The illuminating paint, Lumilor, was featured on the Science Channel this weekend! The show, Outrageous Acts of Science, did a countdown of several top extraordinary inventions that utilize science in the most amazing ways.

Which brings us to our favorite invention, Electroluminescent Paint!

Developed in Ohio by Darkside Scientific, Lumilor is an electroluminescent coating system that makes anything into a light.

“What we’ve done with our product is fundamentally re-engineered light so that you can have an object that produces light without changing the object at all,” said Shawn Mastrian, CEO of Darkside Scientific. “Just by painting the surface of an object, we now have an object that emits light.”

It might look like a special effect, but it’s the paint work itself that is actually glowing. The paint product Lumilor responds to electric current and lights up.

Lumilor hockey mask – lit up in day & night

“It’s hard for people to understand because you can’t see any light bulbs inside the object. The object IS the light bulb,” said Mastrian.

The show went on about how Lumilor is such a ‘clever paint’. As a Certified Lumilor Lab, we agree! There are so many possibilities for how electroluminescent paint can be used.

So, how do we get paint to light up?

The Science behind Lumilor

Lumilor panels are essentially created with four coats of paint; a conductor layer, an insulating layer, phosphor, and then another conductive layer.

Outrageous Acts of Science’s Scientist/ Mathematician, Matt Parker, explains, “The two outer conductive layers are connected to an alternating current. This is an electric current which is constantly reversing. And between the two layers, you get an electric field. When the field is on, it bumps some of the electrons in the phosphor up a higher energy state. But that’s quite an unstable state; the electrons don’t want to stay there. When the field reverses, they get a chance to go down to another state and they get rid of their energy by emitting light. This happens each time the field reverses, and so to us, we see a constant glow.”

Thank you science!

What’s been the reaction to electroluminescent paint?

Awe, disbelief, amazement. Minds blown.

“We took our motorcycle to Daytona for Bike Week. What happened was, we put it on the street, and parked it next to a $100,000 bike. People would ignore the expensive bike and look at the $3,000 bike, and be blown away because that’s something they’d never seen before in their life,” said Mastrian.

Lumilor paint sure draws a crowd!

Here at TD Customs, we know this to be true firsthand. Many people we speak to haven’t heard of this paint. When we were at the SEMA Show in November, we talked with quite a few people who were seeing Lumilor for the first time on the 2016 Camaro Krypton. They were all incredulous that it was just paint on the car that was making it light up.

Lumilor really is an extraordinary product. Once you wrap your mind around the concept, all you can think of are the many different ways to use it. Helmets can be painted to light up for added safety. Guitars can be lit up for those dark concert venues. Accent details, like emblems, logos, and special images, can be lit up on your car, truck or motorcycle. This product is only just getting started!

It was great to see the product getting some attention on the Science Channel, especially with the wonderful explanation of how it works. We haven’t seen a video clip from the show yet, but we’ll post it once we do for those who haven’t seen it.

TD Customs is a Certified Lumilor Lab, ready to make your light up paint dreams come to life! Contact us to discuss your project with us, or click the Get Lit button to request a quote.