Across the UK, thousands of baby hand and footprint keepsakes are fading over time, leaving parents distressed as mementoes they believed to be permanent quietly vanish, according to a new report.
The findings follow a year-long investigation by The Bespoke Foil Company, a Wigan-based business specialising in enduring foil keepsakes. Founders Ashley and Ryan Eccleston were prompted to explore the issue after hearing repeated stories from parents whose cherished newborn prints had begun to fade within months.
For the experiment, the team purchased a standard low-cost toner foiling print kit, commonly available online and widely used by families to capture their baby’s first prints. They photographed the same print each week over twelve months. Within just twelve weeks, the previously clear newborn handprint had started to blur, and by the end of the year, it had nearly vanished.
The full findings were published in their report, Don’t Let Your Memories Fade Away, on the company’s website. The results raise serious concerns about the durability of cheaper inkless print kits marketed as keepsakes but unable to withstand the test of time.
Ashley Eccleston, Co-founder and Chief Memory Keeper at The Bespoke Foil Company, said: “When Ryan first showed me those prints that had been sitting on the shelf, I honestly felt sick. We’d left them there by accident after one of my baby events, and within just a few weeks, the details had started to blur. By three months, they were barely recognisable.
“As a mum myself, I kept thinking about all the families who’d trusted these standard inkless kits to preserve their most precious memories, not knowing they’d fade away. That moment made me question everything – why were we in this business if we couldn’t guarantee that these irreplaceable moments would last? It completely reinforced our commitment to Foil Fusion Technology and made me even more determined to educate parents about the difference between a temporary print and a permanent keepsake.”
The company’s proprietary Foil Fusion process, developed over five years, permanently embeds metallic foil into the fibres of the card, rather than sitting on the surface like toner foiling. This ensures each print remains clear and detailed, preventing fading, cracking, or peeling.
For The Bespoke Foil Company, the experiment was more than a technical test—it served as a wake-up call for the keepsake industry. Many parents assume they are purchasing lifelong mementoes, unaware that certain materials degrade quickly when exposed to light, heat, or air.
The company hopes the findings will promote greater transparency in the marketing of baby keepsake products and increase awareness among parents keen to preserve their baby’s earliest memories.
