Faded Posters in frame's

[paul waines]

I keep my posters in a darkened room, so the only ones to be affected by light are the one's on the wall. Those have Non-reflect glass in which is slightly darker, and scatters the light some what, so just slows down the fading process. I have asked about a U.V. blocking glass which is available, but very expensive. So the upshot is I don't put up any of the rare (expensive) one's.
     What do you guy's do, or don't you care about fading? I would like to put a few up and leave them up, but as we all know posters were/are a throw away item, so if they faded in a couple of months so what the film had finished it's run.

[scartacus]

Paul,

You need to get yourself some Plexiglas Gallery acrylic -- UV-blocking non reflective. It blocks the damaging UV rays and its anti-reflective properties mean that in most natural light situations it actually becomes invisible. Having seen the quality of your posters, I'd recommend removing all that dangerous, nasty glass -- measure the panels -- and then replace with same size UV plexi.

http://www.plexiglas-shop.com/GB/en/sheet/plexiglas-gallery-4f8kuxsd74k.html

The above link takes you a page where you can buy from Germany direct but I imagine the postage costs are pretty steep.

Alternatively I could quote you for a joblot of plexi and delivery to the north east. Sizes will be cut to nearest mm.

best

Dominic

[paul waines]

Thanks for that info Dominic, it does look quite the ticket. Do you have a source to buy from, as I have a few smaller pieces I'm looking to get framed also, though I haven't got the frame's yet.

[scartacus]

Sent you a pm...

[Harry Caul]

For our house, we put UV film on all our windows... it is supposed to block 99.9% of UV light and is advertised to stop the fading of fabrics, carpets, etc...  Then, just to be safe, everything on the wall is also framed using UV-blocking, non-glare acrylic.  They are mostly from Sue H., but I have a few big ones we did ourself using the same material (OP-2, OP-3 or OP-3/P-99 acrylic depending on your needs). 

The only thing you should have to worry about at that point is heat.  But luckily for us, very little of the sunlight coming through our windows falls directly on a poster. 

[paul waines]

I'm interested in the window film Harry, purely for the fading of the woodwork, and chairs. Does it have a name, and does it darken the room too much?

[Harry Caul]

I used the Gila 'Fade Control' film which blocks UV light without tinting.  It's a pain in the butt to install... probably 20-30 minutes for your first pane, but you'll eventually work your way down to 15 minutes or so.  We did 6 big windows, each with 2 panes.  Lets just say I'm glad to be done!

Still, I'm very glad we did it and you really can't tell its on the windows at all.  I originally bought a 4-pack from The Sustainable Village, but I just checked and it seems to be getting difficult to find anywhere.  I think I have a roll or two left you can't find any locally.  I'm sure you have a quad or two I'd be willing to trade... 

[Marty Moose]

I just framed mine up with a non-glare plexi, then prayed to God that nothing would be in direct sunlight.  Through strategic angling of the blinds I've managed to get it so that there is no direct beam of light onto any of the frames in the front room and dining room, where the biggest windows/patio doors are.

It's a real pain in the hoop getting archival materials reasonably priced here in the UK, like Sue does for US collectors.  I get my frames made in bulk through online framers to save on costs and frame myself, but no dealers even consider offering a UV plexi as an option - you would think that there would be sufficient demand for it to at least make it a purchase option somewhere.  

Even shortcutting like this costs in the region of £60 UK (around $100 US) for a metal one sheet frame with some acid free backing- and thats with the discount of a bulk order of 6 frames in one go.  Add to that the costs of sourcing and transporting relevant UV plexi for each poster on top of this and it gets to the point where it is financially impossible to frame archivally and on a budget if there's more than one or two pieces to go up.  Thankfully I live in the North East of England and sunlight isn't in high supply up here, so nothing seems to be fading...yet.

I've got an Italian 39"x55" and a large French poster I would like to get framed, and I can't even imagine the logistics of the order (online framers won't touch such large sizes) or the costs involved to get them onto the wall...

[paul waines]

Where in the North east are you Marty?

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Is this really a significant problem?  I've always assumed that unless the poster is in direct sunlight, fading wasn't a big concern.  I haven't noticed any fading on my posters and I don't think I have UV plexiglass on most of my frames.  That said, I do keep my expensive posters out of direct sunlight from the windows.

[Harry Caul]

Not sure, but I've definitely seen many a faded poster for sale.  Even regular indoor lighting emits UV.  Why take the chance if they are even remotely valuable?

[Marty Moose]

Where in the North east are you Marty?

Sunny Sunderland.  The joys.

It's funny when you see friends and family have many a tatty old reproduction print behind glass with no thought or consideration into the archival implications, and the things look as fresh as the day they were framed.  I often find myself obsessing over the details of UV protection in my own home, but never walk around somebody elses pad and pick up on anything looking tired and worn out on the walls.   I guess if I had the money to UV everything I put up I would be a happy man, but just framing the things in the first place costs a fair packet - not to mention restoration costs on the ones that need a little sprucing before meeting my wife's approval to go on display.

[paul waines]

Fading due to light is a problem, and you don't notice it as it is quite slow. Colour fast inks are not used nor is high quality paper, as I said before posters were a throw away item, and not intended to last through out the years.

Your a man of means Mel, buy 2 cheapys put one away as a yard stick, and stick the other on the window facing outwards, and see what happens in a couple of months. I am mostly concerned about vintage stuff, but It would be interesting to see how modern posters fair.

[paul waines]

I'm just down the road a bit, I live just outside of Middlesbrough. I know Sunderland quite well as I went out with a Girl from Peterlee.

[Marty Moose]

I'm just down the road a bit, I live just outside of Middlesbrough. I know Sunderland quite well as I went out with a Girl from Peterlee.

Did you end up attending the Horror festival in Whitby recently Paul?  I quite fancied it to nose around the Hammer posters and try and get my Wicker Man poster signed by Robin Hardy, but in the end didn't bother due to the schedule and having to face work the day after.

[paul waines]

Yes, Went to Whitby Horror film festival, took a couple of days off work to attend. There wasn't much in the way of posters. In fact the only one's on display were repro's. Met some jolly nice people there, Shane Briant is a hell of a nice guy really enjoyed talking with him. He was walking around in a Dracula cape, having a jolly time hamming it up. Caroline Munro, Martine Beswick, I have met on several occasions. Unfortunately I missed Robin Hardy as he was only there on the last day, and I wasn't.

Pic of how Shane looks now.