I know the sun is a powerful means of creating energy in terms of solar energy. I am very happy about that because we need to get off fossil fuels.
I also know/knew the sun had the power to take color out of fabrics. However, I did not know how much until I went into a partially finished bedroom, only used for summer guests because coming to Maine in the winter is not on anyone's list of things to do. I used the fitted sheet to cover the whole bed. This way when visitors were expected, I could remove this sheet and use all the protected pillows, covers beneath it.
These last few years I've been battling some personal physical problem, so not any guests. My dear cousin Tom and his lovely wife Carla, stayed at The Brunswick Inn which is only 2 short blocks from my house. After their visit I thought I should take a peek at this room to see what was going on.
Pictures are worth a thousand words. See below.
I also know/knew the sun had the power to take color out of fabrics. However, I did not know how much until I went into a partially finished bedroom, only used for summer guests because coming to Maine in the winter is not on anyone's list of things to do. I used the fitted sheet to cover the whole bed. This way when visitors were expected, I could remove this sheet and use all the protected pillows, covers beneath it.
These last few years I've been battling some personal physical problem, so not any guests. My dear cousin Tom and his lovely wife Carla, stayed at The Brunswick Inn which is only 2 short blocks from my house. After their visit I thought I should take a peek at this room to see what was going on.
Pictures are worth a thousand words. See below.
100% cotton sheet
It is faded in the center from the sun. The edges are faded from a few washings. This sheet lost its color rather quickly. As I did more investigation, it seems yellow dye does not last as well as others. This is the first time I purchased dark colored sheets. In the future, I will only use white fabrics in this south-east facing bedroom because of the sun fading.
100% Cotton Sheet
The fading here is where it was not covered by something else.
?% Not Cotton Fabric
This fabric has some amount of polyester because I did the burn test. I do not know how much, if any is cotton. What I found really interesting is how the dyes faded = yellow and orange disappeared. However, bits of blue and brown remained. I would love to know what pigments are in those colors on this fabric because my future bedroom has south-west orientation.
It looks like white would be the safest. However, I am going to do a test on the blue linen fabric that I would LOVE to use. Notice that the blue in this fabric is still visible even where the yellow values are gone.
I do hope this helps in your future fabric choices where the sun is involved.
I will NOT be hanging any art quilts in this room because of the probably sun damage. Not sure what art I will use because any dye/color will fade. I am thinking even the color of wood would/could be bleached out by the sun.
Does anyone have experience with fabric paints and their resistance to the sun?
