Sun fading
Also: color fading · UV fading
Sun fading is the loss of color caused by prolonged UV exposure — often uneven, showing up on shoulders, folds, or one side of a garment that hung in light. Unlike intentional acid or bleach washes, it's incidental damage the maker never designed, so it counts against the grade.
Sun fading does not come out
Short answer: it does not come out. Everything below is about what to do instead. We would rather tell you that in the first line than sell you an afternoon of scrubbing.
- 1Nothing removes it. UV has broken the dye molecules; there is no dye left to lift or redistribute.
- 2Dyeing the whole garment can even it out, but it changes the color for good and rarely matches the original.
- 3For a black garment gone brown, a black dye bath is the only honest option, and it will not restore the original shade.
Stopping it happening again
Dry clothes in shade or inside out, and never store anything on a windowsill or in a car. A single summer in a sunlit wardrobe will fade the shoulder of a hanging garment while the rest stays true, which is the pattern that makes fading obvious.
What changes by fabric
The method above is the general one. These fabrics need a different approach.
- Yellowed and faded linen
linen — Yellowing in stored linen is oxidation of the fiber and residues in it, not destroyed dye, so unlike sun fading some of it genuinely comes out.
How to spot it
- Compare shoulders and folds against shadowed areas like seams and hems
- Check for a color line where a garment was folded on a hanger
- Look inside a pocket or under the collar for the original, unfaded shade
Grade impact
Fading hits both Fabric Condition and Cosmetic Appearance. Slight, even fading is minor; pronounced or uneven fading that changes how the piece reads is a Fair (5) signal — unless the wash is clearly an intentional design, which isn't penalized.
Fixability
Rarely reversible. Dye or color-restore products are inconsistent on blends and can worsen unevenness. Usually best disclosed rather than treated.
How to disclose it
Call it out and photograph the faded area next to an unfaded one. Buyers accept honest fading; a surprise faded panel triggers 'not as described'.
Sun fading — frequently asked
- Is sun fading treated as damage or design?
- Incidental sun fading is damage and lowers the grade. A deliberate acid or bleach wash is design and is graded against the garment's as-made state, so it isn't penalized. Telling them apart is part of the grade.
It is staying, so the question is what it costs
Sun fading is permanent, which means the garment is worth what a garment with sun fading is worth. That is a smaller number than the same piece without it, and it is not zero. The gap between those two numbers is what a condition grade measures.
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