Sunfading with UV Bulbs?

peaches2217

peaches2217

Flighty Pegasus
MLPTP Supporter
Joined
Jan 31, 2022
Messages
477
I saw some UV bulbs like this while picking up cat food earlier, and I had to know: has anyone tried using these kinds of bulbs for indoor sunfading? If so, how effective is it? Is it safe? Can you screw the bulb into a standard gooseneck lamp or does it require a special lamp? We're starting to see less daylight here, so I was wondering if this would be a decent alternative. It seemed more straightforward than UV strips glued to a box because I can get everything locally, but I don't wanna risk setting something on fire.

1665119811160.png
 
Looks like it screws in to a regular lamp. I wonder if its a stronger effect than little LEDs? I have seen Retrogeekcrafts use a big uv spotlight on top of a foiled cooler or something. She said it gets quite hot.

Maybe just keep an eye on it? Get a thermometer to make sure it doesn't get too toasty?

Though if its meant for a lizard terrarium its probably fine.
 
Following because I must know!! It seems like it might work.....
 
I was browsing the MLP preservation project and these bulbs were specifically mentioned as good!
 
Oh, thank God! Now comes the real quest: finding a lamp to put one in. I’m guessing a regular clamp lamp for reptile enclosures should do the trick, but would ponies benefit from the more direct beam of a gooseneck lamp as opposed to a clamp’s wider beam? Hhhhhh, decisions…
 
peaches2217 said:
:coolpony:Oh, thank God! Now comes the real quest: finding a lamp to put one in. I’m guessing a regular clamp lamp for reptile enclosures should do the trick, but would ponies benefit from the more direct beam of a gooseneck lamp as opposed to a clamp’s wider beam? Hhhhhh, decisions…
Click to expand...

Now I wish I'd gone this route instead of UV led strips. :/
 
Pretty ponies in the tanning booth! :\/
 
Make a box and line it with tin foil for the sun fading. The foil will help to get all sides of the ponies (rotating ponies helps too).

I can show you my box later if you want a refernce


I use a bulb designed for reef tanks, only because I had it and didn’t want to spend money on another bulb. It works well too! It’a a PAR38 bulb, which mimics the suns UV pretty darn closely
 
87C4D62A-264F-478E-9BB2-372C02B1FF82.jpeg


It’s been close to a week since I got started, and I’m… not seeing any results. The lamp is low-heat so I leave it on at all times except when I’m sleeping (and given my sleeping schedule, that’s an average of 18-20hrs/day). Granted, I’m quite new to sunfading, so I don’t know how long these things are SUPPOSED to take. But I slather the spots needing faded in Salon 40 every morning and evening and leave them exposed at all times.

Any feedback from more experienced sunfaders? Is this pace normal, or is it a sign that this just isn’t working?
 
it takes time! Depending on the spots, it can take weeks to months or longer.

I have a cover on my box with a hole just big enough for the lamp which allows me to leave it on 24/7, plus makes the light slightly more productive by forcing the light where you want it. the inside of the cover is also lined with tinfoil to reflect the light back down onto the ponies.

Wash the peroxide off in between applications- I find if I don't wash it off, it creates a barrier and it won't fade as quickly.

I find white ponies fade faster than colored ponies, gotta have patience with the colored ponies.

I had Tex and Sugar Apple in the box. Sugar Apple took a over a month to fade most of her pink highlights. Tex refused to fade and had him in for nearly 3 months before I gave up. I also put in some white babies that turned yellow, they whitened up in a few days.
 
DracoKat said:
it takes time! Depending on the spots, it can take weeks to months or longer.

I have a cover on my box with a hole just big enough for the lamp which allows me to leave it on 24/7, plus makes the light slightly more productive by forcing the light where you want it. the inside of the cover is also lined with tinfoil to reflect the light back down onto the ponies.

Wash the peroxide off in between applications- I find if I don't wash it off, it creates a barrier and it won't fade as quickly.

I find white ponies fade faster than colored ponies, gotta have patience with the colored ponies.

I had Tex and Sugar Apple in the box. Sugar Apple took a over a month to fade most of her pink highlights. Tex refused to fade and had him in for nearly 3 months before I gave up. I also put in some white babies that turned yellow, they whitened up in a few days.
Click to expand...
I see! So whitening yellowed ponies doesn't take long, but fading pink marks and pen marks and such takes a good while. That makes me feel better! Still might look into learning to color-match and paint for ponies whose flaws don't present any kind of danger to their vinyl/plastic. Thank you!
 
I’ve had this Ember fading this terrible red mark off for over a year now and it’s still not gone. The pen that was around it is gone and she’s gone back to her natural purple again (for some reason looks yellowed in this picture she is a nice purple irl). But that darn red stuff just won’t go away. Sometimes some marks just take longer to remove than others and some will require an H2O2 soak vs cream.
85C9389B-2DD7-40ED-AF6F-6713F201D2F0.jpeg
 
Highlighter marks/ both pink and yellow takes a long time unfortunately

Pen marks don’t take as long- I was surprised with how quickly one went away.

Not sure about markers, haven’t encountered that one yet
 
I've read in the restoration group that pink highlighter is very tough. Indeed it is! I am sunfading G3 Minty for 2,5 months and I haven't seen any results until 1 month. It faded a very little bit, despite it was hot summer with high UV level. And then it started to fade away very slowly. Don't give up!

I have some G3s with bled-in marker stains (red, of course), and I am not sure if it faded a little or not. But it definitely will take forever to vanish.
 
I thought sun fading was bad for ponies! Why would anyone want to do it on purpose? :blink: This isn't meant to sound rude, I am just genuinely curious about it, as I only heard of sun fading as a negative thing before :)
 
Aleikss said:
I thought sun fading was bad for ponies! Why would anyone want to do it on purpose? :blink: This isn't meant to sound rude, I am just genuinely curious about it, as I only heard of sun fading as a negative thing before :)
Click to expand...
The long and short answer is, sun fading if done correctly is a safe way to restore a pony’s original vibrancy and remove stains.

To read more about it please take a look at the MLP Preservation Project or take a look at our helpful Tutorial and video guides on the subject.
 
Aleikss said:
I thought sun fading was bad for ponies! Why would anyone want to do it on purpose? :blink: This isn't meant to sound rude, I am just genuinely curious about it, as I only heard of sun fading as a negative thing before :)
Click to expand...

Skybreeze said:
The long and short answer is, sun fading if done correctly is a safe way to restore a pony’s original vibrancy and remove stains.

To read more about it please take a look at the MLP Preservation Project or take a look at our helpful Tutorial and video guides on the subject.
Click to expand...

Yep, as long as it's done correctly, it can have some nice effects!

Take Angel for an example. She turned green from the glue from her flocks. A week in the light for sunfading, her color returned to its original vibrant blue (comparison to the true color of Angel)

IMG_1067.JPG
IMG_1079.jpg
 
DracoKat said:
Yep, as long as it's done correctly, it can have some nice effects!

Take Angel for an example. She turned green from the glue from her flocks. A week in the light for sunfading, her color returned to its original vibrant blue (comparison to the true color of Angel)

View attachment 60102View attachment 60103
Click to expand...
Omg! That is stunning!!
 
wonderful thread here :) awesome sharing love all the progress pics

yep agree patience and time are key depending on what is faded
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top