UV clear protection window film

[djson1]

I know this has been discussed on here several times, but can anybody share their experiences with using UV protection film on glass cases?
Does it really help to prevent the signatures on balls (or any other medium such as photos) from fading?

I have this large glass case (it's made for DVDs) and I put a lot of my signed balls in there. The balls are housed in "UV protected" cubes, of course, but I was wondering if I should buy some of that UV film and apply it to the glass to further help prevent fading. But does that stuff really work?

I know it may be hard to gauge the actual effectiveness unless you are testing and comparing it to something similar, but just wondering if anybody has put their autographs behind UV protected glass and still noticed a lot of fading.

Any experiences shared would be appreciated...thanks.

[Klrdds]

My personal opinion is that UV protection is just that--protection and not full prevention. I believe anything exposed to light will eventually fade . The question is how long it takes to fade, so I believe UV protection just slows down / delays the fading process. I read somewhere years ago that the UV protection gets less with exposure to light , something about the light wearing the protection down.. Like the more it is used the less the protection becomes.

[djson1]

Thanks. I guess that means the best way to display signed stuff is to not display them at all. I hate putting my signed materials in storage cases/boxes, but I guess there's no way around that if I want to keep my collectibles from fading. Signed baseballs are so nice to display on shelves, so it's too bad there's nothing out there that can help prevent fading. It seems like any form of light (any type of bulb or even indirect sunlight) causes damage.:(

[Lordstan]

After much research, I installed LED lights in my entire man cave. These release virtually no UV wavelength light. Despite that, I think the best way to display items is for short periods of time. Keep the room dark unless you're in it.

[1880nonsports]

but I think one of the major factors in fading is that light is reacting with the chlorine in our air. As mentioned earlier UV (A&B) blocking is an effective tool in mediating some of the loss one might anticipate without it, but it won't eliminate it. I am rarely right however :-) I wonder if the ball was encased in a vacuum tight container with such protection if there would be any fading.....

[1880nonsports]

while I'm temporarily unable to retrofit my reef tank with LED's for structural reasons - the idea of making LED's my light source in my "cave" is intriguing. Can you tell me a little more about what you did and the resulting "look" as opposed to regular bulbs? Much of what I own is out in the elements. I try and keep the lights off or low - but it's not really possible as I live in my cave :-) Any response would be appreciated....

[djson1]

After much research, I installed LED lights in my entire man cave. These release virtually no UV wavelength light. Despite that, I think the best way to display items is for short periods of time. Keep the room dark unless you're in it.

You mean LED lights like this, right? Not like the dinky strips of LED lights...I'm assuming:
https://www.bchydro.com/content/dam/BCHydro/customer-portal/photographs/objects-products/lighting/installing-led-light-bulb-full-width-object.jpg

[Lordstan]

What I have is a mixture of light types. I have some recessed lighting fixtures and some track lighting as well. None of it is the strip lights as they are used more for accent lighting. If you already have fixtures in place, it should be pretty easy to find LED bulbs that fit them. Also, consider separating the lights into groups and using dimmers. This will allow you to lessen the overall amount of light by either turning off or dimming lights that aren't needed. This is a good habit regardless of your light source, but is even more important with regular bulbs.
Hope that helps. If you look in my photobucket album named "Mancave" there are some photos during construction showing some of the lights.

[drcy]

Two common causes of deterioration are UV light and dust/grease/etc from the air environment. UV protectant ball cubes protect against both to these.

If you want to put UV film on the cases, feel free. Though, depending on the degree of UV protection the cubes have, it might be overkill-- but overkill won't cause any harm.

UV protectant films, glass, holders et al offer different degrees of protection. There are two kinds of UV light and the degree of protection differ. If you have something that says blocks the whole spectrum at above 97%, you're doing well. I know that some films for glass offer very high protection. That they're film doesn't mean they're flimsy in their protection.

One thing to remember is that all glass blocks some UV light, so putting something behind any type of glass gives some UV protection. Not as much as material specifically designed to block UV light, but more protection than if the item is left in the open our outside in the sunlight.

[djson1]

Thanks, guys. These are some useful pointers. I think the UV film is good for the ball in cubes that are recent signed balls. For the older more fragile/lighter sigs, I think the best thing is to just store them in boxes away from light. It sucks to have nice signatures and not be able to always display them though.

[toyman55]

I have my collection in a room with one window and I purchased blackout cloth to cover the window keeping the room dark. I use fluorescent light but think I will now go with led's

[1880nonsports]

is badddddddddddd.