How Long Does Glow Powder Last?

What is glow powder?

Let’s just recap on what glow in the dark powder is – or isn’t

● It’s NOT fluorescent – it will not glow under UV or black lights

● It’s NOT charged by a chemical reaction – like chemicals used in glow sticks.

● It is powered by light – pretty much any artificial or natural light, including UV.

How can it be used?

Glow powder or phosphorescent powder, has two main applications:

1. Safety

2. Funky

Glow powder is an excellent low light option that doesn’t use batteries, electricity or chemicals to produce its subtle glow.

But it’s not all about safety. The most popular use at the moment is in the realm of arts and crafts.

How long will it glow for?

This will depend on the quality of product but essentially, a high quality product will glow according to the below luminosity chart.

Charge Time:

It literally takes minutes for the powder particles to fully charge. If using a UV light the charge time is instant!!

Colours:

Yellow Green will generally glow the brightest followed closely by Blue Green. Sky Blue is the least bright.

Bear in mind too that the colour of the medium you mix the powder with will affect the intensity of glow. White or clear mediums are the best and very dark ones will likely result in no glow at all.

If using the powder for outdoor applications, try not to use mediums with UV inhibitors and UV is one of the light sources for charging the powder. You will still get a glow but it may take longer and may not be as bright.

Particle Size:

The larger the particle size the brighter the glow. Coarse will therefore glow brighter than medium, which glows brighter than fine. The difference isn’t great though so you should probably choose based on the application rather than the intensity of glow.

Luminosity over time:

As soon as the particles of powder are exposed to lower light or dark they will start to emit their glow. This is initially very bright & colourful. This intensity of colour and glow will drop off over the full 8-12 hours that the glow will last for.

How long will the powder last for?

The powder itself will be effective for around 20 years, after which the glow intensity will drop by about 10%.

Conditions for the powder need to be:

● Protect from humidity and moisture

● Protect from contact with metal

You’ll likely find that the powder will even outlast the medium you mix it with.