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Glow in the dark spray paint?

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Glow in the dark spray paint?

Old 10-30-17, 08:19 AM
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Glow in the dark spray paint?

My husband showed me a link for glow in the dark spray paint that was sprayed onto bicycles for night riding. From both a safety and a practical point of view, would this be effective? Or a gimmick that does nothing?
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Old 10-30-17, 08:53 AM
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There are at least two major companies who sell this product. You can buy it at major home improvement stores. I would guess it doesn't work all that well because of the poor ratings it got on the Home Depot website for the Rustoleum brand. 173 reviews with an average rating of 1.6 out of 5 and 128 reviewers gave it a 1 star rating. Not a good sign. The other problem I see is that you are taking a nice factory finish and coating it with a spray can. Most of the time that doesn't give a pleasing finish and your choice of color is some shade of green. You probably need to expose it to bright light for some time before riding as the intensity of the shine decreases with time.

Here's a few of the listings in the product overview
  • Matte finish creates a glowing effect when applied over flat white or light colored surfaces
  • For indoor and outdoor use, reapply as needed when using outside as exposure to elements can diminish effect over time
  • Any-angle spray feature that allows you to spray in any direction, even upside down, comfort spray tip with a wider finger pad reduces finger fatigue cause by continuous spraying
  • Dries to the touch in 15 minutes and to handle in 1 to 2 hours
  • Unique formula requires daily charging with natural or artificial light
  • Amount of glow will vary based upon amount of light object receives during day and darkness of surrounding areas at night
  • Cleans up with mineral spirits
  • Works best over light white surfaces that are not glossy (most bikes aren't flat matte)
  • For best results, lightly sand glossy surfaces prior to application and coat with a flat white primer like Painters Touch 2X Flat White Primer
  • Shake thoroughly before use and during application, apply multiple light coats versus 1 heavy coat
  • To achieve a glow, allow project to dry 24 hours and let charge for several hours before it becomes dark
  • For continued glow and effectiveness, charge item in light daily and recoat as needed when exposing to elements
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Old 10-30-17, 09:05 AM
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Originally Posted by rachel120
My husband showed me a link for glow in the dark spray paint that was sprayed onto bicycles for night riding. From both a safety and a practical point of view, would this be effective? Or a gimmick that does nothing?
Gimmick that does nothing useful. Glow in the dark materials emit only a very dim light and only for a limited time after they have been exposed to a much brighter light.

OTOH, good reflective materials direct any incoming light directly back at the source so they become very visible to a driver headed in your general direction. But reflectors should be supplemented with active lighting so that you will also be visible to someone without headlights aimed in your direction. With the current availability of good LED lighting there's no excuse for a cyclist to not be readily visible at night.
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Old 10-30-17, 09:09 AM
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I would look at specialized reflectivity tapes, like Reflexite or Oralite. Comes in tons of colors, relatively inexpensive, proven to work.
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Old 10-30-17, 09:10 AM
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accidental duplicate
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Old 10-30-17, 10:09 AM
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Originally Posted by prathmann
Gimmick that does nothing useful. Glow in the dark materials emit only a very dim light and only for a limited time after they have been exposed to a much brighter light.

OTOH, good reflective materials direct any incoming light directly back at the source so they become very visible to a driver headed in your general direction. But reflectors should be supplemented with active lighting so that you will also be visible to someone without headlights aimed in your direction. With the current availability of good LED lighting there's no excuse for a cyclist to not be readily visible at night.
+1 I even tried some once just as an experiment.......looked cool with a black light and that was about it

fwiw

I put extra reflective tape on my bikes, in areas that are not obstructed

....I run 2 red blinkies in the back ( I like redundancy in case i forget to charge) and run white Blinking in front (I have 2 lights up front also, at night one to see and one to be seen (blinking) and again redundancy)

I like cygolite in general.... I just got this new rear blinky and it is really bright CygoLite Hotrod 50 lm USB Rechargeable Bicycle Tail Light

