I bought a blacklight.

[Rebo]

To check for pet urine in my house. I do not recommend you do this, unless you want to just run away screaming. Those little shits.

I'm shampooing like crazy, and had Mr Rebo get me some knee pads to clean all the fucking baseboards.

Did I mention that I hate cleaning floors? Laundry, dishes, toilets - no problem. Even shower floor and glass walls. Floors suck. Sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, shampooing - ugh. And baseboards. Double ugh.

Le sigh.

[silenus]

Better not to know.

https://leasticoulddo.com/comic/20151031

[What Exit?]

So not for groovy posters from the 60s & 70s?

[JackieLikesVariety]

I could have told you that was a mistake.

before I borrowed a blacklight I lived in happy ignorance that Fritz, my beloved Pom, had been marking teeeeeeeeeeeny tiny amounts all over the carpet for YEARS.

[Zeener Diode]

I still have my blacklight from 1979. It's in a box with my BL posters. I wonder if it still works.

[What Exit?]

My incandescent black light bulb failed about 6 years ago. I didn't replace it.
My color organ died in the flooding of Hurricane Irene.
My Strobe Light I built sophomore year of High School is long gone.
My groovy black light posters are all gone now, but still had 3 up on the basement walls in the last house. So they lasted until 6 months ago. Bought late 70s through late 80s.

[Borborygmi]

Originally Posted by Rebo

I'm shampooing like crazy, and had Mr Rebo get me some knee pads to clean all the fucking baseboards.

"Years of work down the drain, just like that. Welp, time to start all over again." — Rebo's pets

[Jaglavak]

I swear, my dream shack is going to have a floor drain in every room.

[Zeener Diode]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

My groovy black light posters are all gone now, but still had 3 up on the basement walls in the last house. So they lasted until 6 months ago. Bought late 70s through late 80s.

I think I have a black velvet painting of Jim Morrison in that box.

[Jaglavak]

Every. Room.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by Jaglavak

I swear, my dream shack is going to have a floor drain in every room.

And all water-proof walls, ceilings, and furnishings, plus a hot water hose connection. Add a pressure washer and cleanup is EASY!

[SmartAleq]

It will certainly help with your career as a serial killer!

[hajario]

I have a lava lamp. More accurately, I was awarded a lava lamp.

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by Zeener Diode

I think I have a black velvet painting of Jim Morrison in that box.

I had an Escher, A dragon on it hoard (Yep, Nerd), an oddly enough a Doors Black light poster. I think there was one more, but it has been gone a lot longer.

Originally Posted by hajario

I have a lava lamp. More accurately, I was awarded a lava lamp.

@mjmlabs has a large collection I believe.

[Wolf Larsen]

I have a couple of lava lamps. I also have two black lights, one small handheld for checking vaseline glass and a much bigger one for fluorescent paint.

[claudius]

Originally Posted by silenus

Better not to know.

https://leasticoulddo.com/comic/20151031

This was my first thought, I wonder why?

[blondbear]

Back in the day, Paramount Imports in San Jose had blacklight poster room in the back. There were also lava lamps, strobe lights and a color organ or two, with FM music (most likely KSJO or KOME) blasting out of wall-mounted speakers. It was a cool place to visit if you were inclined to partake before stopping in.

One handy thing to use a blacklight for is finding scorpions at night when you're in the desert.

[Wolf Larsen]

Remember the KOME stickers that it seemed like nearly every car had at one point?

[Zeener Diode]

I had a lava lamp. A friend took it apart while stoned. He claimed he could "add more colors to the mix." It never worked again.

[mjmlabs]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

@mjmlabs has a large collection I believe.

I do indeed. At last count, something like six dozen. Not only are they groovy in and of themselves (he said without a speck of irony) and soothing meditation-aids, but the restoration hobby provides ample oportunity to dick around with chemistry, thermodynamics, a bit of Household Electrical Wiring 101, and a fair amount of detective-type research re: establishing date of manufacture.

Back on topic, though: @Rebo, this info may help your sanity a bit -- Lots of substances fluoresce under blacklight, not just pet urine. Not every hit is cause for panic. (Of course, some must be.) Key point: Even a fair portion of common household cleansers will light up under blacklight, including almost every laundry detergent. (Any time you see "brightening" listed on a detergent/laundry aid, it means "with stuff that glows blue-white under UV light." Srsly.) And lots of innocuous spills will too. Here's a list of some Food That Glows in Black Light. So don't automatically blame yer critters for everything.

