Eos Color Fastness

[lensmith]

We just processed a sheet of Eos that has been exposed to sunlight over the last three months, and the material was seriously sun bleached. We sanded the sun bleached area over and over, and we were able to get most of the bleached material to blend, but not all.

Obviously in normal conditions homeowners will not be leaving pieces of material outside. I would just caution homeowners about installing Eos in kitchens that get intense direct sunlight, because the material will fade, and it will fade dramatically over the course of a year in sunny climates (in my opinion.)

[Andy Graves]

Wow. Do you remember when Avonite used to do this. I will try setting a piece outside and see what happens.

[SSmonster]

Make sure you try this with all polyester non UV stable products like, Zodiaq, silestone, avonite, cambria, etc. This is no secret that these products are not UV stable they all warn of this in their literature. In the case of a kitchen fading, most new homes have UV protective windows installed, so your countertop shouldn't fade. You have to keep in mind that your cabinets, hardwood floors, interior wall paint, etc are not UV stable but people don't show alot of concern over this because they are in the house out of direct UV light.

[lensmith]

SSmonster, you bring up a good point. Some materials and colors can withstand more UV than others, and I believe in general that lighter acrylics fare better than their polyester counterparts. Is this your understanding too?

[Wags]

Polyester is not UV stable, plus, many poly products contain more resin than does the typical Acrylic product. Hence you will get much more fading when using poly. I never recommened Avonites poly out doors due to this. Also because of the higher resin content in most poly products, they will expand or contract much more than their Acrylic counterparts.

[SSmonster]

Len,
Yes the lighter colors always fare better than the darker.

[ChenWeiLun]

Hi all,

I know how to fix that (aging of Poly). Its a formulation issue.

B Rgds,

Lenny

[Joe Corlett]

Monster:

Ancient Chinese proverb:

"Wise man hire Lenny to reformulate EOS to eliminate ultraviolet light degredation."

Hey, he's right over there where you're brewing the stuff. Sure, his rates are high, but he's worth it. Make him throw in some Cobra juice. Mabye that's the secret UV stabilizer.

Sorry, Lenny, I wasn't supposed to let that out, was I?

Joe

[ChenWeiLun]

Thanks for the plug Joe,

I have to exit the country in 2 weeks for visa reasons. After some arm twisiting from the wife for not taking a vacation in 3 years -next month Im winging it to Hainan island (Chinese province off the coast of N VietNam) for a week of fun at the beach, in August I am going to Donghuang, an oasis on the edge of the Gobi desert for a week, then onto Xinjiang Autonomous region (Urumuchi and Shi He Zi and outlying areas) to vist some friends. I figured out a way to cash in those timeshare weeks Ive been accumulating for some places in China. Ive used up 2006 weeks and have the 2007 ones yet to consume. Might try to sneak into some of the neighboring Stans while there for a lark, since Im so darn close.

Fortunately that Color fading thingee is an easy fix for me, I could most likely do that one from the beach. (Geez I just hate that sand in the laptop scenario)

BTW I just raised rates in April heh heh..I love this business. Im up there with my lawyer now, who after many years I can finally afford.

Work to Live instead Live to Work,

Lenny