Although invisible in daylight, LifePaint reflects brightly when caught in a car’s headlights, offering safety-conscious cyclists another way of standing out when they hit the streets at night.
You can apply it to a wide range of items beyond just biking gear and bicycle frames. Think shoes, bags, backpacks, and pushchairs. You could even spray it on your dog’s lead and collar.
Volvo partnered with Swedish startup Albedo100 to create LifePaint, which the company says works best on natural textiles and textiles with structure such as fleece, cotton, and wool. However, the effect is likely to be limited on shiny synthetic materials, and you’re strongly advised to keep it away from leather goods.
It retains its light-reflective properties for up to 10 days after application, and if you no longer want a particular garment to light up in the dark after spraying LifePaint on it a few days earlier, you can simply wash it off.
“By making cyclists increasingly visible, as well as increasing the safety capabilities of our cars, we are doing our utmost to protect everyone on the road,” Volvo’s Nick Connor said when LifePaint was unveiled, adding that every year more than 19,000 cyclists are injured on the U.K.’s roads.
Before now, limited supplies of LifePaint were available only at select Volvo dealers and six London bike shops, but for the first time the automaker has started selling it online for £13 a can. However, the hefty shipping cost pushes the final price to £20.
You’ll need a U.K. delivery address to receive LifePaint, but if you’re anywhere else, you can simply hit the site of the startup that created it and order a variant of it there. U.S. shoppers, for example, will find cans of “Invisible Bright” available for $13.99, plus shipping.
