Will A Light Bulb Replace A Sun Tan?

[LNLeather]

Hello - I live in the Seattle/Tacoma area and now that winter is upon us, we are seeing less and less of the Sun.

Even when it is a clear day, the sun is further away. Right now my preferred way to finish off some of

the things I make has included a Sun tan.

Basiclly - Cut, tool, let dry, Neatsfoot oil, a day (to dry) or two in the sun,

Fiebings Leather Balm w/Atom Wax,

another day (to dry) or two in the sun.

Sometimes I do use dye, but for now I'm Really liking the natural deep color

that you get on leather by letting it get a Sun tan.

My question to you folks out there is – is there a way to get this sun/tan effect with an electric light?

Like with a "Light Therapy" light for people?

Here is an old pic that shows un-tanned samples and one tanned piece.

I usually like to get them even darker than the one above.

Thank You... Any suggestions will be verrrry much appreciated

[CitizenKate]

My question to you folks out there is – is there a way to get this sun/tan effect with an electric light? Like with a "Light Therapy" light for people?

I found out a while back (much to my consternation) that the leather's exposure to the "daylight" bulbs will cause the dyes to fade (especially blues, purples, and greens), just as if you left them in the sun. So I have been recommending to my customers, if they are going to display my work in their home or office, to use the soft white bulbs. I believe the reason for this is that the daylight bulbs emit more ultraviolet radiation - they are more "blue-ish" - which is the type of radiation we get from sunlight that causes dyes to fade quickly.

What I don't know for sure is whether the same thing that causes dyes to fade is also what gives leather that suntanned look, but I'm guessing it is. Either way, some bulbs will work better than others. So my suggestion is, start with a daylight bulb, or a bulb with the highest color temperature you can find.

Kate

[bentley]

Incandescent light has very little U rays, to get more UV use bare fluorescent lamps (lens materials tend to filter UV rays). The following two paragraghs were copied from a web site. CFL that they refer to is Compact Fluorescent Lamp, they are sold in all stores as replacements for incandescent lamps but 4 foot fluorescent tubes in a shop light will also emit UV light.

"One thing that is not talked about much is that CFLs emit more ultraviolet (UV) light than an incandescent bulb, which produces virtually none. Light in a CFL starts out as UV from excited gases, and is made visible by phosphors coating the inside of the tube/bulb. Incandescent light is mostly infrared emitted by heating the filament to super high temperatures (leading some to call them "heat bulbs" instead of "light bulbs"). Most of the UV from a CFL is filtered out in the conversion, but there is still some.

Manufacturers say, however, that there is no health risk and that eight hours of exposure to CFL UV is about the same as one minute in full sunlight. But, photographs, artwork, some fabrics, and some photoreactive chemicals used in furniture finishes are susceptible to degradation from any increased levels of UV over time. So this is something to consider"

[Leather Bum]

Here are a couple pictures of a piece of leather that was exposed to fluorescent light. I'm not sure how useful this could be, as it took a very long time (months) for this to occur. . .

Edit: After reading bentley's post above, I can see why it took so long.

Micah

Edited November 29, 2010 by Leather Bum

[TwinOaks]

Since the emissions are so slight, you may want to go straight to a UV lamp. Less UV is filtered in things like Gro-lights, and if you can find it, you can get actual UV lamps. Back in school, we had them in the biology lab for sterilization and experiments where we grew cultures. The UV was so intense that in just a few minutes, exposed flesh (typically hands) was pink and stinging, just like a sunburn. Check under 'germicidal lamps'.

[LNLeather]

Thank You All for your time and answers. So much to consider here.

I guess I need to do some testing and I think I will start out with a

Compact Fluorescent Lamp, (thank you bentley)

If that dosn't do what I want I'll try a daylight bulb (Thank You Kate)

As the Leather Bum had samples, I'll take pictures and post the results here.

Now about the germicidal lamps (Thanks for the suggestion TwinOaks)

After doing just a little searching, I'm not sure about this option - I kinda got the creeps

hmmmmmm - after reading things like... Germicidal lamp

Thanks again for all your help!