# Things that gllow under a black light



## Scatterbrains (Nov 16, 2008)

when my dog pees on the carpet, that glows under black light

BTW: don't try that at home...you really reallly reaaalllllly don't want to know what the dogs been relieving himself on


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## Scatterbrains (Nov 16, 2008)

crazydecorator said:


> I wanted to make a yellow radiation sign and paint the symbol with some sort of black light reactive "paint" I heard anti freeze glows but if you brush it on and let it dry does it still glow. If not what else glows?


I was thinking flourescent paints work..


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## Bubbels (Nov 30, 2008)

Laundry detergents. Like that invisible list from that car stealen movie with nicholas cage 10 years ago.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

I used fluorescent painter's tube paint for the blue dots in my dot room. It really worked great and glowed better than the ones I spray-painted on from a can. This year I plan to paint over the spray-painted dots with the other colors from this brand to have it glow better. Here's a link to the tube of paint I used : 129075100 System 3 Acrylic Paint | Crafts, Etc! ® I got it Hobby Lobby but they sell it online at the link.


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## Curlgoddess (Sep 23, 2008)

Highlighter ink glows under a black light too =)


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## a witch from canada (Jul 13, 2005)

Scatterbrains said:


> when my dog pees on the carpet, that glows under black light
> 
> BTW: don't try that at home...you really reallly reaaalllllly don't want to know what the dogs been relieving himself on


   lol i will go to bed a little less stupid tonight knowing that fact , that was too funny  

ok , like the others said , fluorescent acrylic paint works , or ink markers (highligther ) will work too


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## Rev. Noch (Sep 2, 2008)

crazydecorator said:


> I wanted to make a yellow radiation sign and paint the symbol with some sort of black light reactive "paint" I heard anti freeze glows but if you brush it on and let it dry does it still glow. If not what else glows?


Scorpions 

Seriously, if you want BL specific paint, look for clearneon. It's not the cheapest but It does work well. BTW, it only glows in BL, it's invisible under standard light. I'm not sure that's quite the look you want or not, but it could be cool.

Clearneon Invisible Black light Paint, blacklight posters, glow in the dark, blacklight fixtures and bulbs, special effects, lighting, uv


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## Junit (Sep 1, 2008)

Highlighters ink, laundry detergents, tonic water if it has guinie in it. Some vitamins like a & b work if you crush them up and mix vinegar.


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## LT Scare (May 21, 2008)

We have 14 48" blacklights with which we flood our haunt. You can find party stores and novelty stores that will carry frogs and lizzards and other glow items. One of the favorites of our TOTs is a large cauldron that we fill with water, place and aquarium aerator in the bottom to make it bubble, then a mister is placed in the center and finally about 4 dozen gummy eyes that glow in the black light. Great effect.

For Blacklight paint, I've used dayglow tempra most often. Very hard to find a red that really looks like blood, but the idea is conveyed. Glow in the dark hairspay works great indoors, but will wash right off with rain or even heavy dew. 

The best - by far - black light paint I've used can be found at *Blacklight.com *under the blacklight Paint/Ink section. Warning- this stuff cost less than some of the professional stuff I've priced, but is still not cheap. So far we've found it to be very durable - once dry, it won't wash off from rain or even sprinklers. 

My favorite is the trasparent white. As advertised, it is clear during the day and VERY VERY WHITE at night. Again, not cheap.

BTW, We had some Mrs. Stewart's , bluing sitting around - very old - and tried that but did not get any glow when applied to any object. I suspect it needs reacts with cotton or other fabric to glow, because others have used it successfully.

Hope this helps.


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## crazydecorator (Dec 28, 2008)

Thanks. hopefuly eaither tonic water or highliter will work. We also need a blacklight. There was this great store that opened around halloween last year called spirit halloween and they had a 22inch black light for either 20 or 30 dollars.


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## Junit (Sep 1, 2008)

crazydecorator said:


> Thanks. hopefuly eaither tonic water or highliter will work. We also need a blacklight. There was this great store that opened around halloween last year called spirit halloween and they had a 22inch black light for either 20 or 30 dollars.


I got a blacklight from Spencer's probably about 8 years ago... They're year round


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## Rev. Noch (Sep 2, 2008)

Junit said:


> I got a blacklight from Spencer's probably about 8 years ago... They're year round


Agreed, last August, I got a 48 inch black light from Spencer's for $20.


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## dixie (Jan 30, 2009)

I didn't realize Spencer's sold blacklights year round... probably because I'm always trying to get in/out of there so fast... I feel so OLD in there!  I usually end up buying a "really cute" keychain that turns out to be a bong or something, get horrified, and run out of there with my hung head as low as possible. 

Maybe I will have to try again to look for black lights!


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## Baron Samedi (Jan 15, 2009)

You should be able to obtain black light tubes in a variety of lengths from any shop in your local area that deals in reptiles or exotic pets.

They are widely used in reptile husbandry to provide the UV light required by some reptiles (Lizards & Turtles) to produce vitamins.


