Show HN: Making a flexible "neon" t-shirt with LED filaments (scottbezek.blogspot.com)
67 points by scottbez1 5 hours ago
buredoranna 9 minutes ago
This is great, because the one problem I have with the cyberpunk dystopian future we live in, is the disappointing lack of neon.
scottbez1 5 hours ago
Author here, happy to answer any questions!
ipsum2 an hour ago
I wonder if white thread would've been more invisible, the black thread seems more obvious against the LEDs? Being nitpicky, its a cool project for a single night.
d3Xt3r 43 minutes ago
There's actually a specific transparent thread you can use for this, it's called a monofilament polyester (aka "MonoPoly") thread, in clear or "invisible" variant. Would be perfect for this project.
embedding-shape 10 minutes ago
scottbez1 an hour ago
Or color matched. Hadn’t even thought of that to be honest
bigwheels 2 hours ago
Just want to say- this is a really neat idea and project!
p.s. thanks for the additional sourcing details
scottbez1 2 hours ago
AliExpress and Adafruit, e.g. https://www.adafruit.com/product/5867
verdverm 5 hours ago
Have you thought about ways to make the lights detachable so you can wash the garment? Or is the trade off at a point where redoing it is easier overall?
scottbez1 5 hours ago
It’s maybe plausible to gently wash it with the filaments still attached? I did actually use connectors so the shirt could be detached from the drive electronics, though I’d be a bit worried whether the stitches would survive and corrosion on the solder joints. Adhesive/waterproof heat shrink could maybe help?
The other option is maybe attach the filaments to an embroidery style patch instead of the shirt itself and then attach it with Velcro to the shirt?
danilafe an hour ago
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
4d4m 5 hours ago
The pwm animation/flicker/ramp up was a REALLY nice touch
Razengan an hour ago
Reminds me of a Japanese tech demo on YouTube I can't find right now, of projecting a flexible hologram on to a t-shirt with invisible markers.