Maybe the only open wall in the nursery sits right beside the window. Or you've noticed the top of the chart looks a shade lighter than the bottom, and the first-birthday mark isn't as crisp as it was. Either way, you want the chart to still be readable when your youngest is ten.

Knowing how to preserve a canvas growth chart from fading mostly comes down to where it hangs. Pick the right wall, test it before you commit, cut the light you can't avoid, and back up the marks themselves. Here's how to do each one.

Why canvas growth charts fade in sunlight

In short: light breaks down the color in fabric and ink, and the damage adds up.

Ultraviolet (UV) light does most of the damage, but bright visible light and heat add to it over time. Every hour of direct sun breaks down a little more color in the printed design and in the ink of your height marks. One sunny afternoon won't show. A few years of sunny afternoons will.

Three things are worth knowing before you choose a spot:

• Window glass doesn't stop it. Ordinary glass filters some UV but lets plenty through, so a chart in a sunbeam behind a closed window still fades.
• Direct sun is the main problem. A bright room where no sun patch touches the chart is far gentler than a wall the sunbeam crosses every day.
• Fading can't be undone. No home fix brings faded color back, so prevention is the whole game.

Indoor lighting isn't worth worrying about. Ordinary LED bulbs give off very little UV, and a lamp is nowhere near as intense as a sunbeam.

One honest note: no fabric is fully fade-proof. Even on a good wall, colors will soften slowly over many years. The goal is to slow it down enough that the chart still looks like itself when it's full.

Which wall is safest? Start with the windows

For homes in the US (and anywhere north of the equator), the direction a window faces tells you how much direct sun comes through it. Use this table to rank the walls in a room before you hang anything.

Two rules cover most rooms:

• The window's own wall is usually the safest wall in the room. Sunlight comes in and travels away from it, so the space beside a window rarely gets a direct beam. Leave enough room for curtains to close without brushing the chart.
• Watch the wall across from a south- or west-facing window. That's where the sun patch lands most days.

Plan for the seasons, too. The sun sits lower in fall and winter, so its patch reaches deeper into the room than it does in summer. A wall that's shaded in June can get a daily sunbeam in December.

If every nursery wall feels risky, a hallway or an interior closet door is often the best spot in the house. Our guide to where to hang a growth chart beyond the bedroom wall walks through those options room by room. Wherever it goes in a nursery, keep the chart off the wall directly above the crib or changing table.

Test the spot for two weeks before you hang it

In short: a cheap sheet of construction paper shows you what the sun will do to your chart, only faster.

Colored construction paper fades quickly in light, which makes it a handy early warning. Run this test on any wall you're unsure about:

1. Cut two strips from a sheet of brightly colored construction paper.
2. Tape one strip where the top of the chart will hang and one near the bottom. Painter's tape won't mark the wall.
3. Cover half of each strip with a folded piece of cardboard or an envelope, taped so it stays put.
4. Leave both strips up for two weeks. Use the room as normal, with blinds open or closed the way you usually keep them.
5. Lift the covers and compare. A clear line between the covered and uncovered halves means that spot gets too much light for the chart.

If you have a crawler or toddler, skip the low strip. Tape strips only above their reach, and use the sun-patch photo check below for the lower part of the wall.

Want an answer today? Do a sun-patch check. On a sunny day, look at the wall in the morning, around midday and in late afternoon, and snap a phone photo each time. If the bright rectangle from the window touches where the chart would go, pick another spot or plan to close the coverings at that hour.

If you set up the chart in summer or early fall, repeat the sun-patch check in winter when the sun is lowest. It takes two minutes and catches the wall that only looked safe in September.

How to cut the light you can't avoid

Sometimes the only wall that works for measuring is a sunny one. Then the job is reducing how much light reaches it.

• Close coverings during peak hours. You don't need the room dark all day. Closing blinds or curtains for the few hours the sun patch would hit the chart does most of the work.
• Use room-darkening curtains if you want them for naps anyway. Sheer curtains soften glare but still let a lot of light through, so they help less.
• Add UV-blocking window film. Hardware stores sell films that go on the inside of the glass; check the package for its UV rating. Static-cling versions come off without adhesive, which helps renters (check your lease first). The same film slows fading on rugs, floors and furniture in the room.
• Keep heat away too. Don't hang the chart directly above a radiator, heating vent or baseboard heater. Constant warm, dry air is hard on fabric and ink.

