Is it possible to make a UV reactive dye (glow in the dark)?

Name: Brian

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Country or region: Canada

Message: Is it possible to make a UV reactive dye (glow in the dark)?

There are three different types of products that could be described as either UV reactive or as glow in the dark. They produce different effects from one another.

The first, and most likely the one you're interested in, is simply fluorescent. When ultraviolet light, which is invisible to our eyes, shines on it, a fluorescent substance emits visible light. The light appears to come from nowhere, as though it is glowing in the dark, but really it's just a shift in wavelength from invisible light to visible light. As soon as the black light is turned off, the fluorescent color disappears.

There are only a few fluorescent fabric dyes commercially available, most of which don't work very well on cotton. One of the few fluorescent true dyes that does work on cotton is found in the "Fluorescent Yellow" color of iDye, a direct dye made by Jacquard Products. For dyeing silk, wool, or nylon, you can use a fluorescent acid dye. Aljo Mfg. in New York sells some fluorescent acid dyes online, including Fluorescent Rhodamine B, Fluorescent Blue G, Fluorescent Violet, and Fluorescent Flavine Yellow. They are the only US source I know of for blue and violet fluorescent acid dye. Unfortunately, all fluorescent fabric dyes fade quickly if exposed to sunlight.

Instead of a fluorescent fabric dye, you can use a fluorescent fabric paint. Fabric paint consists of particles of pigment suspended in a glue-like binder which sticks the pigment to the fiber. Screen printing ink is a type of fabric paint that usually leaves a very stiff coating where it is painted, but you can also buy fabric paint that is soft and not at all harsh-feeling on the fabric. See my earlier blog posts, "How do you make a true fluorescent (UV-reactive) tie-dyed t-shirt?", and "True Fluorescent Dyes and Fabric Paints".

True glow-in-the dark is a completely different phenomenon and requires completely different products. Glow-in-the-dark paint will glow for several hours after exposure to bright visible light; the right name to describe it is "phosphorescent". There are no phosphorescent fabric dyes, but there are phosphorescent pigments which can be made into a fabric paint. "Glo Paint" fabric paint leaves a stiff coating, but it is available in a wide range of colors, including white, red, blue, pink, yellow, orange, purple and green.

A third product, completely different from the other two described above, is a truly UV-reactive pigment, which actually reacts to ultraviolet light instead of merely fluorescing. It's a photochromic pigment that changes color under ultraviolet light, so that it is one color under indoor lighting and a different color under sunlight. It's very expensive, and not very durable. See my earlier blog post, from September 08, 2010, entitled "Photochromic pigments change color in sunlight".

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Is it possible to make a UV reactive dye (glow in the dark)?

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