BoxRec

I have a collection of boxing gloves that have been signed. They are regular gloves and the signatures were obtained using a standard black marker pen. Unfortunately, on a couple of them the signatures are starting to fade (one of them severely).

The gloves are kept in my spare room (my wife insists I keep all my boxing memorabilia in here!). They are displayed on a table and the curtains are permanently closed, so there is no exposure to sunlight. The door is usually closed too but even if it's open it's dimly lit in there. I don't know why the signatures are fading on only a couple of the gloves but it's a concern. The fading signatures were obtained around the same time as the others so it's not like they are years older. Does anyone know of any method to protect the gloves and stop the signatures from fading? Is there some sort of spray? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm going to say no there isn't. I've had this issue before too with items such as signed footballs that have completely lost every signiture.

The only way to really save signed memrobillia is to keep them in airtight blacked out containers and away from any sun light.

I had a official champions League football signed by Raul that faded to the extent I couldn't sell the ball for a tenner. Also had a 1972 full signed football of Leeds utd players that totally faded and that was with a ball point ink pen. That ball went rock hard and went in the bin.

I would wager that ink degrades over time pure and simple as that

Why don’t you trace over the lines with fresh, permanent marker pen?

Thanks for your reply.

Here's the strange thing; I have a few boxing magazines and programs that have also been signed and the signatures on those are all absolutely fine. Some of them are older than the signatures I have on the gloves. I have one autograph on a magazine that I got over 20 years ago when I was just a kid (it was my first autograph) and it's absolutely fine with not even a hint of fading! The magazines and programs are kept in the same room as the gloves and in the same conditions, yet no fading.

I reckon it's something to do with the material of the gloves. I think in future it's a better option to get autographs on magazines, books, etc.