STOMMA clock now glows in the dark

Alas, a silent and glow in the dark clock.

I wanted a clock for our bedroom that is silent and tells the time in the dark without lighting up the whole room.

The ones I found were either too expensive or I did not take fancy in them.

The IKEA STOMMA clock was perfect as it has no disturbing ticking sounds. But it didn’t glow in the dark. So I did something about that.

IKEA items used:

• IKEA STOMMA wall clock (2€)

STOMMA clock | IKEA.com

Other materials and tools: 

• Screwdriver or knife to remove the clock cover
• Glow-in-dark nail polish (2€)

Glow in the dark clock instructions:

Use a screwdriver or knife to remove the plastic cover. It is connected to the clock body by 3 small hooks, that have to be softly pushed out.

Related: This hack may buy Moms and Dads more sleep

Be careful not to damage anything, since the whole clock is made out of plastic.

Here’s a video showing how it’s done.

Apply glow-in-the-dark nail polish to the numbers and hands.

For a good and even results, several layers of nail polish may be required.

The layers need to dry completely before applying the next.

I needed 3 layers on the numbers and 4 on the hands.

Before putting the plastic face cover back in place, let the nail polish dry thoroughly, at best over night.

Please check the glow-in-the-dark effect before pressing the watch glass back on. You might want to add more layers…

How long and how much did it cost?

It cost less than 5€ and approximately one day.

The cost was 2€ for the clock at my local IKEA store and 2€ for glow-in-the-dark nail polish from a Dollarstore Halloween range.

It took only a couple of minutes to paint everything. Waiting for it to dry took almost all of the time.

How long does the glow last?

That will depend on the paint used, the number of layers applied and how much light it gets to “recharge”.

Mine works all night, but does not shine very bright. Especially the dark clock hands absorb quite a bit of light.

So I hung the clock close to my bed, now I can read the clock all night. It works just fine for me.

~ by Kate

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