Paint is a miracle worker when it comes to refreshing and revitalizing a space. A new coat on your walls can make a huge difference! This goes both ways, unfortunately. Fading paint can make your home look weary and tired.

Before you plan a repaint, get acquainted with “lightfastness” and how it relates to fading in paint. Read on to find tips on how to prolong the vibrancy of your paint color too.

What is Lightfastness

Lightfastness and How to Keep Your Paint from Fading Too Fast | MyBoysen

No, this isn’t the speed at which light travels. Lightfastness is how well your paint—particularly the pigments or colorants in it (a.k.a. the stuff that gives it color)—can resist fading due to light exposure. Think of it as how long your paint’s color is likely to stay matingkad when it’s exposed to sunlight.

Why is the sun making your paint fade anyway? Sunlight has ultraviolet (UV) radiation. UV rays penetrate the molecular structure of the colorants causing it to break or alter which you then see as fading or discoloration. This process is called photodegradation. Hence, colorants and pigments that are able to resist photodegradation are termed as lightfast.

Lightfastness and Pigments in Paint

There are two main types of pigment used in paint—organic and inorganic. Organic pigments can create vibrant paint colors but their lightfastness can vary. So, though their colors are vivid, they may not keep this quality for very long when exposed to the sun. This is one of the reasons why certain bright shades are limited to interior application only.

Inorganic pigments, meanwhile, often have duller colors than their organic counterpart. Their advantage is that they have excellent lightfastness. They also have consistently good weatherability and hiding capabilities which are qualities that can also vary when organic pigments are used.

What You Can Do About Fading

Lightfastness and How to Keep Your Paint from Fading Too Fast | MyBoysen

So, are there things you can do to stop the color of your paint from fading? Yes and no. Fading happens eventually to all paints as they age and especially so with bright colored coatings. There are, however, steps you can take to help ensure it doesn’t happen sooner than it’s supposed to.

1. Use the Correct Primer and Tint

Some paint colors will need colored primers to make them more lightfast. These are typically the ones that are in shades of bright red or yellow. If you’re having paint mixed at a Boysen Mix and Match station, the friendly Boysen staff there will be able to tell you if the hue you’ve chosen will need the special colored primer.

On the other hand, if you’re mixing paint colors yourself using Boysen Latex Colors, keep in mind that there are red and yellow tints specifically for exterior use. These are made to have better lightfastness as well.

2. Interior Paints are for Interiors!

If you don’t want to find that your paint has degraded much faster than expected, don’t go against the manufacturer’s recommendations. Read the product label carefully and follow it. If it says the paint product is for interior use only, then it’s for interiors only. This isn’t just to avoid photodegradation either. Check out this blog post to learn more: DIYers Guide: Interior and Exterior Use Recommendations of Paint Products.

3. Get Smart with Your Choice of Color

Choice of color is entirely up to you, of course. It’s useful to know though that lighter tones are a more practical choice for exteriors if fading is a concern. With whites, off-whites, and other neutral in light tones, fading is often much less noticeable. Plus, these tones can increase curb appeal. Find out more here: 6 White Colors For Home Exteriors To Increase Curb Appeal.

Durable and Colorful Boysen Paints for Exteriors

Lightfastness and How to Keep Your Paint from Fading Too Fast | MyBoysen

There’s less worry about fading with these Boysen products. Boysen Permacoat Latex is reliably durable and can be used for both exterior and interior paint projects. It comes in a wide range of beautiful, readily available colors you can buy off the shelf at a home depot. And, there are a thousand more you can have mixed at a Boysen Mix and Match station too.

Boysen Acrytex is well-known and sought-after for its long-term durability even when exposed to harsh weather conditions. This includes both sun and rain! Boysen Acrytex comes in white but can be tinted to achieve other colors using Boysen Acytex Tinting Colors.

This concludes your brief introduction to lightfastness! Hoping it proves useful to you when you embark on your next painting project.

For questions or inquiries on Boysen products, send an email to ask@myboysen.com or call (02) 8363-9738 local 413 to 418.

Author

Jill is a writer on a continuous journey to learn about paint and share them with you, the reader. She has an interest in the technical side of things but also thoroughly enjoys playing with colors. She likes calm greens, quiet blues, and mellow yellows best.

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