Radiation of all wavelengths, not just UV, leads to the deterioration of textiles. This paper reviews current knowledge in the following areas: the nature of light and how textile polymers are degraded; photolysis versus photosensitization; factors affecting the degradation of textile fibres by light (amount of light, delustrants, humidity, air pollutents and oxygen, UV absorbers, weighting and dyeing of silk dyestuffs). Illustrations, table, 28 bibliographic references.