[Jmpugh]

Good evening fellow Haunters!

Last year, I made a Flying Crank Ghost that was a huge hit with the neighborhood. I "blued" the cheesecloth by soaking it in a bucket full of Rit and water. I then hung it up to dry. The ghost was indoors for all of Halloween and has been stored in my garage with a black trash bag over top of it. Have any of you found that you had to re-blue the cheesecloth to get it amazingly black light reactive again? Does the phosphorus or whatever is in Rit degrade over time? I'm tempted to get a spray bottle of rit and water and just taking the thing outside and giving it a spritz. Just curious if anyone else has found the need to re-apply. Thanks and happy hauntings!

 

[SavageEye]

My two cents... It wouldn't hurt. I didn't have a lot of luck with Rit when I used it previously. What was the ratio that you used to soak it?

 

[Frankie's Girl]

I do use a spray bottle filled with a mix of water and a tiny bit of handwashing detergent (like Woolight, but the Dollar store version but you can use any laundry detergent that has phosphorous, about two capfuls for a tiny 10 oz bottle and top off with water). Just mist it on under black light if it needs a refresher. Mostly I like doing it because it's fun seeing the water glow as I'm applying, but it definitely doesn't hurt to refresh.

 

[Jmpugh]

Thanks for the recommendations! I can't remember how much of Rit whitener I used but I believe it was a whole pack. I then looked at the box and realized I used waaaaay more than you would in a typical laundry load. I mixed it in a 5 gallon bucket with water and soaked the cheesecloth for 10 minutes. The fumes ffrom the Rit were surprisingly pungent. I then rinsed the cheesecloth then threw it in the dryer.

 

[Runfromron]

Ordinary laundry soap has whiteners/brighteners in it, too. I just basically washed the cheesecloth, and it worked fine.