Reflective Materials

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Panda Plastic is my favorite and it gets great reflection grades
 
Mirrors are bad sources of reflective material because they absorb a lot of the light spectrums, and they absorb heat and create massive hot spots
 
Ok, mylar is the best stuff so that is what I will get, thanks guys...
 
I like Panda Plastic better LOL, for many reasons, less heat from reflection, can be reused and doesn't degrade. It's cheaper and only a one time cost. Also it's right there with mylar in reflective ability it's a no brainer IMO.

And it's lightproof too.
 
massproducer said:
Mirrors are bad sources of reflective material because they absorb a lot of the light spectrums,

This is a common misbelief, mirrors reflect at least 90% of all wavelengths beetween 200nm and 5um, with alluminun as this chart shows.

The reason flat white paint works better is that the light is refracted not reflected.

400px-Metal-reflectance.png
 
It has nothing to do with the Aluminum, if this is what you were taking about, it is about the fact that a normal mirror contains glass, it is the glass that robs the lumens and spectrum.

Unlike snuggles I love my mylar, panda film has its place in my room to create light-proof barriers but for reflection nothing really compares with mylar.
 
massproducer said:
It has nothing to do with the Aluminum, if this is what you were taking about, it is about the fact that a normal mirror contains glass, it is the glass that robs the lumens and spectrum.

Most "bathroom" mirrors are made with alluminum beetwwen the glass.

Not sure about lumens but all the spectum is reflected.
If any of the spectrum was absorbed you would not be able to see that color, A good example would be a plant, the plant looks green because it absorbs all spectrums exept green, only the green is reflected back to your eyes.
 
Mirrors are made to reflect all light visible to the human eye, you have to understand that your plants use light spectrums that are not even visible to the human eye. The glass decreases lumens and some of the other spectrums. Now aluminum has great reflective properties, that is what make mylar reflective. Mylar is basically thin plastic that is sprayed with aluminum, this is a mirror in a sense, but it is a mirror for your plants because it has nothing between the thin layer of aluminum and the light being reflected.

And most mirrors are made by taking glass and spraying aluminum or silver and tin on the back. Then they paint the back and there you have your mirror. The aluminum coating is not in the middle, it is in the back. There are mirrors that coat the front of the subsrate like the ones used in hospital rooms but those are very expensive and are made in an entirely different way.
 
A little off topic but not completely. I put a mirror outside and two weeks later it's like a window, meaning I can see through it, what the heck is that? LOL I just wasted 50USD on it for my outside garden and I'm baffled or stoned:D maybe both.


I actually have a mylar room too, I'm not a total mylar misbeliever. I have 3 rooms at my growhouse though and it costs too much to constantly replace as for reflection it's great, wear and tear I don't like it that's all. Another good thread BTW. Some good friendly arguments already.
 
mylar #1 but there is new stuff that i saw NASA use it but is not commercialy avalible :( thay say its way better than averything else.
 
im trying to find the article my men i will finded do :)
 
Brouli said:
mylar #1 but there is new stuff that i saw NASA use it but is not commercialy avalible :( thay say its way better than averything else.

These guys at NASA should be growing some good weed soon...between their cutting edge lights and now their reflective material it should be anyday now. I wonder if anyone ever smuggles any seeds in space.:eek:
 
The visable spectrum is from 400-700 nm, http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/EDDOCS/Wavelengths_for_Colors.html

as you will see in my first chart the mirror reflects from 200nm - 5um

We know the mirror reflects ultraviolet rays, if you ever went fishing in a boat on a sunny day your face gets burned from the reflection of the rays off the water.

The simple fact here is that refracted light that is superior to reflected light.
 

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