Sunfading - Am I going about this the wrong way?

[sweetapple]

I have a handful of creamy and stained ponies that I've been meaning to whiten for some time now, and after reading several tutorials, I've decided to finally give sunfading a go!
Because there are no suitable windowsills inside, I tried to come up with a way that I could keep the ponies outside for several months without worrying about the wind, rain, insects, cats and other little things like that.

So here is my setup--

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First off, am I doing anything that's a complete no-no? The ponies are hanging off the line in plastic sleeves-- is it safe to leave them in there for as long is it takes for them to whiten? And will it work through the plastic?

My other concern is that I've used clear sticky tape on the ponies' symbols and eyes, so that I could colour over it with a sharpie to cover the paint. I've heard of she sharpie idea working well, but has anyone had any success working with clear tape? It wasn't particularly sticky, but if it does leave any residue, would it be a problem or will it come right off? (Those with glitter symbols --Baby Glory and Baby Moondancer-- have their tape over them upside down, so that the sticky side isn't touching the symbol.

Thank you for any help, I hope it all goes well!

[Sandi]

I'm no expert, but I don't think it will be good to keep them in plastic bags. Especially not in the sun were it will get really hot. It might damage the plastic or something. But as I said, I don't know much about this.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Yeah I think the plastic sleeves are going to be a problem - the sun could melt the tape to them and get everything all sticky. 

Tape residue comes off vinyl pretty easily - not hair so much.  I would try maybe wrapping them in foil and not using tape with this experiment.  Tear the foil into triangles and roll the ponies like pastries until all is covered. 

[relcelestia]

those plastic sleves are NOT water proof :/
only reason i know that is because i use them to post fliers ooutside of where I work, i even use packing tape all around the edges and water still gets in... and i live in SO CAL .. hardly ever rains but even the evening moister/dew will get in

so no i dont recommend this method

the other thing is being outside it gets really hot

heat + moisture = mold + bacteria

there was one time i put a pony in the dashboard of my car.... it got too hot and the hair ended up being a little rough because of it

one other thing, i know people use saran wrap to cover the pony and then sharpie over it... ive never done that before but i HAVe used scotch tape to tape down the foil to the root of the mane.
and what i end up with is 1) a very sticky spot and 2) a spot that has not been sun faded and is still yellow.
it doesnt bother me though since its under the mane and no one ever sees it. but on the body, not so good

if these ponies are precious to you i would bring them inside and out of the bag/tape asap!
but if they are experiment ponies then please carry on and report back your findings!
i love a good science experiment ^_^

[MLPWhitney]

Ditto on not keeping them in those plastic sleeves! But keep us updated!! I like the clear tape and drawing over the symbols with sharpie idea! I have never tried sunfading, and these are some good tips!

[FantasticFirefly]

Humidity will collect inside..... as well as rainwater. One outdoor market I went do the guy would seal his toys in zipper bags, if I wanted something I bought it as soon as it was out (his mlp's were dry when he first put them out)- a few weekends later the ponies I didn't buy would be rusty/moldy and you could see the droplets of moisture sweating inside the bags from the Ontario summers we had.  I made the mistake of passing on one from that booth once, and when I did go see if she was still around after a couple of weeks she was so damaged I didn't want her anymore.

[hathorcat]

First off - I do love the picture of them hanging outside in their little individual baggies

Second, I agree with what has been said the bags will allow water in, they will collect humidity and depending on where you are in the world and potential temperatures the pony and/or bag could melt to one another. Also plastic does have to "breath" especially when you are fading away other chemicals embedded in the plastic. As Rel says if its an experiment I cant wait to the the results in case we are worried about nothing or in case the exposure/plastic bags help speed up the process but if the ponies are important to you, I would try to find another way and location to sun fade.

And as for the symbol cover up I have always used tinfoil over the top of symbols as it sits nicely without the need for sellotape but I am sure if your method leaves some ink marks you could sun fade them out as well.

Good luck!

[sweetapple]

First off - I do love the picture of them hanging outside in their little individual baggies

Yes, I have to smile every time I look out the window and see them up there! Mum actually suggested hanging them on the washing line to my surprise--I thought she wouldn't want the ponies so visible as you step out the back door, but she says they look quite cute, like carousel horses :3

And thanks for the input guys, I intend to keep a very close eye on them and will certainly take them down if I notice anything unusual or if the weather is forecast to rain. The reason I stuck with the bag idea is because I recall somebody, I think on the old arena, saying they often successfully sunfaded their ponies in sandwich bags. But the humidity build up is a very good point and has me a little worried. Does anyone have any other tips or ideas on how I could keep them safely outside for the next few months?

