# Detergent for Blacklight Effect?



## dynoflyer

I've read that soaking cheesecloth in laundry detergent and letting it dry without rinsing creates a blue glow under blacklight. Anybody tried this, is it any better than cheesecloth alone for a FCG effect?


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## Xpendable

I did the laundry detergent thing on cheesecloth, and it works really well. See my video at http://www.hauntsoft.com (click on the FCG skull).


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## Zombie-F

Sure it works way better than just the cheesecloth. I used tide for mine. You need to use the powdered type for this to work.  RIT whitener works as well.

Since this is sort of hijacking the UV paint thread, I'm splitting it off into its own thread so as not to lose the focus of the original thread. Please keep this in mind when making posts to existing threads.


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## krough

I have also used the liquid tide to make things glow under UV


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## Vlad

There's already a current thread on this very subject over in atmosphere, maybe it should just be tagged onto that one.


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## Dr Morbius

I have used the Kirkland liquid detergent from Costco..It works VERY well.


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## Dr Morbius

Vlad said:


> There's already a current thread on this very subject over in atmosphere, maybe it should just be tagged onto that one.


Since Zombie decided it should go here, I'll leave that up to him.


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## Beepem

i used rit to dye mine, cheesecloth itself does not glow at all under UV. like at all. laundry detergent works good but ive found rit works better for mine...like the whitener and brightener as apposed to liquid detergent


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## Zombie-F

I see a discussion for how many blacklights to use to get a good effect, but not a thread for what to treat material with to make it glow.


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## Smelly-Skelly

*Searched, cheesecloth question to avoid confusion*

OK maybe I won't be able to get myself out of this state of confusion, but I have been reading, searching, reading some more and I can't seem to get a straight answer.

How do you make cheesecloth glow blue under a black light for the FCG?

I hear liquid detergent, or powder detergent, then I hear use RIT or RIT and detergent or 1/2 water 1/2 detergent. I hear detergent but don't rinse, then you are supposed to rinse lightly. Or soak it 3 times in detergent. HELP!!! What is correct way to get it to glow?


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## Beepem

basically any and all of them. i did RIT whitener and brightener....i put the packet of it in with the cheesecloth and did a light wash in the washing machine and then i air dryed it outside


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## Smelly-Skelly

So in your case it was just RIT only, no detergent? I guess this is where I am getting confused, too many options.

I did the following but did not seem to get that blue glow

used Kirkland determent, liquid, about 1-1 1/2 cup liquid in bucket with about 1-2 gallons water and let it it for an hour, rinsed with water to get the soap out then in the dryer on the light setting, air only for about 30 minutes.

Do I not rinse as much and leave some of the soap residue in the cheesecloth?


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## Zombie-F

There is already a topic for this, so I am merging this thread with that one.


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## edwood saucer

RiT whitener. don't rinse - just dry.

I think!


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## Zombie-F

edwood saucer said:


> RiT whitener. don't rinse - just dry.
> 
> I think!


Or do the same with detergent. No rinse, just dry. That's how I did mine, and it glows like a mother...


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## skullboy

I did a test trying to upgrade my glow.I tried spaying woolite,spray n wash and oxy-clean mixed with water on a static fcg,I could see no difference.Next bleach,tide and rit.


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## Long_Tom

I suggest shining a black light on the detergent itself, to see if it glows before you go to the bother of applying it to your props.

Beware of messing around with bleach. If you don't give yourself chemical burns, you'll rot your fabric. Bleach by itself does not glow. Just skip it. Matter of fact, just go straight to the RiT whitener. That is a known quantity. The whole point of trying out different detergents is that the one you already own may work, thereby saving a little money. If you are going to buy something special, just get the RiT.


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## Smelly-Skelly

skullboy and longtom

Thanks for the tips, I soaked the cheesecloth in detergent for a day but then did a light rinse. Guess I should have check the forum first. 

I currently have it saoking in about a gallon of water with RIT Whitener, the powder in a box. I will just take it out and throw it in the dry in the morning.

