Project Clean: Black Light Mission

Earlier in the week, I was convinced I could smell cat pee-pee near the litter box. Poor cat has a UTI again. However, I couldn't shake the question in my head of whether or not any pee was outside the box. I had it out for the cat. I coldly informed Rich that if there was ANY cat pee around the house, the cat would be GONE! Was the cat ever in for the laugh of his life.

We went to Wal-Mart together to pick up a 18" black light first. When I came home, I shut off every light in the house and shined my black light on every possible surface of every room. The good news, my living room, dining room, and bedrooms look pretty stinkin' good. :) Then I went into the kitchen. Oh my, the floor. The floor that I scrub weekly (on hands and knees) with floor cleaner--horrid. Streaks and "black light stains" everywhere. The cabinets also were very streaked and some spots on the walls. The washer and dryer area looks insane. It appears that detergent is somehow EVERYWHERE. But that was not the worst thing. I went into bathroom #1, where the cat litter box stays. It was, indeed, streaked and stained--but NOT with cat pee!! The black light illuminates *every* speck of dust, every water spot, every hard water stain, I mean EVERYTHING. Bathroom #2 was worse. I could hardly believe that both bathrooms appear relatively clean and orderly with the regular lights on. Frightening.

Rich kindly utilized his 6'5" frame to hold the black light for me as I scrubbed both bathrooms from ceiling to floor with hot bleach water. My hands feel like sandpaper now. It took me about an hour and a half to get the bathrooms to pass the "black light test." The kitchen is tomorrow's project. I am exhausted.

P.S. I did not find a single drop of cat pee anywhere but the litter box. I was trying to dig up some dirt on the cat, and ended up incriminating the humans. Smooth move, genius.

P.P.S. I have added monthly "black light cleaning" to my chore list. It was life changing. Whether it's true or not I now feel that I can "breathe better."