# In search of UV/black light to find urine stains.



## Tree (Jan 18, 2003)

My cat has left several urine stains in the carpet. The problem is they have dried and dissapeared but the smell is still there. I have found (what I think is) a good way to remove the smell, but I need to find the stains again.

Is there a cheap UV light I can buy at a local store to find these stains? Maybe just a UV bulb I can buy for a standard lamp. I want to do this tomorrow (takes 2 weeks to dry) so I can't order anything online. 

The product by the way is Natures Miracle stain and odor remover it has good reviews as you can see in the link.


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## flashlightlens (Jan 18, 2003)

Tree - My local PetsMart had a small, battery powered UV light. It is pretty weak and you have to have pretty good eyes to use it effectively. You definitely need ABSOLUTE darkness to use it. I found it would ONLY work on the stains that were untouched - or not blotted yet. If you've blotted the stain any or tried to clean it, you really can't find them with the light.

You could always buy an M6, throw a ring of 20 5W LS's around the bezel and throw a UV filter on the whole thing....... (that was for Nerd....)...

[EDIT] - TigerLight has made a few UV versions of their light - you may see them on the show "24" soon.


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## Nerd (Jan 18, 2003)

Thanks chris, Thanks a lot






Seriously speaking, all you need is night time and a 1 watt Royal Blue LS or a 5 watt Royal Blue LS in the day time.



No optics or reflectors needed though a mcflood would be nice...





Never go buy UV leds as some claim them to be because their range of UV emission is too narrow to be of any use. Some does flourcense a bit. Others don't at all. And it's not a matter of brightness.


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## Rothrandir (Jan 18, 2003)

actually, while rb's do put out a bit of uv, dental blue is what you *really* want. i haven't seen one in person, but that is because of the 2x price tag.


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## Monsters_Inc (Jan 18, 2003)

Get your carpets professionally cleaned. The cost of a blacklight, the products and time needed to clean out the stain(s) would surely justify professional cleaning. Your carpet will thank you for it.


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## treek13 (Jan 18, 2003)

Nature's Miracle is *AMAZING*! Absolutely fabulous for pet messes - removes both stains and smells.

Unfortunately for me, I've had to use it for 2 dogs and 2 cats through various illnesses and mistakes (cat vomit, cat urine, dog vomit, dog urine, and worst of all dog diarrhea).

I would strongly recommend getting some and in fact there is a formula specifically for cats.

Good luck, Pat


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## alberto (Jan 18, 2003)

I use a cheap 18" florescent fixture from my local hardware store and bought a UV florescent tube from my mall novelty store (Spencers). Works great, but has to be plugged into AC wall socket.

I have a Photon II Purple-UV on order, but don't know how it's going to work.


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## treek13 (Jan 18, 2003)

Hey I found a light for $14.99:
Stink-Finder Luminizing Light .

And here is the Nature's Miracle page:
Nature's Miracle .

For stains that have already dried the granules are useless (can be handy for wet messes though), just stick to the liquid.

Good luck and hope this helps,
Pat


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## rdwilson (Jan 18, 2003)

My local Home Depot carries a 110V black light and fixture. It works well locating stains on some surfaces and not at all on others. The power of an AC powered light is needed unless you are willing to crawl around on the floor in total darkness. The flourescent quality of cat urine is quite weak.


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## TACTICAL WAREHOUSE (Jan 18, 2003)

Tree,

I have one Arc AAA (UV) Black Light in stock if you're interested. They work great for that application, but you have to crawl around on your hands and knees!





Dan.


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## Raven (Jan 18, 2003)

Not to get too gross, but I remember a news story about the cleanliness of hotel rooms, and they used a special light that revealed both urine and "dna" stains, and all I can say is that when you sleep in a hotel...

Remove The Comforter From The Bed !

PS: I've always wondered what kind of light they use, but since I have no interest in watching CSI I'll probably never know.

Raven


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## SurefireM6 (Jan 18, 2003)

My ARC UV works great for detecting Dog and Cat Urine. It also detects their vomit. I have grossed out many friends that own pets with a quick demonstration. Just make sure you are in complete darkness, your eyes are dark adept and your ARC UV will light up pet urine like it was nuclear! In fact most friend denied that their pet would urinate on the carpet until several spots light up under UV.

The stinkfinder at PetSmart works good too, again in total darkness and dark adept eyes.

Raven, for human semen and urine to show up I beleive you need to use Luminol along with UV.


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## rdwilson (Jan 18, 2003)

Raven-
Your probably talking about the "Blue Light Special" (not Kmart) offered to investigators and forensic teams. It consists of a blue filter for the flashlight and an amber colored viewing filter. It works quite well for detecting bodily fluids. It might be too expensive at $145 US. Anyway, for more information look here:

http://www.csigizmos.com/products/portablelightsources/bluelight.html


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## Tomas (Jan 18, 2003)

Heheheheh ... I managed to gross out the apartment building manager a bit with my Arc AAA UV and a Coleman 4AA 4" flourescent blacklight (the lamp came with both a white and uv bulb).

I've found both of them to work fairly well , and yet found a friend's 18" flourescent from Spencer's to be almost totally ineffective for this (besides requiring AC power).

Most "UV" LEDs and many "blacklight" flourescents just don't seem to do the job, but my little Coleman and my Arc AAA UV do it just fine.





Good luck on finding what you need.






____


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## Otokoyama (Jan 19, 2003)

A number of years ago I looked for a reasonably powerful UV light for the cat urine application, and ended up buying a number of Avon UV lights from a local electronics store for $10. The following link describes the light and a mod that makes it more useful:

Avon Blacklight modifications 

The Avon light might still be widely available.


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## Stingray (Jan 19, 2003)

Walmart has UV light bulbs for a few bucks in the bulb department.


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## Tree (Jan 19, 2003)

Do these light bulbs find the stains as good as flourescent?


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## Tree (Jan 19, 2003)

As Nerd said above brighness is not the key, what qualities should I look for if I want to buy a 110V bulb/flourescent from a store.


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## Albany Tom (Jan 19, 2003)

I've not found the UV incandescent bulbs to work well. Wallmart does/did have some portable florescent black lights, I think GE, that ran on 4AA batteries. Something like 10-20 bucks. 

A pair of yellow tinted sunglasses is probably a good idea, too. The idea being to block the visible part of the light that the UV bulb puts out better. 

If you try it, let us know how it works!


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## Tree (Jan 19, 2003)

I'll let everyone know what I use and what works.

thanks for all the replies BTW!!


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## Inverse Square (Jan 19, 2003)

I bought one of the $5 keychain UV LEDs from Countycomm.com and have had success when used in a very dark room. I have detected cat and human urine stains with it. I need to get some amber/yellow glasses now!


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## Chas (Jan 19, 2003)

I second what Inverse Square says. The little light from CountyComm works great. Shipping is a little step if you only order one UV, but it gives excuse to order so of their other lights and/or pouches .

Best Regards,


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## ygbsm (Jan 19, 2003)

> Originally posted by treek13:
> *Unfortunately for me, I've had to use it for 2 dogs and 2 cats through various illnesses and mistakes (cat vomit, cat urine, dog vomit, dog urine, and worst of all dog diarrhea).*


<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">There was almost some easy to find human "mistake" (no UV needed to find) on my carpet after I read this.


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## treek13 (Jan 19, 2003)

Yeah, pet ownership isn't always a joy. Luckily, not all of these things happened at once or often. Most importantly of all, the cat only peed on the cement floor in the basement (easy to clean and not prone to absorbing odors). For those of you lucky enough not to know, cat urine is one of the worst smells ever. 

Pat


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## ygbsm (Jan 19, 2003)

There are few things that make me feel as bad than seeing a sick pet, particularily a dog.


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## Tomas (Jan 20, 2003)

Oops! Albany Tom is absolutely right! I forgot about filtering the blue out.

The yellow / amber / orange glasses are a good idea - anything that blocks blue fairly well.

In scientific / medical / forensic work what is often used is what's called a "Wood's Light" which is a fairly powerful UV source with an orange shield / filter (used to be nickle plated glass, IIRC) between the object and the viewer.

It not only reduces the visible blue, making the flourescense of objects stand out more, but also helps protect the user's eyes from the strong UV.

Protective UV blocking goggles are also usually worn, just for more protection. (I'm not saying you need 'em with the weak UV sources normally available to the general public, but even some of them, especially some of the argon lamps, put out a dangerous amounts of UV at hazardous wavelengths.)

Anyway, my Arc AAA UV and some cheap "Blu-Blocker" glasses work great. thanks for the reminder, Tom. 






zzzz


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## Zrexxer (Jan 20, 2003)

At risk of going slightly O/T, cat urine on carpet is a losing proposition. The so called "enzyme" products dont' work because it soaks down into the backing, the padding, and sometimes the floor underneath.

Carpet Cleaners can't get it out because once it dries, the uric acid crystallizes and isn't easliy soluble. Again, if it's soaked into the baseboards or the floor underneath, carpet cleaning is useless.

I just spent a huge amount of money getting new carpet in one room after trying to get rid of the odor on my own for six months, so I know from whence I speak


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## flashlightlens (Jan 20, 2003)

I have also tried a few of the "enzyme" products. The best thing that I have done is the "soak and suck." I get a bottle full of hot water and my carpet cleaner out. I soak the spot and then suck it up with my carpet cleaner. Start by soaking just the surface and then gradually soak it deeper and deeper. Do this about 5 or 6 times. The last soaking is with a moderately strong carpet cleaner mixed in. This technique has worked better than anything I've used.


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## INRETECH (Jan 20, 2003)

We are coming out with a highpower BlackLight (395nm) module for the 3D flashlight - should retail for $50

Stay tuned


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## alberto (Jan 21, 2003)

Not to prolong the thread, but I just got my Photon II Purple (UV) from LRI and it works PERFECTLY for the urine stains. And the room doesn't have to be darkened much.

Also verified that the $5 bill in my pocket was not made in someone's basement.

Great little product.


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## Tree (Jan 24, 2003)

Well, here is what I did. I got a cheap GE UV/blacklight light bulb from Wally World and stuck it in one of those portable lamps that have the clamp and huge reflector. This turned out to have too much of the non UV portion coming from the sides of the light reflected on the ground. I noticed the only place that caused the stains to glow green was the very top of the bulb. So I took two pot holders and covered the sides of the bulb so only the top produced light and presto there be the stains. 

I had to crawl around and get within 4 to 8 inches of the stain with the light to have any effect.

The Natures Miracle works great by the way. It does produce a chemical smell for a few days. But after that the smell is almost gone. I'll report back in a couple weeks ( when it is fully dry) to let you know if it completely got rid of the smell. As it is now all you smell (if you get within inches of the treated spot with your nose) is a faint chemical smell.


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## EMPOWERTORCH (Jan 26, 2003)

Maplin now sell compact fluorescent bulbs in UV. Maybe one of these in a handlamp could be used for detecting catpee!
What is in in the pee which causes it to fluoresce anyway?


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## jmm (Jan 26, 2003)

I'm not going to need a UV light to find the "stain" that's probably going to appear in my pants when they finally post the official start of the McLux sale.

John


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