Someone else suggested liquid RIT whitener doing a 50/50 with water in a spray bottle, mist the cheesecloth and let dry. I have not been able to find the luquid yet.

Anyone try this yet?


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## Beepem

dude, dont make it so complicated! youll be all set with what your doing now. when you say 'ill throw it in the dry' do you mean your dryer? just a warning it becomes quite a mess if you do...i mean itll be hard to untangle. id just take it out, and hang it outside


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## Smelly-Skelly

Update on the cheesecloth. When holding the cloth in front of the blacklight, it is brighter (typical of a white material) but I don't see the blue glow I thought I should be getting.

I purchased two more packages of cheesecloth, 6 yards each, in case I need to try it again. I think where I am going wrong is the rinse part. I guess you want to leave it "soapy" and just dry it.

Anyone know the ration of detergent to water in a bucket before putting the cloth in? Maybe 1 cup detergent to 2 gallons of water?

Or if using a package of RIT, one package to 2 gallons of water or ???


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## DeadSpider

You can't go wrong with rit. If you are unsure if its working, just plug in a black lite near it. Last year I soaked a bunch of material in rit and used my hands to swish it all around, then later that day took it to the dance location to set up, and we had the blacklites on already. Not only did the cheeseclothe glow oh-so-brite but so did my hands and forearms and especially my fingernails, and anywhere else the liquid had touched. 

I just use the powdered Rit. Fill utility sink half full, and add a packet. Works great.


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## Beepem

skelly, how many blacklights did you use and how big were they? some people use like four 48" blacklights to get that glowing blue...i mean itll only glow so much under one blacklight


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## Smelly-Skelly

Beepem said:


> skelly, how many blacklights did you use and how big were they? some people use like four 48" blacklights to get that glowing blue...i mean itll only glow so much under one blacklight


I purchased 2 - 40 watt bulbs that are 4 ft long in a two bulb fixture

When ever I see pictures of FCG's they all look blue in the pictures. Maybe the camera just pick up the colors this way.


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## Smelly-Skelly

DeadSpider said:


> You can't go wrong with rit. If you are unsure if its working, just plug in a black lite near it. Last year I soaked a bunch of material in rit and used my hands to swish it all around, then later that day took it to the dance location to set up, and we had the blacklites on already. Not only did the cheeseclothe glow oh-so-brite but so did my hands and forearms and especially my fingernails, and anywhere else the liquid had touched.
> 
> I just use the powdered Rit. Fill utility sink half full, and add a packet. Works great.


And I assume no rinse when done with the soak.?


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## Long_Tom

Don't use any detergent. Just soak the cheesecloth in a solution of Rit Whitener in water. Don't rinse, either; just wring it out, flatten it, and hang it up to dry. 

I did this tonight myself. Using the liquid kind, I made a solution of five capfuls in about a half-gallon of hot water, and it worked great. (That is roughly 4-5 times normal strength, so if you can only get the powdered kind, you do the math to make a similar solution with it.) I did six cheesecloth panels, adding another capful to the water after every two panels (I guessed that the cloth was soaking up the whitener, thereby depleting the solution somewhat, so I replenished it.). 

There really isn't anything much to mess up. If you think the glow is not bright enough, just add some more Rit to the solution and soak everything again. If you think it's too bright, add some water to the solution and soak everything again. (Don't rinse in pure water, that will remove too much of it. It might be handy to do it in a bucket, and not dump the solution until you are satisfied with the brightness.)

You can also dab the liquid kind directly onto solid objects, full strength, and it works like fluorescent paint. My ghost has a styro skull (the one from Walgreens), and I coated it with liquid Rit Whitener. The skull now glows the same color as the cheesecloth, and both glow the exact same color as the white polyester wedding gauze that I also build ghosts with. (Wedding gauze for the filmy, transparent areas; cheesecloth for the tattered, stringy, textured parts.) Yes, from a distance this color comes across as blue.

