# Murals brighten up sidewalks using special paint that is only seen on rainy days. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 2, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429 "2015-11-02T16:24:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/21 "2015-11-03T14:35:26Z")
Early mention from 2007 [Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=vvx5EtxT9UMC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=hydrochromic+paint&source=bl&ots=90fBKATsyD&sig=RojpS4CIxopO7CuWdMIE9uRCYCk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEYQ6AEwCWoVChMI79Cnt-DyyAIVQX2ICh0ztwXQ#v=onepage&q=hydrochromic%20paint&f=false) [Ink](http://lcrhallcrest.com/chameleoninks/hydrochromic.php) [Suitable for screen-printing](http://matsui-color.com/waterbaseinkthermochromicinks/hydrochromic/) [Paint with video demonstration.](http://www.nationalstemcentre.org.uk/elibrary/resource/7282/hydrochromic-paint) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/22 "2015-11-03T14:47:05Z")
I started to address each link, but it’s too repetitive, so - Every kid with a chemistry set made the stuff that changed from pink to blue. I am not arguing that it’s not technically possible, or that such paints and compounds exist… I’ve both seen and made them. They are, however, quite delicate stuff, for paper, crafts, greeting cards and (with some care) wall paint. They are also solid-pigment products that have a distinct color when dry and another when wet. That’s quite different from claiming a clear product that turns to a deep solid color. (There are some significant technical problems with that, even for “delicate” uses.) Sorry, I maintain that the article is either speculative, naive or a hoax. I can find no evidence of any paint or compound that is simultaneously: [ol] [li]Clear or colorless when dry.[/li][li]Brightly colored when wet (in a rainbow of colors, yet).[/li][li]Anything close to durable enough for walking surfaces.[/li][li]Has anything to do with Pantone, which doesn’t make paints and fails to mention this breakthrough on their own site, even in a news blurb.[/li][/ol] Can you even find another primary article on the topic? One that does not simply regurgitate and link to the first one? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/23 "2015-11-03T14:54:20Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > [ol] > [li]Clear or colorless when dry.[/li][li]Brightly colored when wet (in a rainbow of colors, yet).[/li][li]Anything close to durable enough for walking surfaces.[/li][li]Has anything to do with Pantone, which doesn’t make paints and fails to mention this breakthrough on their own site, even in a news blurb.[/li][/ol] > Can you even find another primary article on the topic? One that does not simply regurgitate and link to the first one? There was no claim of being colorless or clear when dry. It’s just the opposite. There was no claim of any color at all. The paint goes on the underlying painting and dries white and opaque. It turns transparent when wet, revealing the painting beneath. Try watching the video, it’s less than a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/24 "2015-11-03T17:23:44Z")
The product being sold is nothing like the supposed paint featured in the OP; the pictures of the streets were normal stone and pavement streets except when wet, when brightly coloured pictures appear. The paint that is for sale is white paint that covers over an existing picture then becomes clear when wet-kind of the opposite of the possibly utterly imaginary paint in the OP. Given that the source in the OP is hardly known for thorough research and reliable journalism, sadly I’m not convinced. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/25 "2015-11-03T17:50:02Z")
Filbert beat me to it. There are several facts here, but they don’t intersect to produce what the newspaper article portrays. I question whether anything much like that can be accomplished, except perhaps in very controlled conditions like a theme park or street fair. That all the images in the article are both “simulated” and don’t quite match what’s being claimed for the project is telling. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/26 "2015-11-03T18:48:54Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Filbert beat me to it. > > There are several facts here, but they don’t intersect to produce what the newspaper article portrays. I question whether anything much like that can be accomplished, except perhaps in very controlled conditions like a theme park or street fair. > > That all the images in the article are both “simulated” and don’t quite match what’s being claimed for the project is telling. Well yeah… everything I’ve read says that those are simulations of what it might look like… next summer when the monsoon actually arrives. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/27 "2015-11-04T04:32:29Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m stealing this idea for my wife. 😉 except I’ll use her name. Schmaltzy, but I love sentimental gestures like this. Your wife’s name is Schmaltzy? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/28 "2015-11-04T05:33:14Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > There was no claim of being colorless or clear when dry. It’s just the opposite. > There was no claim of any color at all. The paint goes on the underlying painting and dries white and opaque. It turns transparent when wet, revealing the painting beneath. > > Try watching the video, it’s less than a minute. I notice how carefully the hand drips the water on after the paint’s dried hard. And, hey, maybe that’s so as to not soak the paper underneath, but maybe it’s because the paint itself is going to wash right off in any serious downpour. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/29 "2015-11-04T08:11:51Z")
Pretty sure it’s a fake. On the SIAC website you can see a reference to [pantone.com/monsoon](http://pantone.com/monsoon), but if you go there it’s a dead link. Also, Project Monsoon itself appears to be part of some sort of artistic/advertising challenge. [http://www.dandad.org/en/new-blood-awards-2015-recap-pantone-challenge/](http://www.dandad.org/en/new-blood-awards-2015-recap-pantone-challenge/) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/30 "2015-11-04T14:18:52Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Well yeah… everything I’ve read says that those are simulations of what it might look like… next summer when the monsoon actually arrives. Well, it rains other than in monsoon force. And in monsoons, no one is going to be outside standing around looking at the purty pitchers. It’s a fabulous idea. I just think the article should have been a lot clearer about how speculative and TBA it is. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/31 "2015-11-04T15:41:17Z")
_“Rainy days and Mondays always get me **UP** ”_ doesn’t have the same ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429/32 "2015-11-04T16:07:42Z")
I’ll also call bs. If it works why not show photos of the real thing instead of a PS version. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murals-brighten-up-sidewalks-using-special-paint-that-is-only-seen-on-rainy-days/736429.md?page=1)