Comparing Cherie’s Black Light Options

I’m currently offering three different types of black light kits for you to use with your displays. I’ve written this article to help you understand the differences between these options so you can choose the one that works best for you!

We have three different types of black lights: 1) a Spotlight; 2) an LED strip with three (3) LED diodes per strip; and 3) an LED strip with six (6) LED diodes per strip.

What are the options? A basic description

1) The Black Light Spotlight

The spotlight is the simplest of all three options. It is a single black light (UV) LED soldered onto wires that are attached to a battery case. My spotlights also feature a section of solid-core (stiff) wire on the LED side so you can position the light where you want and it will support itself. It also contains a resistor that will support DC power from 3-volts to 12-volts! That means you can cut off the battery case and hard-wire the spotlight into your 12-volt DC display if you wanted to without fear of blowing out the LED. The battery box holds two CR2032 batteries (included) for a good running life and has an on/off switch.

Suggestions: The spotlight is perfect for lighting up the fluorescent paint on a ghoul lurking in a dark closet. But it can be useful elsewhere also. I found that by using fluorescent paints on wood logs in a fireplace, they light up and appear as glowing embers. Or maybe you’ve spattered red fluorescent paint on the floor…the spotlight can provide a raking light across the floor to light that up while leaving the rest of the room eerily dim. Have a crime scene diorama? Turn the spotlight into a flashlight held by a figurine lighting up blood spattered walls and hide the battery pack on the torso-wires up the sleeve!

2) The 3-LED Black Light Strip

This option is a black light (UV) LED strip that contains three (3) LEDs per section. By section, I mean where you can safely cut the LED strip without destroying the electronics. This LED strip has a 9-volt battery holder soldered into the wiring as well as a resistor and is safe to use from 5-volts to 12-volts DC! You can use it immediately by plugging in a 9-volt battery or you can cut-off the battery connector and hard-wire it into your 12-volt DC display. These strips also have an adhesive sticker on the back that you can use to attach it directly to your display. I do recommend creating a piece of trim where you can adhere the strip that is then attached to the floor or ceiling edge of your display so the lights shine into the room and not your eyes. 🙂

The 3-LED strips are very thin and can easily bend around corners leaving very little thickness. You can even paint over all but the LEDs to help disguise them if you like as they do not have any protective covering over the electronics or the strip. Because they don’t have a coating, however, they are not water-resistant so not recommended for underwater scenes. And, they cannot be shortened.

Suggestions: This light is superb for lighting up items in a shallow display or in the foreground. Because it is the thinnest LED tape option that I have it can wrap around the corners of a box and be minimally intrusive to the display. It can be painted (just not over the little LEDs themselves) or hidden behind wallpaper with the LEDs poking out.

3) The 6-LED Black Light Strip

The final option is another black light (UV) strip that contains six (6) LEDs with one LED per section. Each LED on these strips are self-contained so if you need a shorter strip, you can cut as many LEDs off as you need and the remaining LEDs will still work! You cannot do that with the 3-LED strip. It also contains a 9-volt battery connector so you can pop on a 9-volt battery and use it immediately. As with the other options, I’ve soldered in a resistor so this strip is safe to use from 5-volts to 12-volts DC. It also has an adhesive strip to the back so you can stick it directly to your display or add it to a piece of trim so it shines into your display but is shielded from viewer’s eyes.

The 6-LED strips have a water-resistant clear silicone covering over them. This makes them stiffer than the 3-LED strips and while they will still wrap over corners they will not be as crisp as the 3-LED strips because of the added bulk. They are best either in straight runs or over gentle curves.

Suggestions: This is my favorite strip option because it provides the most flexibility. The six LEDs provide enough light to reach objects in the background and can be shortened easily if needed. I like to use this to light up individual dollhouse rooms in a traditional house but have used it successfully in a 12″ x 8″ x 8″ room box (the light is less intense but still works as long as the ambient white light is not too bright or shining directly into the room box–black light will always lose out over bright white light).

How to choose?

This is the hard part, picking the right option for YOUR display. To do this, I recommend thinking about where you are using fluorescent and/or glow-in-the-dark items. These lights are really only useful if you have these items.

If you aren’t sure how to use them yet, you might consider getting the 6-LED light strip as that puts out the most light and will give you the most options. You can even cut it down for a 1-LED spotlight effect if you wanted. Another option as you play with black light is to consider getting or borrowing an inexpensive UV flashlight or other UV device (fingernail polish/resin curing UV lights work great) and using that temporarily to light up your display until you know exactly what you need.

In this section, I will show you the same item, a picture frame painted with glow-in-the-dark paint and a picture with fluorescent paint added to the cat’s eyes lit by all three of my light kit options at different distances.

The Spotlight

These images show the black light spotlight. Note that I’ve wrapped the non-rigid wire around the top of the battery box and held it in place with a tiny rubber band. The rigid (colorful) wires hold the light diode where I want it and the black plastic tube can slide forward or back (or be removed) to give you control over how wide you want the light field to be.

The second picture shows the spotlight in action on the test item. The picture was taken in a dark room without any filters on my phone. The light appears more blue/purple in the picture but there is some purple visible in real life because the UV lights I use are considered safe for human and animal eyes but will emit a little visible light.

Note that spotlights work best fairly close to the item you are lighting up. This is an advantage if you want to light up something in a closet or under the bed as you can attach the spot light and the item as one thing without having extra wires to hide. In this picture, the LED light is just a few inches away from the image and set low to reduce glare in the photograph.

3-LED Black Light Strip

These images show the 3-LED Black Light Strip at around 6″ and 12″. It is important to note that these images are taken in a otherwise dark room. The more ambient (white) light in a room the more washed out the fluorescent/glow-in-the-dark paint effects will be.

In my opinion, this light strip is best used in narrow displays or small rooms where the strip can wrap around inside a closet or walls/ceiling to help flood the room with as much UV as the strip can put out. And, again, the darker the room the better any black light will work. 🙂

Please note that the camera is picking up more purple/blue light than is generally visible to the human eyes, but there will be a little visible light.

6-LED Black Light Strip

The 6-LED strip is best for overall lighting and I like to put it on a little bit of trim wood that hangs down from the front top of the ceiling so the light is directed down into the room but the lights themselves are hidden from the viewer’s eyes. They can also be attached to the trim and directed up into the room or raking across the floor or a wall or however you need them.

This sample display shows the light strip positioned at around 6″ and 12″ from the target item. It has enough LEDs to light up fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark items in the back of the room even with some ambient (white) light but is best with a dark display, as shown. You can see in the photo sample how the background is more blue/purple than in the 3-LED picture. That is because this LED strip has double the light output as well as some light diffusion from the silicone covering.

Questions?

If you have any questions or need something custom built for your display, just drop me a note! I’d love to hear from you and help anywhere I can! Using black light in the dollhouse is such a fun thing to do! I have to keep stopping myself from spending all my time making new displays with them….but there is a cemetery scene in my head that just might have to be brought to….life?….soon!