Have fun...


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## halfcracked

Smelly-Skelly said:


> OK maybe I won't be able to get myself out of this state of confusion, but I have been reading, searching, reading some more and I can't seem to get a straight answer.
> 
> How do you make cheesecloth glow blue under a black light for the FCG?
> 
> I hear liquid detergent, or powder detergent, then I hear use RIT or RIT and detergent or 1/2 water 1/2 detergent. I hear detergent but don't rinse, then you are supposed to rinse lightly. Or soak it 3 times in detergent. HELP!!! What is correct way to get it to glow?


I suspect all of those answers are correct. as to which gives the BEST results i don't know.

I used tide free liquid detergent. added about 1/2 cap to a medium mixing bowl of water & soaked the cloth for about 10-15 min. I would wring out the cloth a couple of times durring the soaking process to ensure complete penetration (you don't want a tie dye look). I did not wrinse the cloth just let it air dry (no dryer - don't want tide coating the drier). It worked great.

I did rinse out a test pice & it still glowed so you can probably rinse with impunity but I figger leaving the soap can only help esp. if it get's caught in a rain or two as a yard decoration.

the soap also makes a good "glo-paint" for objects. The styro head I am using for my FCG didn't glow either so I just grabbed some scrap cheesecloth & daubed the soap all over the head - now it glows nicely.

Once the soap dries you won't really notice it's there. As long as you don't apply too heavily it completely dries out & there's no sticky or slimy feel left behind.


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## halfcracked

Long_Tom said:


> Don't use any detergent. Just soak the cheesecloth in a solution of Rit Whitener in water. Don't rinse, either; just wring it out, flatten it, and hang it up to dry.
> 
> You can also dab the liquid kind directly onto solid objects, full strength, and it works like fluorescent paint. My ghost has a styro skull (the one from Walgreens), and I coated it with liquid Rit Whitener. The skull now glows the same color as the cheeseclothQUOTE]
> 
> Same thing with detergent. I'd be curious to see which works beter. I used soap because i had a bottle in the laundry room (free) & couldn't find any Rit locally.
> 
> One thing I did notice in the soaking process, the Cheesecloth that I bought
> had a LOT of sizing in it. The water changed from pale blue to a rancid yellow brown during the soak/wash.
> Does the Rit soak help remove the sizing from the cloth?


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## Long_Tom

> Same thing with detergent. I'd be curious to see which works beter. I used soap because i had a bottle in the laundry room (free) & couldn't find any Rit locally.


The Rit "Whitener & Brightener" is basically the same chemical that is in the detergent. On the bottle Rit calls itself a "Laundry Treatment." Not all detergents have this ingredient. The ones that claim to make colors brighter probably use this chemical.

When it comes to dabbing it on solid objects, I suspect that the Rit will be brighter because it is more concentrated. I also bet it will be less sticky because it doesn't have the liquid soap.

When it comes to treating fabric, my bet is still on the Rit because you can make the solution as strong as you want (5 capfuls in half a gallon of water was plenty strong for me).

Be that as it may, if you have a detergent that does the job, go for it. The detergent in my laundry cupboard didn't work, so as long as I had to buy something, I went for the Rit. I found it at my local drugstore/variety store, in the fabric section next to the rest of the Rit dyes.


