How to frost a bulb?

I have heard of frosted bulbs. Is is possible to coat a bulb light this? If so, how do you do it. Thanks

Nightstalker101

Most people use something called ArmorEtch (sp?), a glass etching solution available at craft stores. Do a search and you'll get a wide variety concerning the amount of time needed to achieve different results.

Another method and the one I use, is to use sandpaper to sand the bulb. Start with a rough (100 grit or so) texture and work up to a smoother finish. It takes awhile longer to get the results but you're stuck having to use an acidic solution.

Hardware stores also sell a spray-on frosting, meant for windows. I don't know how heat-resistant it is, so it might not work, depending on bulb temp.

On bi-pins and rop bulbs you will notice the artifact shadows is caused by element wires, so light coming off the top, straight forward out the flashlight window is not shadowed. Therefore I frost only the lower two thirds or just from above the element level to the bottom of the envelope. Theoreticallly this will optimize the light out put but I wonder if the difference is measurable. I also find that a very light frosting goes a long way. Again the less frost the more light exits. Different glass, different bulbs frost at different rates. I work up a schedule for a bulb type for me 15 minutes at a time (frost, check it, frost again, etc.).

I needed one a few years age, I just used 800 grit paper and rubbed, worked well

Is it safe to frost bulbs?

I did this to a few bulbs and the result, while improving the beam from artifacts and so on, visibly dimished the output.
(but this was not such a great deal, the 3D Mag does not see much use, bulbs changed to unmodded, light standing around somewhere here)

You can use a piece of wet and dry sand paper to frost an LED giving a diffused beam.