Transform silicone caulk into silicone paint that glows in the dark all night. It is very
sticky and can be painted onto almost anything, including wood, fabrics, glass, and metal.

The intro pic shows a phosphorescent flashlight made out of a wineglass. It also shows a curved circuit board coated with two colors of Ooglo. At the bottom is glowing letters painted on glass.

Step 1: How it Works

Phosphorescent materials have been around for a long time but the newer ones are brighter and longer lasting than the older phosphorescent chemicals.

The sellers of the newer phosphorescent powders are cagey and do not want to reveal what exactly is in their glow powders. It does appear that the best ones available today are Strontium Aluminate that is activated by Europium,

In any case, they all work by absorbing visible or Ultraviolet light which charges the photophosphorescent molecules by absorbing the photons and moving the electrons to a higher orbit. As they slowly move back to their original orbits, visible light is given off. The best available phosphorescent powders once charged, will give off light all night long and will still be visibly glowing in the dark twelve hours later.

Some of the colors are quite bright and can be used to make a short lived flashlight that is bright enough to read by.

Ooglo is Oogoo that is thinned to a paint like consistency and mixed with various colors of phosphorescent or fluorescent powder.

Step 1 pic is a curved circuit board that is coated on one side with phosphorescent blue Ooglo and on the other with Aqua Ooglo.

<p>I am wondering if you've used citrus solvent. You mentioned it in another oogoo instructable, but didn't really mention how it compares to the more toxic substances.</p>
<p>Citrus solvent works but it is more expensive and it can slow down the cure time and take days to lose its smell.</p><p>Naphtha is still the best, as it cures fast and mostly loses its smell overnight.</p>
What are the actual measurements for an ideal mix? I could imagine it being frustrating not having enough, or too much. <br>
How waterproof do you think this stuff is? I'm thinking of painting my dog's harness with this stuff so it glows in the dark when we run at night (bike lights are blinding and fly off - it gets expensive to replace them after a while!), but she goes swimming on the creek when we run. I'm wondering if the cornstarch will make it dissolve and fall apart if it gets wet repeatedly.
Instead of using cornstarch you could use Magnesium Silicate Hepta-Hydrate (talc powder). It does the job of transporting the water into the mixture, but is inorganic and thus not susceptible to degradation.
It also sets REALLY FAST.... just sayin'.
I have soaked it in water for more than a week. <br><br>It does not dissolve.
All of the phospho powders I found were sold by weight, and I was wondering if you could tell me approximately how many tablespoons, or fluid ounces an ounce as you purchase it equates to? thank you, that'd make it much easier to plan my project. Also, given that my &quot;gel&quot; may be thicker than your &quot;gel&quot; and thus may not spread as far, could you give me an idea of how far one tube of silicone goes, and about how much phospo what would require. The stuff is kinda pricey, and I can't afford to buy a bunch extra, even though the possibilities are endless! great instructable, which is par for course for yours from what I've seen. thanks again<br><br>also I found a supplier that claims a 14 hour glow here: http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=28_45&amp;products_id=383
United Nuclear is a good place to find info and cool, obscure stuff in small samples, but for any larger experiments it is really expensive. Try sourcing the products you need elsewhere if possible. NurdRage has some videos on luminescent material, and he's a chemist who explains things well.
Actually it's a she.
One of my favorite things as a kid was a capsule with phosphorescent stuff at the bottom and a strong lens at the top. You had to keep it out of the light all day (by keeping the cap on it) then at night I would peer through the lens to see atomic particles leave a trail through the glow stuff (radium?) It was shaped like a little a-bomb with fins &amp; all.
Hey, how about magnetic Oogroo or Ooglo? Add fine powders of ferrous metals. Might be handy for some things.
Mikey77, <br>I want to paint my 4 house numbers. So where can a person can buy it all ready to use. <br>Richard
this is cool as<br><br>would mixing the Fluorescent paint and the glow paint make it any brighter?<br><br>and how much golw stuff would you need to make a thin bit of wire glow, eg, fillimant in alight globe?<br><br>and how is stuff go with heat?<br><br>p.s the ooglo suff is neat, good thinking
How can this article have no comments yet? There are some awesome possibilities here for making luminescent parts.<br><br>I think I'll coat my housekey with this stuff and see what happens.
i agree, infact a few uv led's as back lighting and this could be turned into a constant glow.
Can you make &quot;see the instructable on How to Be Creative&quot; a hyperlink to that instructable? I will search it but it would put your's over the top for user friendliness and quality. I am among a (hopefully) few lazybones who like to click the hyperlink rather than spend 2 seconds searching for it. I probably could have found it instead of typing this!!! Anyway great 'ible and great idea.
Here is the link: <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Be-Creative-and-Learn-to-Live-Longer/">http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Be-Creative-and-Learn-to-Live-Longer/</a>
Nice instructable!<br><br>What about painting a wall or two in a bedroom?
I can see me getting in real trouble with this !
Why hasn't anyone commented on this? Its stunning! Good photography too. Nice job.
I was asleep when this was posted (I live in a different time zone). Sorry! ;-)<br>It is cool!

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