Home: Pest Control: Moths
Glow-In-The-Dark Mothballs   (+12)  [vote for, against]
A satisfyingly pointless solution to the problem of wardrobe-darkness.

Sure, you could get a light fitted. Or you could invest in some cupboards or a walk-in wardrobe, or maybe just clothes which don't require mothballs.

But nothing beats that unearthly green glow emitted from lumious, glowing mothballs, keeping your clothes moth-free and lighting your depressingly dim wardrobe at the same time.
-- Mr Phase, Apr 11 2006

Tritium lighting http://rds.yahoo.co...lf-powered_lighting
[ye_river_xiv, Aug 19 2008]

just look under my bed for aliens...

is this moth friendly? it had better be... or the mothmen will get you
-- po, Apr 11 2006


Mothballs already glow (purple) in ultraviolet light (a mercury line, I forget which.)

So your entire wardrobe should glow nicely under a 4' fluorescent black light.
-- csea, Apr 11 2006


Don't mothballs glow when you crush them? Or was that hard candy?
-- DrCurry, Apr 12 2006


I think this would be a good idea except for the fact that moths are attracted to light.
-- xandram, Apr 12 2006


[xandram] that shouldn't be problem, as the light will only be visible when the wardrobe doors are open, and when they are the bedroom light will be brighter anyway.
-- Mr Phase, Apr 13 2006


I don't think that moths would really want their balls to glow. It just wouldn't be seemly.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 15 2006


Glow in the dark tends to work better when the items in question are subjected to frequent applications of light. You may need a glass wardrobe for this to be effective.
-- ye_river_xiv, Aug 17 2008


It'd be a bugger if they managed to find a way into your fridge, a god send if the tiny bulb has blown. [+]
-- skinflaps, Aug 17 2008


But... But...

WAIT!

I need to know where the energy used to create this glow originates from. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, and glowing causes an object to give up quite a bit of stored energy. There are only so many ways to provide that power.

As you mention a green glow, I suspect we can rule out actual "Luimnescence," as this is in fact generated by UV light striking objects, and tends to be red, blue, or white... and would in any event require you to install a UV light in your mothball drawer.

I also assume that these do not contain little watch batteries and LEDs.

So, is this a Photoluminescent reaction (Whereby regular light charges the mothballs, and the mothballs then slowly release the light) Or is it a glow-stick reaction (Where combining two chemicals produces a one-time-only release of light over a certain stretch of time) With the photoluminescent reaction, you would need to subject the mothballs to about a minute of light every two hours or so. With the glow-stick chemical reaction, you would need to buy new mothballs about once every eight hours.

I must withold my vote until I know that the light source for these mothballs is not magic.
-- ye_river_xiv, Aug 18 2008


Mix in a little tritium and phosphor in with your naphthalene balls. Both additives will long outlast the naphthalene (or the 1,4-dichlorobenzene substitute), but years of replenishment will leave your closet a magic glowing cauldron with a half life of 4500(±8 days).
-- CwP, Aug 19 2008


Ok, so long as it's tritium and phosphor, (+)
-- ye_river_xiv, Aug 19 2008



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