UV Fun

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Simple, fun, and outrageously cliched (for me at least, since Im in a dorm and all) project to decorate for Halloween using a blacklight.

All that is needed is a blacklight and some uv paint. A cheap substitution for the paint is liquid laundry detergent; I used tide with bleach alternative, but almost any kind will do. Laundry detergent glows under UV light because phosphors are added so that when the clothes are in sunlight they appear brighter. A pretty clever/sneaky (depends on how you look at it) trick by the detergent companies.

The black light I used is a 30 in. Phillips 20W bulb stuck in a plastic holder that used to hold the light for my fish tank.

I just poured some detergent in a cup and started painting the skull on the outside of the plastic blind for my window. It is good to work with the UV light on so you know where you are painting. I didnt have any brushes so I just painted it on with paper towels. I was dissapointed when I went outside and saw that it was hard to notice, maybe the blue just does not stand out enough.

I ordered some green UV paint on e-bay. Ill probably have it sometime next week, and hopefully it will stand out more.

The folks over at howcast.com have created an instructional video based on this project.