Protecting clothes from ambient light... am I going overboard?

B

BigBrother

Registered Guest
I'm planning out a pretty makeshift closet arrangement for a lot of vintage, everything from 20s till 60s. Basically I'll be filling a room with freestanding garment racks. I was planning on covering these racks but have been going back and forth between clear and black. Clear will be much more pleasant to look at and aid in outfit selection. But I've done a bit of reading and I know that over time, even ambient daylight can fade fabrics. So I'm considering black.

I'm torn. I've seen plenty of places of varying degrees of preservation seriousness (costumes houses, vintage stores, etc.), keeping their clothes out in the open. And yet I can't shake the feeling that, since these aren't in a dark closet behind doors, I need to be clamping down the ambient light. Windows remain closed but still there's obviously some.

What do you think?

Thanks!
 
Hi! From what you write, might we assume that you will be wearing most of the garments? And it sounds like you intend to put them under plastic?

Ambient light will eventually fade to a small degree, yes. But it would take quite a bit of time, and depends on the fabric's fiber content and age as well. Covering also protects against fine dust and particulate matter in the air which to me is more of a problem than the light.

While some folks use plastic, I cannot myself recommend it. Clothing needs to breath. Especially if you intend to wear any of the garments and then cover them. I use old white cotton sheeting or sheets to cover my hanging antique garments in a closet or on a standing rack in a room.
 
Light fading is cumulative, so the more it is exposed to light the more the object fades. As Barbara pointed out, the rate of fading depends upon the type of dye and material and the process used. Most museums don't use black, but rather white tyvek or cotton sheets to cover their racks that are stored in the open. Plastic is a great idea if you are storing them in a room that has overhead pipes, but don't seal them in plastic, just draped over the white cotton sheeting will keep any disastrous flooding from overhead from damaging the clothes. Also make sure that any long dresses aren't touching the floor so they don't wick up any water. The nice thing about white sheeting is that you can tell when it needs a clean -- we wash ours once a year to get rid of any cumulated dust. Tyvek is the preferred choice by most museums because it breathes which means you can't get a moisture buildup inside a zippered garment bag like you can with plastic or vinyl, but its also solid enough to keep out pests. However, it's very expensive.
 
Thanks everyone! The plastic I’m considering would leave about a 1’ gap between itself and the floor, something like this:

SIWUTIAO Garment Rack Cover,4Ft Transparent PEVA Clothing Rack COVER ONLY, Clear Clothes dustproof Waterproof Cover https://a.co/d/71hqbVc

So I *think* moisture accumulation would not be an issue (?)
 
I have occasionally had problems with fade, and I can't really cover my racks and displays, so I am about to cover some of my studio windows and skylight with UV rated window film. There are lots of options for this, it can look frosted or like a stained glass or rainbow design. It will allow light in for shoppers but supposedly block the UV light that is causing garment dyes to fade. I hung some privacy window film from Amazon previously in my home bathroom window and it was pretty easy to use and looks good! Just another option maybe?
 
morning-glorious said:
I have occasionally had problems with fade, and I can't really cover my racks and displays, so I am about to cover some of my studio windows and skylight with UV rated window film. There are lots of options for this, it can look frosted or like a stained glass or rainbow design. It will allow light in for shoppers but supposedly block the UV light that is causing garment dyes to fade. I hung some privacy window film from Amazon previously in my home bathroom window and it was pretty easy to use and looks good! Just another option maybe?
Click to expand...
Yes, that is also a good option for light - we cover all the windows where things are stored.
 
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