Home and business owners alike love our window tinting for keeping out the infrared rays of the sun. This keeps homes and offices cool and helps to reduce solar heat gain, which in turn, lowers energy bills. But the sun has other rays that, while they don’t cause solar heat gain, they can cause severe fading of interior fabrics and carpet. The Tintmaster pros get questions about fading all the time. What causes fading? Why do some items fade faster than others? Which colors fade the worst? What can I do to prevent fading? We hope to answer those questions and give you a little insight here:
Why Does Ultraviolet Light Cause Color to Fade?
The technical term for fading is photodegradation. Many factors contribute to fading processes, including the physical and chemical structures of the object, the type of dyes or pigments present, the amount and intensity of light, and the temperature and humidity of the environment. Different objects will fade at different rates depending on their chemical makeup. Dyes contain light absorbing color bodies called chromophores. We see colors based on these chemical bonds and the amount of light that is absorbed in a particular wavelength.
Related Read: 3 Reasons to Choose Tintmaster
Fading Is a Chemical Process
When light, particularly ultraviolet light, which has a very short wavelength, hits an object, the energy contained within interacts with the exposed surface. The new energy excites the outer molecules of the object causing chemical bonds, thus reducing the vibrancy of the color and the strength of the object over time. When ultraviolet rays break down the chemical bonds, it causes a bleaching effect. Colors that reflect the light more will fade less. Colors that absorb more light will fade more. Color and molecular damage can never be repaired.
Which Colors Fade the Fastest?
Under most circumstances, red fades the fastest of all visible colors. Short-wavelength light such as blue or violet has greater energy than lower-wavelength light, and red has the longest wavelength of visible colors. Red objects reflect red light but absorb harmful, energy-rich, short-wavelength light.
3M Films Protect Against UV Rays That Cause Fading
3M Window Films are designed to not only reject solar heat, but to reduce fading as well. 3M’s new line of Prestige Series films can provide all of these benefits without changing the look of your home. You really can’t tell it’s even on the windows. At Tintmaster, we use 3M window films because we know they are the best on the market.
