Do shutters go yellow over time?

Interior window shutters all come with a paint or stain finish which gives a lovely furniture finish to the space. This colour finish can however cause some concern from homeowners about the colour lastness of their custom-built dressing and whether over time they will discolour when exposed to high levels of light and UV.

The great news is that good quality shutters are very well protected against any discolouring with the depth of colour lasting for decades thanks to intelligent and fine tuned manufacturing techniques. It is often found that poor quality and cheap copy shutters made from materials such as PVC will often discolour after just a few short years due to the poor coating quality and method that is used. Advice stating that it is normal for the shutters to discolour in this way will be an indicator of a sub-par shutters which will not have good longevity and will likely need to be replaced after only a few short years.

This colour lastness is achieved as at the part of the manufacturing process when the shutters are painted or stained, multiple coats of a special UV protective coating are added. Having these additional protections means that despite many shutters having a high exposure to sunlight and high UV levels, the shutters will not be affected by any discolouring or yellowing.

Quality matters

Other window dressing options such as roller blinds can experience a discolouring issue because they cannot be finished with the same quality UV coating that our shutters have. Cheaper copy shutters that are built in a lesser quality are also likely to experience discolouring. It is always worthwhile to ensure that you invest in a high-quality shutter from the offset as when these issues come to light the money has already been invested and it would be very expensive to fully replace the shutters. Spending a little more money on the shutters from the offset it always worthwhile because the additional time the shutters will last massively outweighs the difference in cost to pay for the quality.

Discolouring of lesser quality shutters takes place when a coating is damaged due to prolonged exposure to sunlight and UV rays which is what causes the slight yellow tinge that starts to show over time. One of the significant features that this has an effect on is the curb appeal of the shutters (how the shutters look from the exterior of a property), particularly if the shutter colour has been specifically selected to match the window or recess colour. Unfortunately you would only know that this a problem when it is too late so always ensure that you are choosing a high shutters quality from the offset as sometimes it is not worth the risk of a yellow shutter years down the line.

Colour lastness is covered under the 5 year shutter warranty which will offer a confidence that the colour will last for this amount of time as a minimum however we come across shutters that are 20 years old and still in fantastic condition. The key to keeping the overall shutter including colour in the best possible condition is to ensure that the cleaning and maintenance is on point. Once the shutters have been installed, we send over cleaning instructions which advise on the best practice for keeping the shutters in their best possible condition.

In summary, with the correct care and maintenance whilst in place, shutters should hold their colour for a significant amount of time, and possibly their whole lifetime. With the London Shutter Company, the only yellow shutters you will find are custom are windows that have been custom coloured in a shade of yellow.

The London shutter company are very proud to supply the highest quality shutters so we are confident that the shutters will be there to last for many years to come. If you would like to transform your home and windows with shutters, be sure to reach out to our experts who will be delighted to assist. You can call the office on 02088719333, email hello@london-shutters.co.uk or submit a Contact Us form online. If you are looking for an indication of prices beforehand, our Online quote calculator can give you material only costs by simply inputting some basic widths and heights of the windows you are looking to add shutters to.