Forum:
I hate black light
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Published 
Public: Anyone can view. Ok, so I have a question.
Ahem,
Im wearing black. The t-shirt has just been washed and the trousers are pretty new. But when Im under the black light at a club, all these little specks come up. What in the HELL are they?? I was told it was fly dung but there is [i]no way[/i] 80 flies decided to relieve themselves on my t-shirt.
And how do I get the specks off?
Gracias
Some of it can be on the surface, but most of it is actually the fabric. What you are seeing are irregularities in the dye and thread. Individual fibres in the thread that make up the cloth break and stand out. The dye may not have adhered at all to these fibres. You don't see it in visible light because they are very thin and the undyed fibres could (depending on the what the cloth is made of) actually be clear, but they reflect the UV light. Some fabrics are worse than others for this. There is nothing you can do about it.
Dryer lint? Dandruff? Cat fur? Faerie dust??
The most logical solution, if none of those are factors:
The older a piece of black clothing is, the more the fibres tend to break down and "fluff up" from wear (especially polyester sweaters). My guess is, when those fibres don't hold their colour (because the shirt has been washed a million times), they show up as not very black, and therefore glow. But I don't really know. Nonetheless, in future, I recommend you pat yourself down with some packing tape or duck tape right before you put your coat on.
One of life's mysteries...
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