You see glow in the dark things in all kinds of places, but it is most common in toys. Our customers can do practically anything with our glow in the dark products. Making a wall covering, glow aeroplane, glow in the dark fishing tackle, warning signs that need to be seen at night, for example on aircraft aisles and doorways, light switch covers, even on the hands of a watch or clock. All these things make it easy to find at night!
If you have ever seen one of these products, you know that they all have to be 'charged' by holding them up to a light. You then take them to a dark place. In the dark they will glow for several minutes. Some of the newer glow in the dark items that use our pigments, will glow for several hours.
All glow materials contain phosphors as a main component. Phosphor is a substance that radiates visible light after being energized or 'charged'. The two most common places we see phosphors are in a TV screen or computer monitor and in fluorescent lights. In a TV display screen, the phosphor is struck by an electron beam to excite it . In a fluorescent light, ultraviolet light energizes the phosphor.
Glow in the dark pigments, inks and paints respond best to sources of light that are rich in UV rays such as sunlight, black lamps. Halogen lamps are also a good source but because their UV output is low they take longer. Fluorescent lamps, provide faster excitation as they are rich in UV, when Glow materials are placed near them.
Sunlight is by far the best source for charging, but practically any light source will do. Black light is good for recharging by UV light (Glow-in-the-dark football with black lights would be good fun!).
How many times can I charge it?
You can recharge the paints almost indefinitely! Paints have been tested to have a shelf life of a 1 year minimum.
Chemists have created thousands of chemical substances that behave like a phosphor. Phosphors have three main characteristics: The type of energy they require to be energized; The color of the visible light that they produce; and the length of time that they glow (called persistence) after being energized.
To make an item glow in the dark, you want a phosphor that is energized by normal light and has a very long glow persistence. In toys, as an example, the phosphor would be mixed into a plastic and molded.
These incredible pigments charge in minutes and have a great glow compared to some other pigments on the market.
Our incredible Glow in the dark pigments are versatile when prepared and emit the effect over a 10 hour period and then charge in minutes. They can be used on many surfaces including drywall, wood, metals, and much more. They work amazingly well on fabrics, are flexible with the material and do not wash out under normal use.