up, tireless heap in six months any more than it did to the Camry. To not fulfill that dream just to avoid those things would be a shame. And who knows, maybe she'll like it so much she'll wash it once a month, and perhaps throw on a coat of wax now and then, just because she wants to, not because she'd afraid it will dissolve without it.

    The furniture you have now fades in the sunlight. So does the paint on your walls, the rugs on your floor (and the hardwood not covered by them), the knick knacks on your coffee table, and even the coffee table itself. Do you keep your blinds closed and furniture covered unless siting in it right now? No, probably not. If the fading doesn't bother you, the amount of fade on the back of a leather sofa in front of a north window probably won't either. If you want, you could minimize fade by getting a protected leather; you could put UV film on the windows, or just get some UV protectant cream you put on now and then (it's like furniture suntan lotion); you could keep the shades pulled all the time, or maybe just open them later on sunny mornings when it would shine into the room the brightest; you could throw a cover over it except when company comes over, or just on days when you won't be home until late. Or none of those. Go as extreme as you want - it's not going to end up looking like those cow skulls in old Westerns in a year. Not having nice furniture just to avoid the potential of fading would be a shame.

    So don't get hung up on the forum stuff. It's valuable info, and (at least here) generally correct. But taken all at once in huge doses, it can cause paranoia. Take it all in, find where you are comfortable on the obsession spectrum, then enjoy your new leather furniture.

  7. #7
    artielange Guest

    Default Re: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    Quote Originally Posted by hglaber View Post
    Yeah I think you are suffering from an Internet malady I see a lot. It's called forumnoia. It's contracted when people get on a forum catering to people interested in a topic, get a straight, undiluted shot of the good AND the bad, and start to worry.

    ...

    So don't get hung up on the forum stuff. It's valuable info, and (at least here) generally correct. But taken all at once in huge doses, it can cause paranoia. Take it all in, find where you are comfortable on the obsession spectrum, then enjoy your new leather furniture.
    As someone who rates extremely high on the obsession spectrum, I think this is an excellent post! This forum is loaded with excellent advice, but in the end, buy what you like and what makes you happy. I absolutely love having American made furniture where I have selected the appropriate and best hide for my family. Due to Duane and this forum, I feel I have made smart, well informed choices, and so far have been well pleased with all of the furniture.

    A lot of our Hancock and Moore furniture is in our second home, and we always cover the furniture when we are not there. I love arriving at the house and pulling all the covers off to expose the gorgeous leather pieces!

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    Quote Originally Posted by hglaber View Post
    Yeah I think you are suffering from an Internet malady I see a lot. It's called forumnoia. It's contracted when people get on a forum catering to people interested in a topic, get a straight, undiluted shot of the good AND the bad, and start to worry.
    This is very true. It happens on all the car and motorcycle forums I participate on and I see folks afraid to buy a brand of car or motorcycle for fear of it breaking after reading a few posts about a particular malady a model has.

    I used to own a home with two skylights in it, that would 'paint' over the entire room during the course of the day. The skylights eventually faded our leather sofas in the room, but it took about seven years to do so and we never really noticed it until we moved....
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  9. #9
    vilago Guest

    Default Re: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    Yes, I get what you are all saying, I also went through the same thing with my plasma I bought this summer. ( still protective of my motorcycle though ) This is a second hand protected piece but it has some obvious fading on the armrests and has me worried it will get worse even though unprotected are subject to easier fading. I suppose this is just something that comes with being OCD + having better quality stuff as I get older.
    I suppose if it fades past an acceptable amount, I'll just redye it.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Sunlight and protected/unprotected hides

    Leather Magic makes an SPF 80 sunscreen that you can spray on the arms.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

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