When you have dogs or cats as pets, even the most well-behaved pets occasionally have accidents. Sometimes, you can smell urine or other pet accidents when entering a room, but you cannot see the stain.
A black light flashlight, which is also called a UV or ultraviolet flashlight, can help find biological pet stains that otherwise cannot be seen. Both urine and vomit leave biological residues that glow when exposed to black light.
To find an invisible biological stain, all that you need to do is wait until it is dark outside, or close off the room so that it is dark, and then turn off all of the lights in the room. Use a black light LED flashlight with at least 12 ultraviolet LEDs and shine it on the carpet and furniture. Any place where your pet has had an accident will stand out like glow-in-the-dark paint. From there you can use any number of pet stain removal products to remove the stain. If you need to neutralize the smell from the stain, try using household vinegar on the stained area, followed by a soap and water scrubbing.
Other stains may also show up under ultraviolet light, such as formerly spilled milk, beer and soda pop. Unfortunately, the only easy way to tell the difference between a urine stain and a soda pop, milk or beer stain is to use a sniff test. If it is urine, you will know as soon as you get within six inches of the stain.
We aware that black light flashlights can harm vision if the light is shined into the eyes, so be careful how you use the UV flashlight. Ultraviolet light is on the edge of the visible spectrum and does not appear to be bright, but it can actually be very strong. A black light flashlight is not a toy and children should never be allowed to play with them.
Black light flashlights can be found online or at many hardware stores.