Black Lights

GlowWebs are made from cotton rope treated with Rit Whitener and Brightener so that they glow under an ultra violet light (black light). The glow is the same as white T-shirt is put in front of a black light. The GlowWeb will not glow without a black light. Rit Whitener and Brightener is a dye and makes the webs a bit whiter, but it mostly just makes them glow under a black light. The treatment is quite permanent. I have webs that have been out in drenching rains for 5 seasons and they still glow just fine. On this page I discuss the black lights you can use to make your GlowWebs glow.

How much glow will you see with different black lights? Watch this youtube video.

13 watt Spiral (CFL) black lights
I recommend using 13 watt spiral black lights which you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes for about $6.00 each. Even though they are only 13 watts, they produce a lot of UV light. One 13 watt spiral black light will work fine for the 20 ft and 25 ft GlowWebs. You will want to use two 13 watt spiral black lights for the 30 ft and 33 ft webs. Use two or three 13 watt spiral black lights for the 50 ft web.
Note: If you are not near a Home Depot or Lowes you can buy the 13 watt spiral black light on the purchase page for $9.95.

Other CFL black lights (CFL stands for Compact Fluorescent Light)
When Home Depot started selling the 13 watt spiral black lights, I tested them and was pleasantly surprised at how much UV glow they produced. So I searched the internet and found some 15w, 18w, 20w, and 26w CFL black lights hoping to get even more glow from them. Even though they were higher wattage (and more expensive), every CFL light I tested that was purchased online gave less UV glow than the 13 watt spiral black lights from Home Depot. I even found a 20w UV flood light type CFL light, it had a spiral CFL black light inside of a flood light housing. I was hoping it would work well and would be approved for outdoor use. However, the amount of UV glow was less than the 13w Home Depot light, and there was writing on the base of the flood light saying "do not get wet" so it was not approved for outdoor use. The 13 watt spiral black light sold at Home Depot is made by FEIT electric. I concluded that the FEIT electric brand is a high quality brand that is more efficient than the others I tested.

48 inch fluorescent 40 watt tubes
You can also use a shop light that holds two 48 inch fluorescent tubes, but they are only approved for indoor use. Two 48 inch fluorescent tubes will work well for all of the webs, though you may want to use four 48 inch fluorescent tubes for the 50 ft web especially if the web is near a street light.

10.5 inch reflector
The 10.5 inch reflector can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowes for about $12.00 but is only approved for indoor use. The reflector does a good job of focusing the light of the 13 watt spiral black light. Two 13 watt spiral black lights, each with their own reflector, will make your web glow just as much as two 48 inch 40 watt fluorescent tubes in a shop light fixture.

Outdoor Light Fixture
I seached the internet and could not find a good outdoor light fixture that you could screw a 13 watt spiral light into. The only outdoor light fixtures I found were ones that accepted expensive specialty black lights or ones that are made for PAR type flood lights. I found some outdoor light fixtures for CFL lights distributed in Europe, but could not find any in the USA. So I imported my own light fixture. It is made of high quality aluminum and has a plexiglass lense with a rubber seal so the fixture is completely water proof. It is UL approved to be left outside in sun or rain. You can purchase this fixture for $49.95 on the purchase page of this web site.

Where do I put the black lights?
I put the black light about 10-20 feet in front of the web. But you can put them directly below, or even behind the web and still get a good glow. Also realize that the darker it is, the better the glow. If your web is near a street light it will not glow as well.