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Archival is a word that has become very familiar to crafters and quilters around the world. We receive many emails from our customers trying to produce archival products. Basically, they are asking us how do we extend the life of our projects. The photographic industry is very familiar with this term and work very hard to make their pictures last for many years. Also, libraries spend millions of dollars to preserve millions of books from corrosion over time. So why is it so hard to make a simple memory quilt last for 80 years? Well lets first take a good look at inkjet printers to see where the problem exist. Inkjet printers are not created equal and every company has their own special ink formula. However, all dye base inks have a few things in common. They are not permanent inks and they do not protect your images from UV rays. So the first step is to make your image permanent to fabric using such products like the Bubble Jet Set 2000. This will make your image permanent but it will not protect it from harmful UV rays which will eventually fade the image away. There are many products in the market that allow you to spray your fabric to protect from UV rays but it will change the hand of the fabric leaving it stiff and hard. As a result, craft products create a unique challenge when trying to make something archival. However, for this article we are going to assume that we have a product that we can spray on the fabric to protect it from UV rays. Also, we are going to assume that it will leave the fabric soft and smooth like it's natural texture. There is still one more problem to consider. Most quilts are washed every few weeks and this step would wash away our "Miracle UV & Acid free Spray". This would make it necessary for you to spray your quilt with our 'Miracle UV & Acid free Spray" after every washing. However, the quilt would continue to fade from the simple abrasion of washing the quilt every month! I believe a basic understanding is needed to determine how long a memory quilt is expected to last. Inkjet inks are not as durable as textile inks and will fade slightly faster with continuos washing. So lets talk about expectations and length of time when printing on fabrics. I personally look at quilts in 2 categories. Category one would be the quilt that is past down from generation to generation and may not be washed often. Category two would be the quilt that is used often and would be washed once or twice a month. Therefore, the quilt in category two would fade a lot faster and it would be almost impossible to past it on to the next generation. Over the years we have had a lot of inks tested for longevity, but the results were different with each company and printer models. Companies like Hewlett Packard change their inks yearly so the results will change with every new ink.. However, last year we began working on a chemical that will bring some resolution to the archival situation. We have not gotten back all the results on the product but the primary test seem very promising. Our goal is to increase the longevity of your quilts by 2, 4 or 10 times. So basically, if your ink will last 10 years we would like to add 4 times the life to your quilt.. The longevity of your projects will be solely based on how you plan on using your project. Sounds good but it is still in theory. Written for Jerome's Column email:
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