How Compact Fluorescent Light Coils Help Crafters Be More Productive

Back in 1991, while visiting some very conservative older people in Gate City, I saw my first modern fluorescent light fixtures. These homes still had the original single-bulb fixture in the center of the ceiling, as installed in the Roosevelt Administration, but the old yellowish bulbs had been replaced with bright white rings.

"They're supposed to last longer than regular light bulbs," a Mountain Granny told me. "Saves the trouble of having to climb up and change them."

"They're supposed to give the same light as regular light bulbs," said a Transplanted Granny who had learned quiltmaking skills from an older neighbor, "but the light seems brighter to me. I can see to match the colors in a quilt top now."

As a knitter, I'd read enough about light and color to know the scientific explanation for this phenomenon. Incandescent light bulbs are designed to cast a yellow-toned light that is more flattering to most faces than the green-toned fluorescent lights found in most stores and public buildings. Either kind of light tends to distort colors. Incandescent bulbs distort colors enough that it's very hard to match or mix colors under incandescent light; pale pink may look like pale yellow, or dark brown may look like purple.

Fluorescent "shop lights" also distort colors, with the best known effect being that people shopping for clothes become discouraged by seeing how sickly they look in fitting room mirrors. We've known for a long time that fluorescent "shop lights" are economical. Easily installed, they won't overheat and burn out if left on all day, and they'll last for years. However, in addition to making light-skinned people look sickly, these lights also buzz and flicker in a way some people find annoying. The buzzing and flickering can even trigger attacks of certain rare neurological diseases.