glow bracelets don't glow

[Best Aunt]

I picked up 2 tubes of glow bracelets from Target, in the dollar section in front of the store, to give out on Halloween.

I just tried them, to make sure they work.

Bracelet # 1 didn't glow.

Bracelet # 2 didn't glow.

Bracelet # 3 did glow.

I've never purchased these before. Is it normal for 2 out of 3 to be defective? Should I have purchased them somewhere else?

I guess it's a good thing I tried them. Tomorrow morning I'll have to pick up something else to give out.

 

[QVCshopper]

I don't think they are defective. I think they already have been cracked and used up. I've had this issue with other glow sticks I've gotten over the years. Sometimes, a good amount in the set are used up; they still make a slight cracking sound but don't glow right away.

 

[jayeasy]

might be defective, although i have heard that some u have to put in the freezer for a while and then crack them to make them glow not 100% sure though

 

[brergnat]

Did you crack them all the way around and then shake them up? They can take up to a minute to be "glow ready"

 

[supersuperwendy]

I bought a bunch of glow necklaces and bracelets at Dollar Tree a few months ago for our trip and when I opened them a bunch were total duds. No matter how much you cracked them, they didn't glow at all.

 

[doclegler]

I bought a bunch of glow necklaces and bracelets at Dollar Tree a few months ago for our trip and when I opened them a bunch were total duds. No matter how much you cracked them, they didn't glow at all.

We just had this same issue! I guess I won't be taking Dollar Tree necklaces to WDW...Good thing there are lots of options for Halloween!

 

[MommytoaSweetie]

That's weird! We've purchased a bunch from Target before and recently some from Dollar Tree, and they've all been fine. Sorry you're having issues!

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

We've sometimes had duds, but never the ratio you're describing -- it's usually one every other package or so. We had a similar problem with sparklers -- a couple wouldn't light no matter what. I guess they're mass-producing them so fast, a couple end up as duds?

 

[indimom]

We had a similar experience, although not quite that bad statistically speaking. I'd say about 1/3 or 1/4 of the skinny bracelet-type glow sticks we bought at both Target and Dollar Tree were duds. We had better luck with the larger glow sticks you can hang on a string, I don't think they get broken as easily.
Just another warning about the glow sticks. Make sure the kids just brake them and put them on. My son was playing around with his, bending and twisting it, and it didn't occur to me that this was a BAD idea. Well, we were standing in a crowded bus line leaving DHS after Fantasmic, and the stupid glow stick EXPLODED all over him and two people standing near us (it was a larger glow stick that had a sword-type handle, DD had a similar one that looked like a star wand).
The couple was really nice about it, but I was embarassed. I didn't know if the stuff would stain their clothes and I couldn't help thinking "What if a little kid had been standing their instead of an adult? It would have gone in their face???"
So, just thought I'd tack on that user-warning. It never occurred to me that they would leak like that with rough handling. Duh.

 

[supersuperwendy]

So true..I gave one of the glow bracelets to my friend's son and he was biting on it at the bus stop. Next thing we knew he had blue glowing stuff all over his mouth. Yuck!

I will probably still buy them at dollar tree and hope for the best!

 

[bumbershoot]

I've had duds from the dollar store. The ones I've gotten from Michael's, however, were better.

 

[dizneechic]

I always buy tubes of the $1 bracelets from Michaels and Target (when they have them). I agree with the pp, usually it's about 1/4 of them (for me typically all the same color) that end up being a dud, although the Michaels ones tend to fair better. IMO while I prefer that all were perfect I continually re-buy knowing that some won't be, it's only $1 for 10-15 bracelets (depending on where bought) and the kids love them either way!

 

[bartleby1]

I bought them a while back at walmart and had the same problem. Most of them in the pack didn't glow.

They really should put an expiration date on the packages, because they do go bad. I found some in the back of my closet that no longer glowed very well because they were old. Also, extreme heat can affect them. We brought a couple of tubes to Florida one year and forgot two tubes in the car for 10 days in August. They no longer worked. I assume it was due to the heat since the other tubes purchased at the same time that we brought into the hotel worked just fine.

 

[Best Aunt]

I guess if you know in advance that there will be a lot of duds, you can plan for it. It never occurred to me that more than half of the bracelets in the package would be bad.

I ended up buying lollipops on Sunday morning to give away.

(And since I gave out candy, I don't think it's fair that someone sprayed Silly String in my mailbox! Isn't it supposed to be trick OR treat? I gave out the treats, so no tricks! Fortunately, it was a very cold night, so the silly string froze. Easy to get out of there.)

 

[TheRatPack]

I purchased some a few years ago from the Target dollar spot and took them this year....they all worked. You might have gotten some that were defective.

 

[Leajess99]

I bought a bunch of glow necklaces and bracelets at Dollar Tree a few months ago for our trip and when I opened them a bunch were total duds. No matter how much you cracked them, they didn't glow at all.

We just had this happen the other night at the U of L soccer game. Out of 8 glow necklaces only 2 had a partial area glowing. Kids were so not happy but such is life.

 

[stich1fan]

Wow, I always buy them at Target or Michael's and have never had issues. We use them in the house all year round and for the parks. We take them to Disney with us our 4 year old loves them!

 

[marcemc]

Same thing happened to us. We thought they didn't glow until we rode The Matterhorn @ night and they seemed to glow only in complete darkness. Go figure! Luckily, we had some extra ones I had bought @ Party City.

 

[2binak]

We've always buy the tubes of thin glow sticks (that you can make bracelets or necklaces out of) at the Dollar Store and so far, we've been lucky to have them work really well. We use them year-round for family gatherings and just for fun around the house. I bought a few packages of the thicker glow sticks (the ones that come with a string attached) at Target and the first one we opened had a dud in it. It glowed, but just barely. I plan to bring the Dollar Store glow sticks to Disney since they've worked really well in the past.

 

[elilala]

I have never gotten those from Target. I usually get them from the Dollar Tree