Blacklight Gin-&-Tonic parties were my college generation's contribution to the Evolution of the Rave. The quinine in the tonic glows like nuclear waste under blacklight. (Srsly, right around the same wavelength as Cherenkov radiation in water.)

Or to steal (and probably mangle, 'cause I'm working from memory here and my first cup of coffee is growing cold) an old Mitch Hedberg quip:

"I went to a nightclub where they had blacklights everywhere. And that makes everybody look very cool. Except for me. Because I was under the impression that the mustard stain CAME OUT."

[SmartAleq]

Back in high school I had an older friend who had dropped out and worked part time as a stripper. With snakes. Occasionally when the mood struck and it was time we'd get high AF, turn on the black lights and turn a couple of white rats loose into the snake case. Then watch them disappear down the invisible snake gullets. Yeah, okay, we were weirdos.

[JackieLikesVariety]

[Diamonds2020]

Originally Posted by Rebo

To check for pet urine in my house. I do not recommend you do this, unless you want to just run away screaming. Those little shits.

I'm shampooing like crazy, and had Mr Rebo get me some knee pads to clean all the fucking baseboards.

Did I mention that I hate cleaning floors? Laundry, dishes, toilets - no problem. Even shower floor and glass walls. Floors suck. Sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, shampooing - ugh. And baseboards. Double ugh.

Le sigh.

Some of those could be cum stains from previous residents.

[SmartAleq]

So not helping!

[Rebo]

I'm aware that not all of it is pee, but I can tell what is and what isn't. It's visible with the naked eye too. But there's SO MUCH!

The worst part - even after shampooing, and it looks clean, it still shows under the black light. But it has been washed, and that's the best I can do.

I tried: shampoo; vinegar, water and baking soda; several types of spray-on enzyme urine cleaners; laundry enzyme cleaners; and Oxyclean dissolved in water.

I am NEVER having boy dogs again. Stoopit little pissants.

[Sputnik]

Originally Posted by Rebo

I am NEVER having boy dogs again. Stoopit little pissants.

Dear Rebo

I haz a boy doggie. He only pees outside. Personally, I suspect Mr. Rebo. Have you had a talk with him?

Your friend always.

Sputty.

[Rebo]

I have small dogs. The pee is only about 6" high.

Mr Rebo is 6'5" tall. He would have to be lying on his side and be careful not to get it too high. I highly suspect that he has dribbles around the base of the toilet, though.

Boys. Harumph!

[JackieLikesVariety]

I am NEVER having boy dogs carpet again. Stoopit little pissants.

fixed that for you

and LOL at the tagger!

[SmartAleq]

I have a 13 year old boy dog who has never once had any sort of accident in the house, he is a gentleman who can hold his bladder 12 hours plus if needs be. I cannot vouch for his behavior in Petco, however, or any place any OTHER boy dog has been asserting his privileges and if he gets into a doggo maelstrom at the dog park he has been known to occasionally confuse a human leg for a tree. Kosh doesn't even lift his leg to pee, benefit of early neutering lol. Small dogs have small bladders though, which is a major reason I don't have small dogs. Also don't have carpet, so gross. If my area rugs become offensive I can send them off to the dump and get something less disgusting for a minimal expense, relatively speaking.

[BeeGee]

One of the things that sold me on this house was the fact that there is not one single bit of carpet. I bought an IKEA rug for the living room and I have a WalMart rug under my desk. I would have put tile instead of laminate in the kitchen myself, but they did get rid of the ratty old linoleum.

[Dragonlady]

Its a small dog thing, in my experience.
My female is the culprit, since she doesn't like to go outside if it's cold, wet or dark.

[Wolf Larsen]

I bought a new UV flashlight. It's quite bright and was only $10 at the good hardware store.

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by Wolf Larsen

I bought a new UV flashlight. It's quite bright and was only $10 at the good hardware store.

pet stains? I googled why else someone would want one:

It is also used to cure adhesives and in HVAC repair. Automotive repairmen use UV light to assist in the repair of air conditioner, oil, and sunroof leaks. Crime scene investigators use it to see blood and bodily fluids during investigations and outdoor enthusiasts use it to spot animal blood while hunting.

[Solfy]

They're also good if you have things that turn colors in sunlight that you want to make turn colors but you don't happen to have any sunshine handy. That said, I always found the flashlights to be wimpy. I like a good handheld dual-wavelength UV lamp, like the kind used for spotting TLC plates.

[Doyle]

Oh god, I hope it's urine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2boczY_myc

[Wolf Larsen]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

pet stains? I googled why else someone would want one:

UV light works very well to pump powerful death lasers glow in the dark paints.