Fun fact: I actually trained and worked as a museum conservator for a number of years. I specialized in archaeological and ethnographic materials, but also covered the basics of conservation of most traditional fine art and decorative art materials—you never know what you’re going to encounter, particularly with ethnographic objects!

Everyone has their ‘treasures’ that they want to preserve for as long as possible, right? Maybe it’s a crayon drawing from your first child. Maybe it’s something you inherited from your grandparents. Or maybe it’s a piece of art you got at a fair and just really enjoy. Whatever it is, you want it to last, so I thought it might be helpful to go over basic care information for some of the more common materials found in peoples’ houses. We’ll do this as a multi-part series, where I’ll focus on a different collection risk factor each week and which materials are most at risk. As a bonus, I put together a short guide covering some common items with simple recommendations for storage or display as well as a list of resources where you can get more information or professional conservation services. You can get it here.

Enemy #1: Light

This week, we’ll be talking about the first ‘enemy,’ Light.

Light can cause a lot of damage, particularly UV light. I’m not going to go into the chemistry involved in light damage (I mean, I totally could, but I don’t want to bore everyone to tears!), so just keep in mind that sunlight and fluorescent lights can be particularly damaging.

Some common items that can be damaged by light include paintings, paper, photos and negatives, and plastics. Plastics are actually becoming increasingly common in museum collections and despite all the press about them never breaking down, plastics can degrade quite badly and pose a lot of problems for preservation. So, you know those plastic dinosaurs or toy horses you had as a kid that you want to hang on to? They need a little TLC to keep them in good shape.

On of the main signs of light damage is fading and discoloration. Along with discoloration, many materials will also become quite brittle. Both are signs of the underlying chemical deterioration that is taking place. Places you’ll see light damage are with paintings, particularly things like watercolors, and prints on paper, as well as photos and negatives. You may notice that artwork that was displayed near a window has faded or discolored. Also, some colors are affected more than others, so the overall color of the print will have shifted. Reds and blues are often the first victims of light damage. Plastics will discolor and, if originally colored, will fade as well, often getting a hazy, whitish film on the surface. You see this sometimes on older plastic playground equipment, since it’s exposed to the sunlight all the time.

Now, unfortunately, light damage is cumulative and permanent. If you have something that’s faded or discolored from light, there’s no fixing it. But you can help prevent further damage by limiting the amount of light it’s exposed to in the future. If your treasure hasn’t been damaged by light yet, fantastic! Let’s keep it that way so you can enjoy it for years to come.

As far as preventing light damage, it’s really quite simple: don’t expose your item to a lot of light. I don’t mean you have to keep everything in complete darkness all the time (though that’s the best way to prevent light damage). After all, you still want to enjoy your treasures, otherwise what’s the point? Just keep them away from bright light. Don’t hang them near windows or under fluorescent lights. If you have something like a really old photo you want to display but don’t want to damage (or damage further), consider getting it reprinted on modern photo paper and displaying that. You can then keep the original stored away from light entirely to preserve it as long as possible.

There’s a peculiarity you should know about with oil paintings, however. You should avoid storing oil paintings in complete darkness as this will cause the linseed oil in the paint to darken or yellow. This color change is different from the light damage we’ve been talking about, however, and actually can be reversed by placing the painting in natural light for a few days.

Do you have any treasures that you think are vulnerable to light damage? Let me know in the comments!

Check out the next post in the collection care series here.

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