LumiLor is the world first and only patented electroluminescent paint, which can light up virtually any solid surface when an electrical current passes through it.
Luminescent paint has been around for decades, but it has never looked as cool as the ingenious invention that is LumiLor. Fluorescent and phosphorescent paints only maintain their glow for a short duration after being exposed to long-wave ultraviolet (UV) radiation while radioluminescent paint contains a small amount of a radioactive isotope mixed with a radioluminescent phosphor chemical. Lumilor, the world’s first electroluminscents coating, only requires an electrical current to achieve its glowing effect, and can be used to create awe-inspiring light-shows at the flip of a switch.
Did you ever imagine you could one day “switch on” the paint on your car or motorcycle? Up until recently, that kind of stuff was only a digital illusion made possible with the help of image or video processing software, but LumiLor makes it a reality. Whether you’re trying to make your hot sports-car even hotter, or highlighting the paint job on a new bike, this stuff will definitely attract a lot of attention.
LumiLor was the brainchild of Andy Zsinko, an aftermarket painter with over 25 years of experience. One day, in 2009, while sharing a beer with some friends, Andy imagined a solution that would allow him to control the glow of the paint and make it last for hours. He had just finished a glow-in-the-dark paint job for a friend, but was unhappy about the short life and lack of control of the glow.
Zsinko started researching ways of making his idea a reality, and by June 2010 he already had a prototype that he used to paint a 1976 Kawasaki Police 1000 motorcycle, which he showed off to his friends. Their jaws dropped to the floor when he flipped a switch and the paint started glowing, and that’s how Darkside Scientific, the company behind LumiLor, was born.
Unfortunately, Andy Zsinko passed away in 2015, but his legacy lives on in the team he left behind, dedicated individuals who share his goals and aspirations.
LumiLor coating is made up of several layers of paint, which the company describes as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, where the top and bottom “bread” layers are conductive and connected to an alternating electrical source. When charged, the bread creates an electric field that excites the “peanut butter”, which in turn causes the jelly to emit light. That’s obviously a very simplistic breakdown, but you get the point.
LumiLor coating has a gray hue, similar to that of a paint primer when inactive, but it can be used in combination with a range of topcoats (airbrushing, tinted clear coats, colored top coats, hydrographics, etc.) without losing it losing its amazing properties. When lit, LumiLor produces a single-color light that is visible at long distances and shines through many types of atmospheric conditions such as fog, snow and smoke.
Because LumiLor paint is activated by an electrical current, the intensity of the glowing effect can be controlled via smartphone app, which also comes with preset effects, like strobe, sequencing or motion and sound activation. Just think of the cool things you could do with it…
LumiLor is currently available in eight native colors (the colors you see when the paint is lit) and can be applied to almost any 3D object when an electrical current is passed through it. The electroluminescent paint is sold in kits that include both the pain itself and the basic electronics needed to activate it.
Darkside Scientific’s amazing paint has been around for years, and LumiLor is already available in 19 countries around the world, so why don’t we see it more often? Well, I’m pretty sure one major reason is pricing. When it was originally launched, the electric paint was priced at a whopping $4.50 per square inch, which was very prohibitive. Prices have since gone down significantly (between $0.26 and $0.46 per square inch), but the cost can still add up.
According to Wonder World, if you were to cover a mid-size sedan with LumiLor, you would have to pay around $15,000 for the paint alone. Few people would cover their whole car in electric paint, but still, even smaller areas would still cost several thousands of dollars, plus labor costs.
Now, if you wanted to paint your motorcycle helmet in LumiLor, you’d be looking at around $350 plus labor costs, which actually doesn’t sound too expensive, considering the coolness of it. I’m sure labor costs can be pretty insane as well, but considering what people spend fortunes on, it’s weird not seeing LumiLor used more often.
