How To Create Custom Glow In The Dark Sneakers

by Mikaela Henderson

Ever wanted to make a statement with your sneakers, even in the dark? Now you can let your creativity shine at any time of day and elevate your style by customizing your shoes to glow in the dark!

I'm sharing my complete customizing guide and taking you through my experience testing Angelus' new glow in the dark paint: Green Glow, so you don't have any questions left unanswered. By the end, you're going to be ready to customize your own glow in the dark sneakers and more!

In this guide I'm teaching you the best ways to apply the paint, which finishers work best with it, how flexible it is, how bright it glows, and if it can be used on fabric.

Then at the end, I'll be giving you a step by step tutorial on how to customize your own shoes and fabric clothing.

 

With this video, you'll have a comprehensive visual guide that complements the step-by-step instructions provided in this article. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel for more sneaker customization tips and tricks!

 

 

Hand Painting vs Airbrushing Application 

Handpainting

The bottle of Angelus' Green Glow glow in the dark paint states that it works best when applied with an airbrush, but I decided to also test it out with a paintbrush to see if both methods are usable. It also states that in the light there is just a subtle green shade to the paint, and in the dark of course is when the paint really glows. 

To test the hand painting method, I started with a white swatch of leather, as white would be the best base color for the glow in the dark paint to achieve maximum glow abilities.

With the paintbrush, I didn't notice any of the subtle green color show up until around coat 5, and that is also when the paint started to look a bit chunky and streaky from hand painting the layers. It took about 10 coats overall for the green color to become consistent in the daylight. However, the glow aspect of the paint was noticeable immediately in the dark. 

Overall, I can already say I wouldn't recommend hand painting this product on as it takes many layers to achieve the desired look and the paint ends up too thickly applied, which could result in your custom sneaker cracking over time. 

Airbrushing

Next, it was time to test out the airbrush application and the process was so much shorter! When using an airbrush, it took only 6 layers to reach the same level of color and glow as hand painting 10 layers, so I definitely recommend using an airbrush to apply this paint. It took much less time and effort to achieve a noticeably more smooth and consistent saturation and glow, and truly looks professionally done in comparison to hand painting! 

Finisher Testing

Now that the leather swatch was airbrushed, I applied all 4 of Angelus' 4-Coat Finishers (Flat, Matte, Satin, and High Gloss) over top to see how the glow in the dark paint reacted to each in the light and the dark, and I also left one section without any finisher at all. 

Overall, none of the finishers affected the glow aspect of the paint so you can definitely use whichever finisher you'd like, depending on how you'd like your custom to look in the daylight. 

Flexibility Testing

I then took the painted leather swatch and creased, bent, folded up, and twisted it as roughly as I could. The paint job perfectly flexed under the stress and even though the leather itself was creased, the paint was left uncracked and looked great. Even the section with zero finisher at all had no issues since the paint was applied with the airbrush in thin layers.

Fabric Testing

Since Angelus' Green Glow paint is a brand new product, nobody had yet tested it out on fabric and I wanted to see if you could also use this glow in the dark paint to customize clothing and fabric shoes. I used both cotton shoe laces and the inner fabric sock liner of AF1's to put my experiment to the test.

To start, I mixed the Green Glow paint with Angelus' 2-Soft which is a fabric medium additive that keeps fabric soft and flexible when mixed with their acrylic leather paints. I fully saturated the laces and then put on my protective respirator an heat set the laces with a heat gun for 3-5 min and then rinsed them out under water. I then left them to air dry over night. Once fully dry, the laces took on the subtle green color in the light and definitely glowed in the dark, but not completely consistently throughout.

I am happy with the results as they do glow really well still and the inconsistency could be due to the material being painted on. 

For the sock liner, I again mixed the paint with 2-Soft and applied with a big paintbrush. Once I painted on the first layer, I checked over the fabric with a black light to look for any areas I missed, and then went over with a second coat. Once fully saturated I put my respirator back on and heat set. With this customization, I make sure to let the paint fully set by sitting them out overnight or longer before wearing them. 

