Hello,
Wonderful thread. I have a few questions. I am following the basic recipe for retrobrite: hydrogen peroxide, xanthan gum, glycerin and oxyclean.
1) I found a clear 'developer' at the local Sally Beauty that is 40 volume water and hydrogen peroxide *but* it has one other ingredient: 'phosphoric acid'. Wikipedia say one of its uses is "...used as a pH adjuster in cosmetics and skin-care products". http://en.wikipedia....Phosphoric_acid
I am trying to keep the formula as pure as possible. Here in the usa the pharmacies only sell 3% hydrogen peroxide and the regular 'creme' developer has a host of other ingredients.
Is the phosphoric acid going to have adverse effects? badges, ink, attacking plastic? I am no chemist so I have no idea. I appreciate any advice.
2) For the UV lighting..there seems to be 3 types of uv lights, uv-a, uv-b and uv-c. http://en.wikipedia....iki/Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet A UVA 400 – 315 nm 3.10 – 3.94 eV long wave, black light
Ultraviolet B UVB 315 – 280 nm 3.94 – 4.43 eV medium wave
Ultraviolet C UVC 280 – 100 nm 4.43 – 12.4 eV short wave, germicidal
From reading the thread most are using uv-b I think. Is there an optimal wavelength for this process so I can decide which light to get?
3) Is UV light reflected by mirrored surfaces? I want to make a lighted box enclosure with mirrored interior surfaces that will bounce the radiation around evenly, but I am not sure if this would be affective with UV.