Can sunfading restore colour?

[lindsayrose1985]

Okay today I popped a deflocked twilight body in the sunny windowsill as she had a faint staining to her nds leg. She had greyed slightly compared to my other deflocked twilght. But her hair is glorious!
I went to check and turn her around to find out she was now a brighter purple compared to her head! And now matches the colour of my other twilght!!
I have now removed the body and put the head on the windowsill to try and match them up again.
But has anyone else found that sunfading has restored the colour to faded or dingy ponies?
Does anyone have any pictures??

[Elisto]

Yes, I've done this, but it's not exactly "restoring" the color but fading the yellowed/brown discoloration that was dulling the original color that was still present. I've found it especially works well with mildew stains that didn't wash out, but I've had success with some other discoloration as well.

For example: the head after sunfading (I later faded the body to match)
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[lindsayrose1985]

Wow Fantastic
I was so surprised that only about 4 hours in the sun had made twilght so purple again compared to her head!

[Elisto]

Yeah, 4 hours is fast! It usually takes at least a few days, usually a few weeks, for me. Maybe you had a really high UV index that day.

[lindsayrose1985]

Yeah, 4 hours is fast! It usually takes at least a few days, usually a few weeks, for me. Maybe you had a really high UV index that day.

I dunno lol its been about 32°c today lol

[Elisto]

hmm, well, the forecast for your area said the UV index is 6-7 today, which is fairly high.

[brighteyes]

Has anyone tried putting a pony directly under a UV light?  We have several in the lab and I'm tempted to see how quickly straight up UV works. 

[ashlyne]

Has anyone tried putting a pony directly under a UV light?  We have several in the lab and I'm tempted to see how quickly straight up UV works. 

Ooo!  Science experiment 

[lindsayrose1985]

That would be interesting!

[PinkiePosh]

I'm eager to see how this turns out!

[Elisto]

I've heard of some people testing that, but I can't remember the results. I would imagine it would work.

[hathorcat]

I agree with Elisto's experience, sometimes sun fading can restore colour. It all just depends on what has caused the discolouring. Often you find yellowing/greying on plastic like MLP is a result of years of build up of oils and dirt ingrained into the plastic. Basically the pony is just really dirty The sun fades out the dirty colour and gives you the colour underneath. A really good way to help this process along is to regularly wipe the pony with a baby wipe when its toasting in the sun; the heat helps open the pores in the plastic so as well as bleaching you can clean out a little of the problem.

As for UV - you would need a sunbed style UV light. Most day bulbs and UV lights have a UV filter on them to ensure you cannot be exposed to what is a dangerous radiation.

[Elisto]

Haha, in my case, I'm not sure wiping down that Lickety Split would have done anything. She had a serious hot-water scrubbing before this point! I suppose in the future I can try, but I don't expect I'll be seeing any ponies quite this bad again for a while.

[hathorcat]

Haha, in my case, I'm not sure wiping down that Lickety Split would have done anything. She had a serious hot-water scrubbing before this point! I suppose in the future I can try, but I don't expect I'll be seeing any ponies quite this bad again for a while.

Its a seriously impressive difference! The hot water scrub at the start probably got the ball running anyway.

[brighteyes]

As for UV - you would need a sunbed style UV light. Most day bulbs and UV lights have a UV filter on them to ensure you cannot be exposed to what is a dangerous radiation.

That wouldn't be a problem for these UV lights- there is no filter as they are used to sterilize our biological safety cabinets after we use them.  We also use UV lights to read DNA electrophoresis gels.  I've been sunburned by over exposure to these when I worked as a lab instructor for our genetics lab and was in the gel room for only 15 min.  It looked like I'd been in the sun all day and everywhere except where my goggled covered my eyes was bright red.  They definitely discolored me pretty quick;ly!

Still, I'm not sure if this wavelength will produce the lightening effect.  Is it really the UV that lightens or is it some other wavelength?  I have no idea. I'm a biologist, not a physicist LOL.  The UV bulbs we have are UVC, there are also UVA and UVB.  Wikipedia says of UVC: "UV-C radiation is able to break down chemical bonds. This leads to rapid ageing of plastics (insulations, gasket) and other materials. Note that plastics sold to be "UV-resistant" are tested only for UV-B, as UV-C doesn't normally reach the surface of the Earth. When UV is used near plastic, rubber, or insulations care should be taken to shield said components; metal tape or aluminum foil will suffice."  So it is possible that this will damage the plastic instead of or in addition to helping fade marks or discoloration. 

I'll do the experiment next week with ponies of different colors.  I'll put the heads under the UV and take pictures compared to their bodies every 15min or so for a few hours.  If it works, this would be pretty cool.