“Nothing is more important to us on Earth than the Sun. Without the Sun’s heat and light, the Earth would be a lifeless ball of ice-coated rock. The Sun warms our seas, stirs our atmosphere, generates our weather patterns, and gives energy to the growing green plants that provide the food and oxygen for life on Earth.”
- A direct rip from “A meeting with the universe”
Hey guys it’s silversnorlax and today we’ll be looking at the set up and monitoring of the most requested test by the community: UV light testing!
So, before I begin I want to take a moment and thank everybody who helped not only fund this testing but also help produce testing supplies for this test and the other tests I plan on conducting. There are many names on that list and I won’t list them all here but you guys know who you are, so please pat yourselves on the back! I’ve never asked for a dime here, but this community has really shown that it cares about the work I do, so thank you!
For the past few months I’ve been researching light testing, UV spectrum’s and ways to potentially “home brew” some testing. I finally hit a point where I decided it would be best to reach out to a guy who does UV light testing for a living. And I actually got a response from a scientist, you can read it here.
Long story short, Doug Nishimurahe was nice enough to tell me that light testing is incredibly difficult to do, due to the number of variables involved. However, he did tell me that he had seen a colleague have some luck with plant grow lights and photo fading. This gave me a lot of hope for a home brew option as well as a few ideas.
So before we tear into the set up of this test, lets chat a little bit about UV light and how that works. The first thing you have to understand about UV light is that UV light works on a spectrum:
That spectrum runs from 0nm (nanometers) to about 780nm before that light becomes infrared and is no longer visible by the human eye.
A majority of light we get on earth falls into the 400nm-780nm range with the lower wavelength light being absorbed into earth’s atmosphere at very high percentages. So what our collections typically deal with is a spectrum of light somewhere in that 400-780nm with a very small percentage of lower wavelengths breaking through the atmosphere.
So with that little bit of knowledge lets look at testing supplies and of course, our slabs for science!
Test group one.
Test group two.
For this test, I decided I would divide into two sample groups for two different light sources. Group one will be exposed to pure sunlight. In order to achieve this I’m going to tape several samples to a window that sees a ton of direct sunlight and let them sit. For group two, they will be exposed to constant light that runs in the 400nm-700nm range 24 hours a day. It’s a grow light, and you can check it out here.
The reason for the two test groups is based on a hypothesis that the constant exposure to light will generate a diminishing effect on the card much faster than just standard sunlight which only affects the cards at most, 12 hours a day. Group one will have more variables involved such as cloudy days and a variable UV index day to day, where group two will be constant.
I’m sure you are aware that there are multiple items in each sample set. A lot of the items that I’m testing have different protection methods applied to each card. Reason for this is so we can see which protection methods offer the most protection. This will help identify what items are just “marketing hype” and which items actually do what we need them to do to protect our collections.
The list cards (with test items) are as follows:
Group One, from top left to right:
- Standard PSA slab with non-holo card
- Standard PSA slab with Ultra pro soft sleeve
- Standard PSA slab with Jet Seal applied
- Raw booster pack
- Raw card
- Raw card with CS1 holder (and plastic sleeve)
- Standard PSA slab with holo card
- Standard PSA slab with topps series one card (different card stock)
- Standard PSA slab with 98% UV resistant acrylic
- Raw card with ultra pro UV resistant one-touch
Group Two, from top left to right:
- Standard PSA slab with non-holo card behind UV resistant display case acrylic
- Standard PSA slab with holo card behind UV resistant display case acrylic
- Raw booster pack
- Raw card with ultra pro UV resistant one-touch
- Raw card
- Standard PSA card with holo
- Standard PSA card with topps series one card (different card stock)
- Standard PSA card with Jet Seal applied
- Standard PSA slab with 98% UV resistant acrylic
- Raw card in a CS1 holder (and plastic sleeve)
You’ll also notice the blue masking tape on every test sample. The reason for this is simple, once the cards have been exposed for a lengthy period of time we can remove the tape to see how the side exposed to light behaved compared to the covered side of the card. Think of it as seeing a 50/50 difference.
The two testing samples began on October 1st at midnight. I would like to run this experiment for a whole year or until my girlfriend tells me she’s sick of looking at cards in her glass window (already has). Really, I’ll pull cards if notable fading is observed and note the time and give you guys an update here. But for now, it’s just a long waiting game until we see something happen.
GROUP ONE IN ACTION
GROUP TWO IN ACTION
In the mean time, I would love to see everyone’s thoughts in the comment section. Will group two fade faster? Not at all? Will the harsh Pittsburgh winter not allow enough sunlight to fade group one by summer? Will my girlfriend be stuck with ugly cards on her windows for a year? I don’t know. But it’ll be fun posting the results when I do. Keep checking back the fourums for updates!
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I do have an update on page two of this thread complete with video but here are some of the main take aways at five months: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUTe7kbw35k
So from the data I’ve gathered so far I can make a couple of conclusions:
- UV index does not have to be high in order to fade cards
- Topps cards are stupidly weak to sunlight.
- The yellow boarders on cards tend to go quickly in sunlight
- Not all sets may be created equal, notice the blue on the poliwrath does not fade at the same rate carvanha has. Placement on windowpane may be a factor here.
- Holo foil has minimal damage compared to printed ink, this is of course a sensory evaluation only.
- Group two (not featured) has not seen a noticeable difference, despite being exposed to 2-4 times more light than group one.
- As a result of group two showing little sensory difference, we can find supporting evidence that the true concern for fading falls in line within the UVA and UVB light spectrum.
I would like to point out here that the UV light testing is not concluded and I may wrap this up in August before worlds and showcase my findings either at the venue or on YT prior. Either way, come grab me at the venue, I’ll have the cards I’ve burned, boiled, and faded on me and would love to show you all.
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GROUP ONE TESTING COMPLETE!
After 8 long months I finally have conclusive results for the first testing group for my UV fading tests! I have a video of it posted here that explains most of it:
I’m really happy with the results of this part of the experiment. Group one has concluded, and group two will continue to be tested. But given the results of group one we can expect to see very little to no change in group two in terms of protection. Should we see a visible change at all.
Since I now have a baseline for data, I can now continue experimentation with different protection methods. Since we saw a 100% failure rating after 8 months with cheaper options, we can look at some of the more specific and pricier ones. I’ll be taking a look at my own 99% UV resistant glass and acrylic, and I’ll be reaching out to @garyis2000 , and buying some of his slab protectors. I’ll also do UV light meter tests in July for all of the supplies I’ve already tested, as well as some of the higher end stuff.
Thankfully the results I’ve gathered should be helpful to the community especially if UV light is a legitimate concern you have. As for the damaged UV slabs, a few of them will be staying with me so I can show them off in person at World’s this year in DC. So be sure to come hit me up if you want to check them out! However most of these slabs will be sent off to @rattlebear , for further examination under a microscope. I look forward to his results, and hopefully I’ll be able to collaborate with him to further understand what it is we see.
Thank you all for taking time to read this article, and if you have further question feel free to comment away!
