And if you are wondering whether you can make your own at home YES, you can do it but the process is actually more complex as you’ll have to gather multiple supplies and be extra precise in your measurements to make chemically right glow sticks. If you miss a single ingredient or skip a step, you will end up with a glow stick that barely glows. Therefore, it is important to follow the measures given to you below to a T:

Method 1 of making your own homemade glow sticks:

 The science behind glow sticks is actually a mixture of certain chemicals at certain ratios that interact with each other to emit a lasting glow. When these chemicals are released, the blend with the dye in the external tube and hydrogen peroxide and turn it into glow. The chemical that activates this reaction is TCPO.  The basic recipe for making TCPO is this:

• 700 mg 6-trichlorophenol
• 10-ml of dry toluene
• Coated magnetic stir bar
• Methanol
• 1 mole of triethylene equivalent
• 5 mole of oxalyl chloride equivalent
• Vacuum flask
• Ice bath
• Syringes

To form TCPO, you will have to mix the 2,4,6-trichlorophenol in a chemical solution of dry toluene that will interact with triethylamine and oxalyl chloride. After that, you will have to suck away any of the inactive chemicals. The next step would be to introduce methanol to the TCPO mix to break it down from its by-product. Blend it and filter with the vacuum so you will end up with pure TCPO powder.

This TCPO powder when introduced to a weak chemical base and hydrogen peroxide, will produce a chemical reaction that will emit the glow. However, you will also need other chemicals as well–that includes diethyl phthalate as your chemical solvent, sodium acetate and some fluorescent dye in a color or colors of your choice e.g blue, red, green, yellow, etc.

Check this video link here for step-by-step instructions and demonstration of the end result: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tItOOpyJP5k

Keep in mind that you can make multiple colors by using a respective dye for each TCPO base you make, however, some dyes and colors may look brighter than others.  When creating a true glow stick though and not a glowing pot or jar, you will have to combine all the required chemicals first but the hydrogen peroxide will be kept aside, separate from others in its tube. This tube will then be added to the glow stick’s hull, which will crush the tube and generate this fluorescent chemical reaction.

Method 2 of making your own homemade glowing sticks

Another easier and less costly method than the above for making your own glow sticks or at least glow pots and lights (that can’t bend like ordinary sticks), is known as “phosphorescence”. Here, the only things you’ll need are zinc sulfide or in other words a glow-in-the-dark powder, a tube filled with epoxy resin, and a straw as your the external tube. To produce a glow, combine the epoxy resin and the zinc sulfide and take a syringe to insert it to the tube. Once the resins becomes harder, cut off the extra tubing and voila–you have a lasting glow that reactivates itself when exposed to the light. When fully charged, this will emit a 2-4 hour lasting glow.

And in case you don’t have the time or energy and cash to buy all this stuff and make your own from scratch, just buy some glow in the dark paint and mix it with a bit of water or neutral base to fill entire tubes of all lengths and types. This also works in making your jewellery and ornaments glow as well.