Thread: Black lighting techniques

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I thought I would post this to show people what I use in jars or bottles to glow with a black light. Go to your local dollar store and buy a variety of highlighters. Fill a bottle or jar with water almost to the top. Take a large highlighter and pull off the back end. Pull out the cotton filament and drop it into the jar or bottle and wait till it seaps out into the water.

This is a neat idea. Thanks for posting....I wonder if this means that you could "bleed" out some highlighters and then use that solution to "paint" onto cheesecloth/tulle or even other items that would give you the ability to light up many things in black light. Ever tried this?

I do that with all my bottles and vases, it is pretty neat to see. Also for more glowing things, get some of the uv reactive paints or you can get glow hairspray, few bucks a can and spray props with, just hightens the effect. Any neon spray paint is really good too for blacklights, they even have silly string glow in the dark

Yes I have tried it. Depending on how much you use and if it is water, or oil based you will get different solutions. Some I have tried have swirls in the paint on others it has less effect. It depends on the solution. You need more highlighters for a more dramtic effect in water based paint. Oil reacts differently. Hope that helps. When you try it, mix wix with a little paint and increase more to see the effect after drying. Kind of like a recipe.

Another question re: blacklights: What typically gives the better effect uplighting or downlighting a prop? Or would that depend on the prop itself?

Last year, I directed a CFL blacklight up at a hanging ghost, and the effect was nicely visible inside my front window from the street. But I imaging that mounting the light above might give an even better glow?

I almost wonder if one could almost purchase the ink they use in highlighters and then add to say a white latex paint and make your own "UV reactive paint". I suppose at that point though, it may be more expensive than just buying the paint, although I have never seen a can spray/brush paint that is UV reactive in any store. The only place I have see it, is online.

Isn't tonic water supposed to glow under UV light also?

Tonic Water does indeed glow as does Vitamin B. Check this out: http://chemistry.about.com/od/glowin...y/index.01.htm

Originally Posted by T.Bennett

I almost wonder if one could almost purchase the ink they use in highlighters and then add to say a white latex paint and make your own "UV reactive paint". I suppose at that point though, it may be more expensive than just buying the paint, although I have never seen a can spray/brush paint that is UV reactive in any store. The only place I have see it, is online.

Might be really time consuming, but what about painting with white and then going back over it with the highlighter?

Things that gllow under a black light
A thread with quite a few items that glow under blacklight.