If you add or replace window coverings in a child's room, choose cordless ones. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends cordless window coverings in homes with young children because dangling cords are a strangulation hazard. If you keep corded blinds, tie the cords up high and out of reach, and keep cribs, beds and climbable furniture away from windows.

Protect the marks, not just the canvas

The printed design is only half the chart. The height marks and dates are the part you can't replace, and they sit in the same light. These habits make sure a faded line never means a lost measurement.

• Write the name and date beside every mark. If a line goes faint, the label still tells you whose it was and when.
• Back up the numbers. Log each measurement in inches with the date, in a phone note or a baby book. It takes ten seconds on measuring day.
• Photograph the whole chart each time you measure. Stand in the same spot at the same time of day. Over the years, those photos double as your fade record.
• Retrace faint marks while you can still read them. Follow the original line exactly with a fabric-safe pen, after testing the pen on a back corner.
• Replace a dried-out pen with a permanent fabric marker. If the package mentions fade resistance, that's a plus for a chart near a window.

Pencil works for a quick rough mark, since graphite holds up in light. It smudges on fabric, though, so go over it in pen once you've confirmed the height.

Keep cleaning dry

A faded chart can look dusty, and dusty can tempt you to scrub. Don't. Water, baby wipes and stain removers can lift ink or leave a ring, and anything with bleach or an oxygen booster can lighten color on the spot. The result looks a lot like sun fading, only faster.

Instead, dust the chart every few months with a soft, dry brush (a clean makeup brush or wide paintbrush works) or a lint roller, working top to bottom. Hold the canvas flat against the wall with your other hand so the grommet doesn't take the strain.

Care rules differ slightly between our two canvas growth charts, so check which one you have:

• Canvas Kids Growth Chart: light iron only; never wash or dry.
• Canvas Growth Chart for Babies and Kids: Rainbow: do not iron, steam, wash or dry.

Both are 100% cotton canvas, both come with a fabric-safe pen, and both start at the 6-inch mark to clear the baseboard. If you're setting up a chart for a new baby or a younger sibling, run the fade test on the wall first.

Canvas Kids Growth Chart

$44.00

View the Canvas Kids Growth Chart

A once-a-year fade check

Pair this with your measuring day, whether that's a birthday, the first day of school or a New Year's Day height check. It takes about five minutes.

• ☐  Compare this year's photo of the chart with last year's, taken in the same light.
• ☐  Look closely at the part of the chart nearest the window and the highest section, where sun patches tend to land first.
• ☐  Check the oldest marks. Retrace any that are getting hard to read.
• ☐  Stand in the room at its brightest time of day and see whether any sun patch touches the chart.
• ☐  Make sure blinds and curtains still close fully, and that any cords are tied up out of reach.
• ☐  Confirm the chart still hangs level and hasn't slipped from its original height.
• ☐  Add the new measurements to your backup note.

If you spot early fading, fix the light, not the canvas: close coverings during peak hours, add window film, or move the chart to a safer wall.

Storing a full chart (or one between homes)

Once a chart is full, or when you're packing to move, the goal flips. Keep it out of light entirely until it goes back up.

• Roll it, don't fold it. Roll the chart loosely, design side out, around a cardboard tube like the one from a roll of wrapping paper. Folds leave creases, and since the rainbow chart can't be ironed or steamed, a hard crease may stay.
• Wrap it in something breathable. A clean cotton pillowcase or a few sheets of acid-free tissue work well. Skip sealed plastic for long-term storage, since it can trap moisture.
• Store it inside the living space. A shelf in a bedroom or hall closet stays cool, dark and dry. Attics, garages and basements swing in heat and humidity.
• Label the tube. Add the child's name and the years the chart covers, so no one mistakes it for leftover wrapping paper.

When you move, re-hang the chart at the same height as before so every old mark still reads true. Our guide to hanging a canvas growth chart without wrecking your wall covers the 6-inch offset and the single anchor point. Run the fade test in the new house before you settle on a wall.

If you'd rather display a full chart than store it, have it framed behind UV-filtering glass or acrylic, and still hang it out of direct sun. At growth-chart length that's a custom framing job, so get a quote first, and remember you can't add marks once it's under glass. For more on what to do with a finished chart, see growth charts as family heirlooms.

If you only do one thing, pick a wall the sun never touches. Test it with a strip of construction paper, close the blinds during the brightest hours if a sunny wall is your only option, and back up every mark with a date and a photo. Do that, and the chart stays readable for every mark still to come.

Frequently asked questions