
Did you spot a few dogs urinating in your front yard? Did your cat urinate somewhere on the carpet in your living room but you can’t find the position of the stain? Pet urine smells so bad but you can’t find the exact source of the odor to clean the urine? There is a way to detect pet urine: use a UV flashlight, also called a black light (we’ve already covered black light bulbs in multiple reviews).
Is it easy to detect pet urine?
UV flashlights are available on Amazon. The best selling models are really cheap, they can be bought for less than $10. You won’t have to crawl around and sniff the floor like a search dog.
When held a few feet away from the floor, these flashlights cover a large area and will immediately show you the urine stains, pinpointing the exact spots. Simply use a strong stain remover and voilà, the urine is gone!
Why does UV light detect pet urine?
UV light can be used to detect any body fluids. The same principle is used by police forces to detect sperm stains in crime investigations.
Urine, sperm, germs, mold, bed bugs and even blood glow under black light because they contain phosphorescent compounds.

Of course it will be easier to detect pet urine or other body fluids in a very dark room. The stains will be more obvious, especially on lighter backgrounds (bathroom or kitchen floors for instance).
It’s also advised to vacuum the area where you want to search for a urine spot. Otherwise dust, hair and other elements could react with UV light, making it much more difficult to spot the urine stains.
When you think you’ve found the exact place where your pet urinated, you simply have to smell the area to confirm it’s the right spot! Then, it’s cleaning time.
How can I find a small UV flashlight to detect urine?
Here’s another model of flashlight to detect pet urine, boasting a ultra-compact design. You can carry this pocket-size UV flashlight in your pocket, to detect stains on holidays or in your car.
There are almost 200 different models of UV flashlights to detect pet urine on Amazon. Some of them have more than 10,000 reviews, which proves that they’re a very popular category. You’ll certainly find one which matches your expectations.