Can You Paint LED Lightbulbs? (Find Out Now!)

LED lights go great in certain locations, but often owners of these lights eventually wonder whether these lights can be painted or not. Such is the question that’ll be answered in this article, so read on if you’re looking to paint your LED lights and add a new flair to your property!

Painting LED lights is safe and easy, though the right materials and tools must be used. Do not paint LED lights with oil paint or nail varnish, as both are flammable. Instead, use heat-resistant paint. The upside to painting an LED light is the visual alteration doing this brings, but the downside is painting reduces the light’s lifespan.

Since regular LED lights are cheaper than colored LED lights, it’s no surprise that so many individuals would rather buy regular LED lights, to paint themselves, so a few bucks can be saved. While painting LED lights is possible, there are some important things to know before engaging in the painting process.

You’ll need to know which kinds of paint to use, how to paint properly, and how painting will affect the lights. Painting LED lights is an affordable way to add new visual appeal to a room, but one can’t cut corners, as a hazardous situation may be the consequence.

The best paint for LED lights is heat-resistant paint, as it’s water-based and doesn’t degrade or change color when exposed to heat. This kind of paint can be purchased at any hardware store, and it’s not that expensive. The only downside is that heat-resistant paint inhibits a light’s capacity to shine brightly.

This kind of paint is better than acrylic paint, mainly because acrylic paint will eventually evaporate or burn when exposed to heat. It’s also water-based, so it can change color if the temperature is fluctuating frequently. Acrylic paint is a good short-term solution, but as a long-term solution, it fails to measure up to heat-resistant paint.

One should also stay away from oil paint. This kind of paint is extremely flammable, so painting lights with it would create an enormous safety hazard.

Before painting LED lights, most individuals ask: Is this safe? After all, paint—which emits fumes that can make a human being lightheaded—is being applied to something that gets quite hot.

A light’s surface usually dissipates excess heat that comes through the glass, which means a layer of paint on top of this would cause more heat buildup under the light’s surface.

LED lights can handle this added heat buildup, but over time this additional heat buildup will accelerate wear and tear. This process is formally called lumen degradation. Still, LEDs produce much less heat than conventional lights, so one doesn’t have to worry about overheating.

You should never apply paint to incandescent or fluorescent lights, as these may blow if they become too hot, sending glass everywhere and possibly causing a fire.

LEDs also use transformers to regulate electricity supply, so even if a light gets extremely hot there’s still no cause for alarm. Lastly, since most modern LED lights are encased in shatterproof epoxy resin, one doesn’t have to worry about glass shattering.

It’s possible to color your LED lights with Sharpie permanent markers and/or highlighters. This method will save you from buying heat-resistant paint, which could run you as much as $50.

Moreover, Sharpies allow for more designing, especially for those who aren’t skilled with a paintbrush. There are more than 40 Sharpie colors now, so there are plenty of color combinations and design possibilities. Sharpies are ideal for those who want to ensure their lights stand out!

A benefit of using Sharpies is that a warm towel and rubbing alcohol can remove the color. This way, the change isn’t permanent, despite Sharpies being “permanent markers”. But Sharpies are no different than paint, in the respect that both fade over time when consistently exposed to extreme heat.