So I hear LED lights will not fade comics… 1 1

[Hall of Heroes]

So we moved my shop into a new building 4 years ago and being deathly afraid of fluorescent lights causing damage to my wall books i had them all removed. All the ballasts taken out and new LED lights installed. 360 of them. I always read that LED lights would not fade comics. Guess what happened…

 

(i’ll post pics in comments)

[jcjames]

On 6/19/2024 at 6:10 PM, Hall of Heroes said:

...Guess what happened…

(i’ll post pics in comments)

[Hall of Heroes]

These were from hanging on the wall for 8 months to 1 year. 

[Sauce Dog]

Yeah, this is something I hear often and people just are quick to accept it without doing any actual research. Stop trusting other random comic bros online and explore the academic studies regarding light damage. Yes you want to protect against UV damage, and of course only using LED lights will mitigate that - but that isn't the end of the discussion!

UV protective glass doesn't even prevent all light-induced fade, because UV radiation is not the only cause of fade. Fade can be attributed to other factors, but essentially it's visible light. It is important to appreciate that light-induced damage to prints is due not only to UV radiation, but also to visible light, and that some prints are more vulnerable to visible light than to UV radiation, and vice versa -comic paper stock, inks, gloss, and other factors greatly impact how well a book can withstand light exposure over a given time. Other art items obviously react differently, for example with oil paintings you don't need any protection for the most part (so long as any unpainted canvas isn't exposed to sunlight) while watercolours will literally fade away as if Thanos-snapped if you so much as even mention the sun around them  

It is highly recommended you always use UV protection regardless, as such glass or protective film has a critical impact on the permanence of the print. Obviously that isn't possible in all cases, like for store displays, so regardless of protection you should ALWAYS rotate your books so no one item is exposed consistently for over a long term (I often rotate my UV protected books every few weeks. None are in direct sunlight, though they are in a very well lit room with windows. Always consider the time frame for exposure! Having books out in LED lighting is fine for short term displays, but not if you are going to leave them out for a year!).

 

Edited June 21 by Sauce Dog

[joeypost]

Best to display scans of your books. 

[JollyComics]

   What?  Why?

Why displaying the comic books on the wall?   No matter how safe light that will not affect the books.  Sun, UV or LED can damage the books no matter.

Just put the books in the box in the closest or safe place.  Stay away from the light.  It's OK to show or read it for a short period but stow it away.

[Ryan.]

On 6/21/2024 at 2:32 PM, JollyComics said:

   What?  Why?

Why displaying the comic books on the wall?   No matter how safe light that will not affect the books.  Sun, UV or LED can damage the books no matter.

Just put the books in the box in the closest or safe place.  Stay away from the light.  It's OK to show or read it for a short period but stow it away.

The OP owns a store and presumably puts them up on the wall to sell.

Edited June 21 by Ryan.
Greggy is studly

[JollyComics]

On 6/21/2024 at 1:34 PM, Ryan. said:

The OP owns a store and presume puts them up on the wall to sell.

[marvelmaniac]

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/light.html

[jcjames]

Wow! Thanks for posting that! 

Here's a wavelength comparison of an LED to a fluorescent source: 

Those LEDs tested in the paper put out a lot of blue light, but I suppose it also depends on the exact type of LED, as there are so may variations nowadays (soft light, natural light, warm light, etc.)

 

Edited June 21 by jcjames

[jcjames]

On 6/21/2024 at 11:44 AM, marvelmaniac said:

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/light.html

Bottomline:

"...Visible light, even with all UV and IR removed, is still damaging to collections and should be controlled and monitored appropriately."

 

[JollyComics]

On 6/21/2024 at 3:26 PM, jcjames said:

Bottomline:

"...Visible light, even with all UV and IR removed, is still damaging to collections and should be controlled and monitored appropriately."

 

THAT!!!!

[Sauce Dog]

This book I bought from a small shop in Niagara Falls during its closing sale. The shop was overall very dark inside, with the main window of the storefront covered with posters and other promotional items, in fact I consider it having perhaps the lowest light inside of any shop I've ever visited. This item was on the wall furtherest from the front store 'window' (and not facing it directly) so it only ever was being lit by some dim lights. I recall the owner saying it was up there for a couple years.

It was irregularly bleached (some areas were covered by another comic, while some of the top had a sticky note on it with the price) so I decided to mask off those areas and bleach the entire cover so it was uniform (this is the rare error variant, so I feel it actually fits the theme of the printing error inside the book. Blue instead of yellow...which is now all but faded from the cover)

Edited June 22 by Sauce Dog

[Lost]

my books are in a safe that is dark and cool.  I get the comic shop display wall books, but for private collections, I think it's safer to pull them out when you want to admire them.