"blacklights" found in pet stores, don't work for me

In article , "Jean B." wrote:

OK then, DougD is really on to something and I need to find out the
proper wavelength. Quick research on the web finds that the "Urine-
off" brand UV light, does advertise that it has the proper wavelength,
OK I will try it.

Thanks Doug!


This is a timely discussion for me, so thanks for starting the
thread. My one attempt to locate cat urine using a blacklight
was unsuccessful, and now I know why. I will also have to get
the above mentioned kind, which I suppose is not in pet
stores.... I can smell the cat pee, but I can't pinpoint it
precisely....


One thing that may be possible, is to spray something more conventional
on the area's that are suspect, and the combination of urine and a
second material could cause it to flouresce under the cheaper party
light type UV lamps. Something with phosphorus in it like laundry soap
may work, I'll try and do some experiments as it would be a heck of
a lot easier and cheaper than having to hunt down a specific lamp type.
The other thing is possibly stealing a trick from the CSI folks.. The reason
the cheap lamps don't work isn't nesc. because they aren't causing the
urine to glow, it's just that it's a weak flourescense compared to the
broad UV of the cheap lamp. By looking for the stain's under something
like orange colored glasses, it would cut down on the amount of black
(er.. blue) light in the visible, while allowing the shifted light from the
stain which would appear in the yellow wavelengths to pass through
and be seen. Again, it might be a long shot, but that IS how the UV
light is used for spotting fingerprints, the oils in the print glow yellow
under the UV. Even bright green from a YAG laser can light up
the prints, but that's an awful lot of light!!

d.