How to Make Paint Glow in the Dark

Glow-in-the-dark paint is an effect that everyone likes. This article will show you how to do it yourself using fluorescent powder or highlighter. Note that the highlighter method will require black light to see the glow effect.

Table of Contents

Use fluorescent powder

Choose glow-in-the-dark powder. You can find glow-in-the-dark or fluorescent powders at craft or art supply stores.

Powders come in a variety of colors and particle sizes. The larger the grain, the brighter the color, but the paint will not be smooth resulting in a speckled light effect. The tiny particles give you a smooth finish but not a strong glow. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Select paint solution. This will be the actual paint color you use to stir in the fluorescent powder. If you want the paint to not show color in the light, then you should choose a transparent paint like acrylic gel. If you want to show the color under the light then you can choose the acrylic or tempera paint color you like.

Make sure the paint thinner you use can be combined with the fluorescent powder. For example, if you’re going to use a water-based paint thinner, you’ll need a “covered glow powder” aka “coated fluorescent pigment”. For solvents or oil-based paint thinners, you will need a standard or untreated glow powder.

Put the fluorescent powder in the bowl. You will mix 1 part powder to 5 parts paint (or 20% glow powder to paint ratio).

Pour paint into the bowl. Slowly pour the paint solution into the powder available in the bowl. Carefully stir the mixture. You can add more paint to give the mixture a thinner texture.

The powder will not dissolve in the paint, so just stir until the mixture is even and the powder is not lumpy.

Use paint. Most glow-in-the-dark paints should be used immediately. Depending on the ratio of powder and paint thinner, the mixture you just created may or may not keep for long. Therefore, you should only mix the amount of paint that can be used in 1 hour.

If you want to preserve paint, you need to pour the paint into an airtight container and remember to stir well before reuse.

Use highlighter and water

Open a highlighter pen and remove the ink tip. Use pliers to open the tip of a highlighter pen that does not contain harmful chemicals. Take out the center core and discard the highlighter pen cover.

However, you need to make sure your highlighter pens glow under ultraviolet light. Test by using a highlighter pen to write on paper, then turn off the light and shine ultraviolet light on the text. You will clearly see what I have written.

Pour water into the core. Place a cup or jar in the sink. Slowly pour water into the felt core so that the yellow ink of the highlighter pen flows into the cup. Turn off the water and stop when the core turns white.

You will need several highlighter pens to make enough water to have the color of luminous ink.

Put the cornstarch in the bowl. Use 1/2 cup of white cornstarch. This will be the base for the homemade glow-in-the-dark paint.

This mixture is quite dilute. You will mix cornstarch and luminous water in equal proportions.

Add luminous water. Carefully pour 1/2 cup of the luminous water and stir until the cornstarch is completely dissolved.

Add food coloring. If you want to change the paint color, you can add a few drops of food coloring and stir well. Add more food coloring until you get the color you want.

You can pour paint into small containers. This way, you can create different colors with food coloring.

Apply paint and wait for it to dry. This paint is quite thin so you have to wait for the paint to dry and apply several coats. By applying multiple coats of paint, you will make the paint glow more clearly and for a longer time.

Watch the paint glow. Turn off all the lights and don’t forget to close the curtains. Then, turn on the lamp with UVA ultraviolet light to see the paint glow.

Warning

If there are small children in the house, you should keep the paint out of the reach of children because the child will be poisoned if he swallows the paint.
While most glow powders are safe, they can also be hazardous to the respiratory tract. Furthermore, many paint thinners also present other hazards. Therefore, glow paint is not suitable for use in crafts involving young children.

Things you need

Fluorescent powder or crystal
Paint solution
Bowl
Paint stirrer
Rub
Highlighter
Water
Corn flour
Food coloring
Ultraviolet light

Steps

Use fluorescent powder

Use highlighter and water

Warning

Things you need

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