Why You Need A Blacklight To Clean Cat Urine
Of all the foul smells in the world a skunk’s odor is probably the worst but a close second in my opinion is the smell of cat urine. My brother-in-law had several cats and he didn’t keep the litter box clean so the cats ran rampant and when you walked into his apartment you were overwhelmed with the stench of cat urine. Trust me, on a hot Texas day it makes for a very disgusting and short visit.
Fortunately most of us have better housekeeping habits than he did and keep litter boxes clean but occasionally we are faced with kitty urinating or spraying where they weren’t supposed to and we must clean the urine up.
But, it’s not just a simple matter of wiping up any cat urine you come across and thinking you are done. Oh no, there is so much more to it than that.
Since cats are not big water drinkers compared to other animals their urine is highly concentrated and very potent smelling. Also, cat urine is a very complex substance made up of several different bacteria strains. Some cause the pungent odor and some cause the stain that can at times be invisible.
Now, if you wipe up cat urine with any household cleaner you might think you have cleaned the mess up but in reality all you did was to clean the liquid you could see. The odor causing bacteria will remain in the form of uric acid salts that bond to surfaces and the smell will be back in no time. This is particularly true if the area gets wet as this reactivates the crystals and is why most typical cleaners do not clean the smell but just spread it around even more.
In fact, cats like that urine smell and will often urinate in the same spot over and over while you pull your hair out trying to figure out why they are doing it. After all, you are cleaning it up right away aren’t you?
The problem comes back to those pesky uric acid salts. They can’t be washed away because of the bonding action and in order to clean cat urine completely you need an enzyme based cat urine remover. The enzymes will eat the bacteria in the salts and presto your urine odor is gone. Note that if it’s a stubborn spot you might need to clean more than once.
The biggest problem you will have in cleaning cat urine is finding the spots to clean, especially old spots. That is why you need a blacklight to show you where the stains are hidden. Using a blacklight in a darkened room will make any urine stains glow so you will know not only where to clean but you will be able to check afterwards to make sure you cleaned the urine spot completely.
You can buy a blacklight at a party store like Spencer’s Gifts where they are sold to create special effects and enhance glow in the dark posters. Some cat urine cleaners will also include a blacklight with the product so you don’t have to buy one separately.
Cleaning cat urine can be an easy task if you use the right tools. A good cat urine remover combined with a blacklight will give you the best chance at completely removing that cat urine smell that is so disgusting.
