Aurora paint stirring

Additional Tips for Working with your SpaceBeams Paint

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You might be thinking right now that SpaceBeams paint is just another paint, why would you need special instructions for using it. However, in order to achieve the most intense glow there are a few factors to keep in mind when applying it. We have collected some tips for you already, which you can read in our help section, however there are a few more that you might find useful while working with SpaceBeams:

  • Mix

    This is true for all paints, but very important for glow in the dark ones. By mixing the paint you evenly distribute the glow particles throughout, which might have settled at the bottom.

  • Prepare surface

    The surface needs to be dry, clean and free from any grease in order to get a reliable bond. Also if a surface is powdery or crumbly at all, this may prevent a strong bond.

  • For precise work

    It is possible to mix SpaceBeams paints with water in order to make it thinner. Our paints thin very quickly, so only put in a little at a time. However, please remember to apply at least 3mm thickness for the best glow.

  • Seal with varnish for outdoors

    SpaceBeams paints are fairly hardy by themselves once fully dried, but a clear coat can aid with longevity outdoors. So if your creation will decorate your garden or will be facing the elements outside we recommend to seal with a clear varnish to protect it. Not essential, but best to use one without UV blocking. (There are many different brands out there so always do a spot check!)

  • Prevent drying out

    To prevent drying from happening inside an opened bottle where enough paint was previously used, creating an air pocket inside, we recommend putting some plastic-wrap/cling-film that covers the paint surface and prevents the remaining paint from contacting the air and so should make it last longer.

Hope these extra suggestions support you on your creative journey, if you have any questions just get in touch 🙂

Competing Glow In The Dark Paint Comparison

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If you’ve never used Aurora paint before, or perhaps even if you have, you may be wondering how it stacks up against other competing glow in the dark paints?

In our various marketing materials we often say that we’ve spent time developing Aurora to have the strongest glows possible and not just be another ‘me too’ glow in the dark paint. We’ve worked extensively with our factories to produce a paint that has a much stronger and longer lasting glow than other glow in the dark paints. Well, it’s time we showed the results of all this effort…

Here’s a competitor comparison time-lapse video showing Aurora vs. 5 competing paints over a 4 hour period (note: Aurora glows for much longer than 4 hours, but we kept the comparison to this length because this is when most of the visible difference in performance between the paints can be seen).

So as you can see from the above video, Aurora beats out the competition by quite a margin!

Three paints barely last an hour, with one not even lasting 15 minutes!! Another lasts about 2 hours which leaves just one remaining with Aurora. The last one (paint ‘D’ in the experiment) holds up well but is still not quite as bright as Aurora.

So, the conclusion? …If you want a truly powerful glow in the dark paint, choose SpaceBeams Aurora! 😉

Note: To keep the test fair, in this experiment the exact same volume of paint was used for each. Some of the paint swatches look a little different in shape, but this is simply because some are more liquid than others and so spread out more after applied.

Top Tips To Get The Best Glows From SpaceBeams Paints

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Glow in the dark paint is amazing fun to work with and there are endless possibilities for making things glow.

However, it’s also important to understand there are a few key factors, which can greatly effect how well glow in the dark paint will glow, and each situation can be a little different.

On this page we’d like to provide some useful facts and tips about glow in the dark paint in general. If you feel you’re not getting the bright & long lasting glows which SpaceBeams paints can offer, hopefully the points below will provide some help:

  1. As with all glow in the dark paints, thickness of your application will make a big difference. A thin layer will mean less particles are present for holding a charge and giving off a glow. We recommend applying as thick a layer as possible (3mm+). If you have watered down your SpaceBeams paint when painting, this rule applies even more so.
  2. Glow in the dark paint requires good exposure to light during the day in order to properly ‘charge up’. If the paint is in too dark a place, the glows are likely to be fairly weak.
  3. UV light is far superior at charging glow in the dark paint, as opposed to standard home lighting. So exposure to sun light will make a huge difference (and the longer the better). It doesn’t necessarily need to be in direct sunlight, but close to a bright and sunny area should be sufficient.
  4. If the area you’ve painted is not near a well lit area during the day, you may need to manually charge up the paint using a flashlight. A strong standard flashlight will work for this, however a UV flashlight will work significantly better. Pointing the UV flashlight’s beam directly on the painted area for 15-30 seconds should provide ample glow (the amount of time required will vary based on the strength of the UV flashlight).
  5. SpaceBeams paints can actually glow for a very long time (up to 24 hours), but after the first few hours its glow will be more subtle. The length of time for the glow to become more subtle will vary depending on how thick and how well charged up it was, however the initial strong glow lasts usually 6 hours. So after a few hours, when the glow is more subtle, if you’re coming from a bright area and your eyes have not yet adjusted to the darkness, it may not be as easy to tell if the paint is still glowing because your eyes have not adjusted to the darkness. So, as simple as it sounds, always wait a minute or two to allow your eyes to fully adjust to the dark.
  6. Having SpaceBeams paints painted on a lighter background color can make a difference to the appearance of the glow. A dark background may dull the glow a bit. However, if your application is a decent thickness (3+mm), this shouldn’t be much of an issue. Although a white undercoat may still be beneficial in some situations.
  7. For a nice even glow, use a flat surface (such as an old store card) to smooth off the surface of the painted area with a slow steady wiping motion.

We hope these tips come in useful! If you have any questions you can always reach out to us here.

Thanks and have fun with your SpaceBeams paint!

Glow Timelapse – How Long Will Aurora Glow?

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In the video below, you’ll see a time lapse experiment we did to test how long the glows from Aurora last with different thicknesses.

We tried less than 1mm, 1-2mm, and 3-4mm thicknesses.

Timelapse Setup:

  • 24 hour run time.
  • 1 photo per minute (playback speed in video is at double speed to make viewing quicker).
  • Camera set to manual with fixed exposure settings to allow for true representation of glow variance over time.

Timelapse Conclusion:

  1. When 2-4mm thick and charged with sunlight for 2 hours, Aurora glow in the dark paint can remain visible for up to 24 hours!
  2. Aurora is brightest up to 6 hours.
  3. Aurora has good glows for 14-17 hours depending on thickness and charging.
  4. Keep Aurora above 2mm for best results.

Aurora, when used right, will outlast the night with strong glows all night long 🙂

We hope you found this video useful!

 

Credits:
Music: Silver Lakes by Wes Hutchinson
Icons: designed by Freepik from Flaticon (https://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik)