Vantablack Guide: Where to Buy, Alternatives & More

This is the ultimate guide to Vantablack. Where to buy Vantablack, Vantablack alternatives available online, Vantablack products, common uses, and more!

Intro to Vantablack

First off, a quick short introduction to Vantablack. Famously known as the “worlds blackest/darkest material/color”. The name originates from “Vertically Aligned NanoTube Arrays”. It’s primarily used for scientific purposes, in infrared cameras, and in telescopes. Somewhat recently, it was used by an artist named Anish Kapoor which made Vantablack popular. It’s because if him that civilians don’t have access to Vantablack since he has exclusive rights to using it. Now, no other artists and civilians can use Vantablack. Thanks, Kapoor!

Luckily, there are alternatives.

Alternatives to Vantablack

The best alternative I’ve ever used is BLACK 2.0. It’s available on their official website and anyone can buy it.

BLACK 2.0 is “created by a group of artists for artists”. You can use it in paintings, you can use it to color your furniture, stylize reflectors and lights and more. This is the “blackest black” you can buy online.

Since Kapoor is the reason you can’t get Vantablack online, BLACK 2.0 has a fun quote:

*Note: By adding this product to your cart you confirm that you are not Anish Kapoor, you are in no way affiliated to Anish Kapoor, you are not purchasing this item on behalf of Anish Kapoor or an associate of Anish Kapoor

Common uses for Vantablack (or BLACK 2.0)

A common use for Vantablack is mostly in telescopes and infrared cameras, but, we’ll include “everyday” usage examples of BLACK 2.0.

It’s worth pointing out that BLACK 2.0 is not toxic and can be diluted with water.

Common uses for BLACK 2.0:

• Paintings. You can dilute with water to achieve an “oily” look.
• Furniture, vehicles, walls and more. You can use it to color your furniture, decorate your walls, style your vehicle, paint your bicycle. You can use it on anything, though I’d personally avoid having too much skin contact with it, even though it’s non-toxic. It can be difficult to wash off.
• Clothing. The blackest black shirt would be cool, right? Using BLACK 2.0 you can actually color your clothes and achieve an extremely cool look! It smells great (Black Cherry scented) – so you can safely use it on your clothing.
• Lights. BLACK 2.0 reduces light reflection, so you can use it to block out parts of reflectors, light bulbs, or paint anything that you don’t want to reflect light.
• More. We already mentioned, but it’s not toxic, it smells great, and you can mix it with water. So the possibilities are endless. Be creative and use it however you want (legally). Comment below with a photo of how you’ve used BLACK 2.0 and we’ll feature it in our article.