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Old 10-30-17, 10:22 AM
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I'd go with good lights instead, and clothing with reflective elements:
NITERIDER by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
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Old 10-30-17, 12:25 PM
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Looks like some handy stuff, it clear when not in the dark right? So the original color still shows
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Old 10-30-17, 01:44 PM
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Originally Posted by oliviathesis
Looks like some handy stuff, it clear when not in the dark right? So the original color still shows
Junk....not useful. the stuff I played with besides being expensive was kind of gritty, did not look good. expose it to 5 minutes of bright light and it glowed for like 40 seconds
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Old 10-31-17, 11:59 AM
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Micro beads are another new hazard to the environment.
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Old 10-31-17, 01:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Daniel4
Micro beads are another new hazard to the environment.
Eek! I didn't realize it had those. Okay, so not only just a gimmick, but I won't be using it on anything at all.
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Old 10-31-17, 02:22 PM
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A neighbor spray painted a speed bump with reflective paint and it is only noticeable when your are really close to it. Reflective tape that some have put on their mailbox posts can be see from a much longer distance. There is a reflective tape now that is gray and doesn't look bad on a dark bike but lights up silver when headlights light it. Specialized has it on some of their helmets.
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Old 04-27-20, 04:59 AM
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Oh yeah, I have tried it on my skateboard, and it works amazing, but the main part here is getting the right one. There are actually a lot of spray paints and you will be confused as to which one to get. Personally, I got Rust-Oleum max that is said to have twice the glow as others. It's really good and also ranked the top by https://glowindarkpaint.net/best-glow-in-the-dark-spray-paint. They have recommended three with each being good for some purpose, you can give a look if you want there.



Anyways, waiting for the final result picture from your side!
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Old 04-27-20, 07:56 AM
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The most important part of staying safe on a bike is to be ever alert and anticipate danger situations. After that, being visible is key so I think you are on the right track in thinking about visibility. Lights for riding in the dark and maybe some reflective tape should part of the bike.
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Old 04-27-20, 09:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Daniel4
Micro beads are another new hazard to the environment.
Originally Posted by rachel120
Eek! I didn't realize it had those. Okay, so not only just a gimmick, but I won't be using it on anything at all.
Plastic micro beads are indeed a hazard, and have been banned in some jurisdictions.

Glass micro beads on the other hand....

(A material almost identical to glass micro beads is called sand.)

-mr. bill
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Old 04-28-20, 09:49 AM
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I've never used that spray, but I know people who use it, and they are satisfied. For me it's better to have lights, it gives me a feeling of safety.
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Old 05-06-20, 07:32 AM
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We are getting a custom road tandem frame built. Typically they will powder coat the frame but we want a very specific color for it.
To finish it, I will...
Shoot it with a DTM epoxy primer
Lightly sand it.
Shoot it with a few coats of urethane single stage
Shoot it with a few coats of urethane clear coat as a protective layer.

Where this comes into play with this thread...
After all the paints have cured, I will mask off sections of the frame and lightly scuff them. I will then shoot a light coat of urethane clear coat and sprinkle reflective glass beads which will embed in the clear coat while retaining their reflective nature. It should be quite effective.
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Old 05-11-20, 05:13 PM
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I always recommend good bright lights front and rear. For the front I want something bright with a good beam pattern and of course I will only run it solid unless I am in an absolute emergency and need to flash for help but in that case I will probably also be shouting "help help" and not riding. For the rear same sort of thing nice and bright with a red lens. Typically on the back I try to do a solid light as well but will flash if I need to conserve battery. Reflective gear is cool to look at but honestly if I have to rely on someone else's light to make me visible it might just be too late. Certainly though with good bright lights reflective gear doesn't hurt.

If I want ultimate safety I am probably going to do a dynamo set up so I don't need to charge lights and with lights like the Busch and Müller IQ-X, Supernova E3 Pro, Pure or Sinewave Beacon at the front and Supernova E3 or Busch and Müller Toplight Line Brake Plus at the rear you have a good set up and there are other options as well. Just keep in mind Supernova is generally only compatible with itself due to the capacitor location.
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Old 05-11-20, 07:23 PM
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I'd forget about glow in the dark paint for added visibility. If I were going to paint my bike in an attempt to make it more visible at night I'd get a good quality reflective paint.

Cheers
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