There are a lot of very poor quality black light bulbs for sale on the internet.
The absolute worst of all the black light bulbs that you can buy are the incandescent bulbs. What you need is a light bulb that emits lots of ultra violet light and incandescent bulbs will not do that for you. I know they are very cheap compared to true ultra violet light bulbs but don’t waste your money. These bulbs are not worth the three dollars. Here are some examples of what these good for nothing bulbs look like.
Editors Tip: All true black light bulbs do not look black at all when they are not lit. These are used in industrial inspections and anytime that something is being used to inspect quality like in a dye penetrate test. You don’t need to spend the extra money on this type of bulb.
The bulb that you want to buy for general household use and cool lighting effects are “black light blue” bulbs. These black light bulbs appear a deep purple to almost black color when they are not lit. Get the fluorescent style like these ones here.
The compact fluorescent bulbs fall in between the incandescent bulbs and the fluorescent bulbs in terms of quality black light effects. Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) don’t give off enough light to really get white colors glowing with the effect that you are looking for.
