Anyway to prevent sun light from fading wood?

[Robert Mayer]

I am in the process of building a new entertainment center for my TV. When we moved the old one we noticed that the sunlight coming in the window really darkened the pine wood. I want to prevent it from doing this to my new one. What can I do?? Should I put some window tint on the window???

[Jim Becker]

You can slow the effect with UV protection...at the window is the logical place...but you can't stop it. Tiniting isn't enough. You have to have a coating that actually blocks UV. Oxidation also causes the wood to darken and you really can't stop it, either.

[Peter Pedisich]

Marine varnishes have uv protection, and they cost a lot too.

[Brett Baldwin]

You could extinguish the Sun but I imagine there would be some protests. In the long run, nothing will stop the UV damage if it spends time in the sunlight. Like others have said, a UV absorbant film on the windows and a UV protective coating (usually advertised for outdoor use) would slow the process down. Also, moving the piece as far from the window as possible would help. If it's feasible, I'd put the front of the piece facing the window so that it get an even change that will be less noticible.

[Steve Cox]

In my experience a UV protecting finish (spar varnish, etc) protect the finishes from breaking down in the sun but they do almost nothing to prevent color change of the wood in the sun. If it's in the sun the color will change

[Bob Johnson2]

As Steve said, mairine Varnish may slow it down but it won't stop it. My canoes most definitly darken and they have up to 7 coats on them.

[Ed Kowaski]

Many UV protectants in wood finishes are sacrificial so the protection is limited. A friend has made a bunch of test panels using different uv "safe" coatings. I guess there is about 30 panels. It will be sometime before the results are in.

Ed