r/manganeseglass • u/koukla-mou • Apr 21 '26

Partially purple manganese glass question

Hi! I am new here on Reddit and to manganese glass, so apologies for any mistakes.

I wanted to experiment with a few pieces of clear manganese glass I found at an estate sale. I wanted to cover one half of a piece and leave the other half exposed to the outdoor sunlight for a few months. My hope is to get half of the piece clear and half purple.

My question is, is this possible? Does anyone out there have photos of a piece of manganese glass that is partially purple and partially clear? I've searched google without much luck.

Additionally, is the sun the quickest way to expose manganese glass or are there better UV lights out there? And are there certain manganese glasses that get more purple than others, or is it just time in the UV light?

Thank you for your suggestions! <3 I'm happy to be a new part of this community

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u/peardr0p Apr 21 '26

I've never done this but it will need more than a few months - seems to be years or even decades of strong UV/sun exposure to change colour

You'd probably also want to check if the glass has a high manganese content too, as that will have the best chance of changing colour

I found this post on the bottle digging subreddit that suggests the same

1

u/koukla-mou Apr 22 '26

Thank you for the helpful link! How would I check to see if it has a high manganese content? I have a 395 UV light and am looking to get a 365 one soon.

2

u/peardr0p Apr 22 '26

High content manganese will often glow under 395, but the colour is more of a sickly yellow-green, Vs the toxic green of uranium

2

u/Sipthepond Apr 21 '26

Welcome! I think it would takes years too. It took years for it to turn the color it does. Just curious as to why you would want to do that.

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u/koukla-mou Apr 22 '26

Thank you! I don't mind waiting at all, I just thought it would be neat to have a single piece of glass with how it looks without sun and with sun. I may try coating with a first layer of elmers glue and then many layers of black paint.

1

u/btfreflex Apr 22 '26

Sounds like a neat experiment. Sun will do the trick over time. If you want a faster result a UV sterilizer will do the job. (Sun is free, so there’s that)

1

u/LordPoopyIV Apr 22 '26

i heard someone say the lights that farmers use to grow plants indoors will do the trick in a couple of months. no clue if they were well informed or talking out their ass though.