Otherwise, I may consider this an experiment as I'm still curious to see how it goes. (The ponies themselves aren't in the best condition to begin with, I picked them up recently from a local Sunday flea market and must tackle their hair once the sunfading it done!)

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Maybe try putting a short slit in the bottoms of the sleeves?  Not enough for a hoof to slip through but enough that water won't build up?

[sweetapple]

It's been 1 week so far and the 4 girls I've been sunfading are looking pretty good. I expected creamy white ponies to take ages to whiten but I'm already seeing slight results!

So far everything seems to be going nicely with the plastic sleeves. I've not had any problem with condensation or anything melting. The weather has been very warm and sunny, with one rainy day yesterday. I woke up to hear it pounding on the roof and rushed out to check the ponies.. luckily the sheet protectors didn't let a single drop in!

The ponies seem to fade very well through the bag. They were all slightly different shades of off-white before, and are now a bit brighter, all about the same shade. I'm especially pleased with how Baby Cotton Candy is doing----the purple pen marks on her leg have already almost gone, except for one faint dot---

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^I really wish I had taken a before pic so the difference could really be seen!

So far there is no problem with permanent marker seeping in through the tape. I've checked underneath and all is good---

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In the photo above you can see some of the tape residue left on G2 Secret Tale, to the left of her symbol. Thankfully this hasn't been much of a problem so far. Only a little bit of residue remained, as long as the tape was removed carefully. The sticky smears are slightly worse on my G2 than it is on the G1s, due to plastic type.

NOW :p This is the one problem I've noticed, concerning the clear sticky tape.
Upon looking over the girls carefully this morning, Baby Moondancer never looked better, but on both Baby Glory and Secret Tale, I noticed a small yellowed area had developed on their side/back, underneath the tape. They both only had a small area of yellowness, everywhere else where there was tape is clean.

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Of course I've instantly removed the tape covering the yellowing and will now continue to fade the areas. (One good thing about the sun softening the tape is that it gets stickier, so I can use less tape than what I started with.)

I'll be keeping an extra good eye on them over the next few weeks! I'm currently looking at another way I could cover glittery symbols as I don't want to risk more yellow stains developing! Sunfading with clear sticky tape = not recommended!

[TheFatalFlame]

I sunfaded a pinkie pie for my SO once. First we removed her head and tail then put tape over her cutie mark to keep it from fading. I set up a table in the middle of my backyard for best sunlight and stood pinkie on top of a mirror and covered her with a jar. My SO was satified with the result. Pinkie came out a very whitish pink. I did the same with her head covering her eyes with tape and removing her hair. Hope this helps a bit.

[hathorcat]

Ahhh....I didnt even think of that with the tape. The glue on the tape will yellow when exposed to the sun - I guess thats what is causing the staining. That yellowing due to glue can be an absolute nightmare to get out if at all, so its great you managed to catch it quickly!

[TheFatalFlame]

Ahhh....I didnt even think of that with the tape. The glue on the tape will yellow when exposed to the sun - I guess thats what is causing the staining. That yellowing due to glue can be an absolute nightmare to get out if at all, so its great you managed to catch it quickly!

I had no such problems with the tape I used. But by what I've read it seems like I should have. Very peculier. I think I did put some paper overtop of the eyes and cutie mark first than tape on top of the paper.

[hathorcat]

Ahhh....I didnt even think of that with the tape. The glue on the tape will yellow when exposed to the sun - I guess thats what is causing the staining. That yellowing due to glue can be an absolute nightmare to get out if at all, so its great you managed to catch it quickly!

I had no such problems with the tape I used. But by what I've read it seems like I should have. Very peculier. I think I did put some paper overtop of the eyes and cutie mark first than tape on top of the paper.

Its probably going to depend on the level of exposure. Think of it as exposing any tape to sunlight - the glue dries, the tape becomes brittle and the glue yellows. But as mentioned probably largely subject to the amount of direct sunlight it gets and how long its exposed.

[butterflybuttons]

I've had the opposite problem using clear tape. It seemed to magnify the sun, and the parts that were just the clear tape and no cover up, they became much lighter.