Shannon,
In my experience as a conservator working for many years in preventive conservation, most shade vendors offer UV film shades. Their offerings depend upon which manufacturers they work with, as they do not make the actual materials themselves. Also relevant is whether you want visible light filtration also, which is highly recommended. However, not all shade materials are equal, and it is important to ask for the manufacturer's spec sheets which indicate the percentage of UV excluded (or alternatively admitted, which is actually more helpful) as well as for the visible light if that option is desired. As a conservator, I always advocate for 99-100% UV exclusion effectiveness and 90% visible light exclusion. Using a bronze tinted shade rather than a grey one results in the appearance of much more light in the space at the same filtration rate.
I created a table for a light control project, but MuseumL did not reproduce it correctly, so please email me for a PDF copy. I measured actual performance of light filtering materials compared to their claimed specifications. Many of the films can be obtained as shades, but some only can be applied to glass, which is not necessarily the ideal solution, although that can vary from situation to situation. I have worked a lot with the Madico mylar roller shades and have found them to be excellent. Remember, the vendor does not have to be local as long as you can measure accurately and install the shades yourself. If you have the choice, you will get better coverage if you can mount the shades on the window moldings/trim extending an inch or two beyond the width of the opening on each side rather than inside the opening, as about 1/2" clearance is needed on each side to allow proper operation and some light will spill around the sides. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Marc
American Conservation Consortium, LLC
4 Rockville Road
Broad Brook, CT 06016
[log in to unmask]
860-386-6058
*Collections Preservation Consultation
*Conservation Assessments & Surveys
*Environmental Monitoring & Low-Tech Control
*Moisture Management Solutions
*Collections in Historic Structures
*Collections Care Grant Preparation
Marc A. Williams, President
MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
Former Chief Wooden Objects Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
From: Shannon Hsu
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 10:34 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] UV Filtering Roller Shades
Hello,
We have an old set of UV filtering roller shades that need replacing. These are simple roller shades mounted inside the windows of an historic building. The company we originally ordered them from is no longer in business and I'm having trouble finding an alternative. We would like to avoid film directly on our windows, but are interested in any viable alternatives. Does anyone know of a company selling simple roller shades? Thanks for your help!
Shannon
Shannon Hsu | Curator of Collections | Shawnee Town 1929
11501 W. 57th Street, Shawnee, KS 66203 | Office: 913.248.2360 | [log in to unmask]
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