Paint that glows in the dark can be expensive. This guide shows you how to cut the budget and make your own paint. If you are planning on hitting the streets with luminescent graffiti, or if you are just trying to make shiny stars, this step by step guide will help you get there.
How does glow in the dark paint work? Glow in the dark paint is based on phosphor pigment. Phosphor can accumulate the energy of light sources such as the sun and then glow in the dark. Some phosphor pigments only glow under ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet is called black light. Others phosphor pigments glow in the presence of darkness.
How to make the paint? To make the paint phosphor powder is needed. Do not try to make phosphor powder. It is a chemical process which is dangerous. Go online and get phosphor powder. You can get different colours for less than 3 USD. Sites such as www.glowinc.com or www.glonation.com sell phosphor powder. You can choose the colour you want. Read the instructions on how to handle it.
Any phosphor retailer will sell glow paint. To produce the paint from the phosphor powder is cheaper. This saves you money, specially on delivery. Powder comes in different grades called microns. The more microns the brighter the paint will glow, but the paint will also become textured if it is too high in microns. Go for the middle scale to start out and test it.
Step one: Choose your powder. Some powders can be mixed with oil based paint. Others can be mixed with water, and some tolerate both type of paint. Check the type of paint the powder can be mixed with.
Step two: Choose the paint you want to use. Make sure the powder tolerates the paint and works well. You can see this specs online when you buy the powder.
Step three: Decide on how much glow you want. The percentage ratio varies from 10% to 50% depending on your choice. Ratio means percentage of powder in paint.
Step four: Add the powder into the paint. Most agree that you can paint about one hour and then the mix paint will loose its glow if it was not applied. Do not add the powder to all the paint. Add to the amount of paint you can turn in one hour.
Step five: Wait for it to dry. Let the sun or sources of light charge the paint.
Turn off the light or wait for the night. A similar method is used to make glow in the dark sticks. Glow in the dark sticks are used for survival, emergency lights and are very popular at techno parties or raves.
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