The sock liner glow in the dark customization came out incredibly well with a consistent bright glow throughout the fabric with only 2 layers applied! I was throughly impressed with the results.

In conclusion I would say that Angelus' Green Glow glow in the dark paint absolutely works with fabrics and I highly recommend testing different fabrics out to see what kind of results you can achieve! 

 

How to Create Glow in the Dark Sneakers

Below, you can click on the product listed and you'll be taken directly to where you can order.  

Supplies Needed:

If customizing fabric you will also need:

 

Step 1: Prepping the Sneakers

Before you can begin painting on leather, you have to remove the factory finish to allow the paint to fully adhere to the material. If painting on fabric, this step isn't needed. To do so, you can use Angelus' Leather Preparer and Deglazer or acetone, and cotton pads. Be sure to really take your time with this step and go over the leather more than once as this step is the most important in order to create a lasting custom sneaker. 

Step 2: Painting Fabric Laces and the Sock Liner

This process can be applied to any fabric item if you're looking to customize more materials like clothing.

First, you are going to mix your Green Glow paint in a 1:1 ratio with 2-Soft which is a fabric medium additive, so the fabric stays flexible and soft. The amount of paint you choose to mix here depends on the size of the shoe laces or fabric you're customizing. I usually mix more than I think is needed so I don't have to make more later, but I almost always end up using all of the mixture anyways. 

For the shoe laces, pour your mixture into a cup and then add the laces in. Using a paintbrush or other long utensil, thoroughly coat and saturate the laces. Then you are going to put your gloves on to remove the laces from the cup and put your respirator on to heat set the laces with a heat gun for 3-5 minutes. Make sure the heat gun is at least 10in away from the fabric or else you can end up burning it. Then you're going to rinse out your laces under water and let sit out to dry over night. 

For the sock liner, you are going to want to use a paintbrush, wool dauber, or even an airbrush to apply the mixture to the fabric. Before painting this area, I like to tape back the tongue so it doesn't fall down onto the wet paint. Once you've painted the first layer, you're then going to check over the fabric with your blacklight to make sure you didn't miss any spots. Once fully saturated, put your respirator back on and heat set for 3-5 minutes. With this customization, I make sure to let the paint fully set by sitting them out overnight or longer before wearing them. 

Step 3: Painting the Sneakers

In the video tutorial above, I created vinyl star stencils for my customization, but you can create any kind of design you'd like or you can even just completely paint different panels of the shoes for a simple customization.

Before painting, you're going to want to tape up the areas of the shoes you want to avoid getting paint on such as the midsoles. When taping midsoles, make sure the tape is flush with the edge where the rubber meets the leather or else when you pull it off at the end, you're going to have blank spots of unpainted leather. 

 

First, pour the Green Glow paint through a paint strainer sitting in the airbrush paint cup, and then you can put on your respirator to begin airbrushing. Apply atleast 6 coats, making sure to let the paint fully dry in between each. Using a blacklight flashlight when painting was super helpful throughout the process to check my work and I would recommend having one on hand for glow in the dark customizations. 

Step 4: Applying Finisher

Before removing your tape, select the finisher of your choice to airbrush over your artwork. In the video tutorial for my star design, I used Angelus' 4-Coat finisher in the sheen High Gloss as I wanted the stars to have a shiny effect in the daylight. Apply 2-3 coats of the finisher and let dry. Whenever you are using tape or vinyl stencils to create your artwork, always make sure the paint is completely dry before removing the tape and/or vinyl, otherwise you have the potential to pull the paint up with it. 

 

Now you just need to lace your sneakers back up and your work is done! You now have your very own custom glow in the dark sneaker that reflect your personal creativity and style. Step into your new professional-level custom shoes that will leave a lasting impression any time of day or night!

 

 Disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I make a small percentage of the sale. No additional cost to you whatsoever, but it does support me alittle! :)

 

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