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## LT Scare (May 21, 2008)

crazydecorator said:


> Thanks. hopefuly eaither tonic water or highliter will work. We also need a blacklight. There was this great store that opened around halloween last year called spirit halloween and they had a 22inch black light for either 20 or 30 dollars.


IMO, the best / most blacklight for your dollar is to buy a 48" shop light and bulbs at Home Depot. 48" blacklight bulbs were $20 each last I checked. Two-bulb fixtures were about $15-$18. Single 48" fixtures were about $25. Whichever way you go, this is a little more money than the 22" package to which you refer, but is many times more blacklight. Be sure that no incondescent light is making its way into your blacklight target area. The "white" light will significantly "dilute" the affect of the blacklights.

Using the "48 black light will allow you to mount it higher and / or farther away to light a nice sized area.


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## crazydecorator (Dec 28, 2008)

Its going to be infront of a barrel style thing. So the symbol will be up on the barrel and the blacklight will be pointing up from the ground. Unfortunatly though that Spirit halloween only opens up at the beginning of october so id have to wait unless we see a light fixture at a garage sale


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## LT Scare (May 21, 2008)

crazydecorator said:


> Its going to be infront of a barrel style thing. So the symbol will be up on the barrel and the blacklight will be pointing up from the ground. Unfortunatly though that Spirit halloween only opens up at the beginning of october so id have to wait unless we see a light fixture at a garage sale


Check Walmart in their light bulb section. I have a couple of smaller blacklight "packages" (bulb & fixture) from them that I use on the back side of the fence because they are skinny. I wrap them in several layers of clear garbage bag plastic and tape with clear shipping tape to protect them from the weather.


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## crazydecorator (Dec 28, 2008)

We bought one of the 97 cent light bulbs from walmart at halloween. Doesnt work and it sucks.


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## Rev. Noch (Sep 2, 2008)

crazydecorator said:


> We bought one of the 97 cent light bulbs from walmart at halloween. Doesnt work and it sucks.


It sounds like you had purchased an incandescent black light. Yes those are horrible, they don't put out much UV at all. To get any decent output you'll need to find a fluorescent bulb fixture.

Has anyone tried the twist flourescent bulbs like these?:
Fluorescent Blacklight Twist Bulb

I would imagine that they should work well. I just don't want to drop that much money without knowing for sure.


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## LT Scare (May 21, 2008)

I agree about the incondescent "blacklight" screw in bulbs. I haven't tried the twist energy efficient black light bulbs yet. 

If you compare the effective distance and intencity of a white 48" tube and blacklight 48" tube, you'll see that the blacklight tinting severely shortens the distance of effectiveness. I would expect the same would be true for the twists. 

We bought a bunch of (white) twists at costco to try to save on the electric bill and they are so much weaker than the incondescents we replaced, that my wife made put several of the old bulbs back in service. So if the white twists are weak (and they are) a blacklight twist is going to be a joke vs a good tube light. JMHO


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## Scatterbrains (Nov 16, 2008)

Here's a link to the lighting section at Spencers 
Lava Lamps, Black Lights, Strobe Lights at Spencer's

I couldn't find any blacklights on the Spirit Halloween site


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## Finn (Aug 2, 2008)

This threads a little old, but I just bought the Blacklight CFL bulbs from Home Depot (cost between $4.50 - $5.00/ea). They are made by a company named Feit (I think that's how it's spelled). They work pretty damn good. I installed one in my basement ceiling fixture to check how certain things glow and it lights up white paper across the basement (around 20 or so feet AWAY). Within 10 or so feet, they are really bright. It's amazing how many normal things in my basement glow under blacklight.


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## LV Scott T (Aug 14, 2007)

Has anybody ever experimented with different combinations of reactive agents and fabrics to see what glows the brightest?


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## LT Scare (May 21, 2008)

*Regarding Black Light source ...*

Earlier in this thread we were discussing black light sources. Black light has been a dominent component of our haunts for ten years. We currently use 14 tube black lights (about 7 each 4' and 2') in our haunt. In the past we experimented, but have found that the best bang for the buck is tube florescent and the investment in a 48" with a shop fixture yields, by far, the best results. Spray the fixture behind the bulbs silver for even better results. Limit your use of incondescent lighting to accents - it washes out / neutralizes the black light significantly. I use only 7w nightlight fixtures for accents.

Screw in bulbs, including twist florescents are very, very, very weak and, IMO, a waste of money.

However, we did use three LED Black light spot lights last year and they weren't bad when placed close to the subject. Our set up for this prop didn't allow us to use tubes, but even a smaller tube would have been more effective than the LEDs.

FWIW.


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## Winklesun (Nov 1, 2008)

Home depot just had the 48" tubes on clearance for $5.00.
They will fit in my shop light fixtures. 
I have tried the blacklight bulb from Walmart also and they are useless!!


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## Eyegore (Aug 23, 2008)

Winklesun said:


> Home depot just had the 48" tubes on clearance for $5.00.


Do they still?


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## Winklesun (Nov 1, 2008)

Every store is probably different since it was clearance. 
Does the store near you do the lighting clearance every fall? If so, check in there.


