How To Protect Floors and Furnishings from Sun Fading

Furnishing your home can be a significant investment, especially when you have decided to settle here in Bundaberg for the foreseeable future. From flooring to furnishings, the costs can add up quickly and with so much invested, it only makes sense to take steps to protect your home’s interior from sun fading.

While we all love open and airy homes with lots of windows, the biggest threat to your floors and furnishings can be right outside those same windows, the Sun. The sun is one of the primary causes of faded floors and furnishings. Most people do not want to sacrifice their views and the open feeling of their home to protect their floors and furniture from the sun, so what can be done? One of the best ways to tackle the primary causes of sun damage and fading is with residential window tinting.

What Causes Fading and Sun Damage?

So, what exactly is causing your floorboards and furniture to fade and lose their appeal?

Causes of fading interior in homes

A common misconception is that UV rays are the only thing causing faded floors and sun damage to furnishings. While they are certainly the largest component, as this chart illustrates, they only account for 40%. Solar heat and visible lights are also major contributors, and combined account for around 50% of the problem. The last factor is comprised of a variety of things, like interior lighting, humidity, etc.

The first thing this chart demonstrates is that you cannot “stop” fading completely unless the item you want to protect is stored in a dark, climate-controlled room. In real life, the best you can do is focus on the major contributors of fading in a significant enough way to slow down the process. By slowing the process, you extend the lifespan of your floors and furnishings.

Why Is Window Film a Good Solution?

As mentioned above, most people do not want to “close-up” their home in an effort to stop the damage from occurring. So, assuming the windows will not be covered, we need to eliminate the factors before they enter the home. Window film is a great option because it addresses the three major contributors of fading. Most professionally installed window films will block 99%+ of harmful UV rays. In addition, many window films can significantly reduce the heat coming through the window, which can cut your energy costs derived from air conditioning and heating by up to 30%. Finally, it is possible to block up to 60% of the visible light coming through a window without noticeably darkening the window to keep your home light. When you combine these three factors, you can take a large slice out of the pie shown above. This protection can be accomplished while retaining the open feel of your home by using window film.

We hope this brief article shed some light on what the factors of faded floors, rugs and furniture are and how tinting your home windows is one of your best options to address this issue.