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## EvilGrin

First off if it is new cheesecloth, rinse a few times to get any sizing out of it. It drapes better without sizing and anything affecting the glow or the soaking up of your glow solution will be gone. If you are using detergent for your glow (liquid or powder) just look at it under the blacklight. The powdered ones that work glow bright blue white, the powdered ones show up with a milky blue white glow. Now, have any of you noticed that a lot of the liquid detergents you use for this probably have a bluish color to them? There is a laundry product called laundry blueing (if you've made the do it yourself crystal rock garden you know what i mean) used to make your laundry look whiter. It makes the fabric glow under blacklight (also makes your whites a lot nicer and brighter in sunlight too ) and is included in a lot of these detergents already, which is why a lot of the liquids are already blue. But you can add the blueing without the detergent. Use a 5 gallon bucket, your sink, or your washing machine and mix up a double strength solution of the Rit or the blueing. If you are using the detergent just use a little more than you would for the same amount of laundry. Let it soak in your selected liquid about half an hour. Wring dry and hang or dry flat, don't use the dryer unless you want the tattered look (but be careful it because cheesecloth can tangle and knot horribly in the dryer - this is a great time for lingerie bags if any of you have access to them) or use it on tumble dry low. Check under the black light preferably in a darkened room to see how much it glows. If you need more glow, soak a little longer in a slightly stronger solution. Keep going till it suit your purposes. You can also refresh the glow on things a little by mixing up the Rit or bluing in a spray bottle with water and using on a fine mist setting. Use a fresh clean new bottle, not an old cleaning bottle, we don't need any potentially hazardous chemical reactions. For a quick fix in a pinch, or for your skulls, look after Halloween for that UV reactive hairspray. It goes on clear and gives the same eerie blue glow. I use it inside to spray all sorts of things you wouldn't normally rinse in detergent... (My porcelain and ceramic ghost candle holders look especially weird in a combination of the hairspray and the green glow in the dark spray...) but it would work well on the skulls and for a quick fix on fabric too. I may not be as expert on all of the Halloween stuff as some of yall are, but as a stay at home mom I am a laundry expert... lol :jol:


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## gypsichic

good grief!................lol

i've kept it realllllllllllllly simple

i throw all my white sheets AND cheesecloth in the washer.......add a half a scoop of Gain (just cuz i have it on hand) and throw a package of the Rit Whitner & brightner in for good measure

and i throw it all in the dryer

sometimes the cheese cloth tangles - i like the tattered look so its not a big deal to me..........if you don't have a lingerie bag throw the cheesecloth in a pillow case instead and tie a knot in the end of the pillow case .........thats what us ******** use 

hang it under a blacklight (we have a 1 -- 4 footer) and to me it does glow that cool blue color


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## Smelly-Skelly

Great advice from everyone. I purchased new cheesecloth to re-blue, but I might run some experiments like:

RIT vs detergent
RIT vs RIT (full strength / double strength)
etc.


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## Long_Tom

Does anybody know whether Rit Whitener decomposes under sunlight? I've left a treated ghost out in the sun for two days now, and this evening it seems to glow less brightly. Maybe it's my imagination, or maybe I got hold of one untreated piece of cheesecloth by mistake (one of the two on the ghost seems brighter than the other), or maybe leaving them out in the sun isn't such a good idea??


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## dynoflyer

FYI - found these directions for using RIT Whitener to create eerie, glowing ghosts. . . . .OOOooooooooo!!!!!

http://www.craftown.com/halloween/craft55.htm


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## DeadwoodManor

*Suggestion*

I noticed my ghost didn't glow as well as I first thought also. Until I realized my blacklight was too far away from the ghost. Now it glows big time because I moved it with 18 inches from her.. Just a suggestion...


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## elguapoguano

*glow effect*

I have always used the RIT soaking method with great results. I built my FCG about three years ago, and found last year that it didn't glow as well as it used too. So I did some digging and found some people doing the RIT water mixture and putting it in a spray bottle. I tried it out, turned the black light on and started spraying, it worked great! You could really see the difference and could tell where needed more and what not. :smoking:


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## fontgeek

Long_Tom said:


> Does anybody know whether Rit Whitener decomposes under sunlight? I've left a treated ghost out in the sun for two days now, and this evening it seems to glow less brightly. Maybe it's my imagination, or maybe I got hold of one untreated piece of cheesecloth by mistake (one of the two on the ghost seems brighter than the other), or maybe leaving them out in the sun isn't such a good idea??


The consensus seems to be that the effectiveness of the Rit dyed materials fades with both/or either age or exposure to sunlight.


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