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## Spooky Chef (Aug 14, 2008)

Rev. Noch said:


> Scorpions



LOL, that's the first thing that popped into my mind too. Oh the joys of living in the Southwest!


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

Check your local Craigslist for Black Lights. I picked up a rack of 48" Tubes and two double fixtures last year for only $25.oo.


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## Finn (Aug 2, 2008)

Wolfman said:


> Check your local Craigslist for Black Lights. I picked up a rack of 48" Tubes and two double fixtures last year for only $25.oo.


That's very true.
I got my first 48" on CL. Just tried to score a second one off of there but I was too slow.


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## 13ghosts (Aug 16, 2008)

You can use fluorescent paper for your sign also. 

My best advice is to turn out the lights, put your blacklight on and see what glows in your room!


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## 13ghosts (Aug 16, 2008)

Finn said:


> This threads a little old, but I just bought the Blacklight CFL bulbs from Home Depot (cost between $4.50 - $5.00/ea). They are made by a company named Feit (I think that's how it's spelled). They work pretty damn good. I installed one in my basement ceiling fixture to check how certain things glow and it lights up white paper across the basement (around 20 or so feet AWAY). Within 10 or so feet, they are really bright. It's amazing how many normal things in my basement glow under blacklight.


I bought the same bulbs from walgreens last year. They do work VERY well!


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## heffenoche (Sep 15, 2006)

*Try Big Lots too*

In the past I've found good deals on various florescent black lights at Big Lots at good prices. I've seen a bundle of 4 or 5 12" black lights that hook together in series, battery operated 18" black lights along with some of the standards. I've found them all to work pretty well but you sometimes need to check the clear plastic covers they use over the bulbs as they can absorb the UV rays making them useless until you remove them.


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## inerd (Sep 4, 2009)

Rev. Noch said:


> Scorpions [/url]




Lol when I moved into my Apartment they gave me a blacklight.... I asked her what it was for And she Said it was for the Scorpions and Spiders it makes them easier to see a night 

6 Pack Neon Paint Set in

6 pk Glow Paint in

Glow in the Dark Paint - Solvent Based


These are great products!


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## Johnson724 (Jun 24, 2009)

Scatterbrains said:


> when my dog pees on the carpet, that glows under black light
> 
> BTW: don't try that at home...you really reallly reaaalllllly don't want to know what the dogs been relieving himself on


I'm a Crime Scene Investigator and I brought my forensic blue light home to practice with it. My wife got a hold of it and started going around the house. She told me never to bring it home again.


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## Finn (Aug 2, 2008)

Johnson724 said:


> I'm a Crime Scene Investigator and I brought my forensic blue light home to practice with it. My wife got a hold of it and started going around the house. She told me never to bring it home again.


That's funny. I was painting dolka dots on my clown pants and wanted to make sure I was getting good coverage. I hooked up the BL in the kitchen. Bad idea. Looked like a crime scene.


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## Mandathewitch (May 19, 2009)

as far as the Black Light Twists, we have 2 of them for our Patio area in the backyard, and they work REALLY well. We got them from Home Depot, and they don't produce a bright purple glow, but if you are within 15 feet of them you react under the black lights. 

We had quite a bit of ambient light from our decor other than the blacklights, and you can see in the pic that stuff still had that "glow" to it... the ONLY blacklights in this area are the 2 twists we plugged into the patio light sockets right by the backdoor.










Also, Walmart has $9.99 24in blacklights in the lighting section of the store. We bought like 10 of them last year, and used them all over the place. They are small, and produce quite a bit of light. We also got 2 of the shoplights from Home Depot, with the 2 Blacklight Bulbs in each... 48in Blacklight bulbs were $9.99 each last time we looked, and the fixture was either $12.99 or $14.99. For the amount of light they put out, WELL WORTH IT!!! 

The little Walmart lights were used exclusively in our rabbit hole:








We used 5 lights for 50 feet, and it was VERY bright.

PS> the paint we used for the rabbit hole, that is glowing so crazy, is flourescent spray paint from home depot. Just go with neon colors, pink, orange, green, yellow. They are like $3.49 a can, and you can see how they react to the blacklight. I'll ask my gf what brand they were later when she gets off work....


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## halloween_sucks_in_the_uk (Sep 28, 2008)

Crazy the UV paint is the best option for painting the sign, I've used it...it works brilliant. You can easily buy it cheaply from Ebay


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## Finn (Aug 2, 2008)

Mandathewitch said:


> Also, Walmart has $9.99 24in blacklights in the lighting section of the store. We bought like 10 of them last year, and used them all over the place. They are small, and produce quite a bit of light.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## savagehaunter (Aug 22, 2009)

Home Depot has spray cans of glow in the dark paint used for making utilities.


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## LT Scare (May 21, 2008)

Thanks to Craig's list, I just picked up five 48" black light bulbs for $17 !!! No fixtures but I have an empty 2 bulb fixture at home and decide how to use the rest later.


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## Finn (Aug 2, 2008)

LT Scare said:


> Thanks to Craig's list, I just picked up five 48" black light bulbs for $17 !!! No fixtures but I have an empty 2 bulb fixture at home and decide how to use the rest later.


Niiiiiiice!


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