10 Best UV Lights for Dog Urine Detection in 2023 – Reviews & Top Picks

Whether you have a new puppy, an aging dog, or just a rebellious mutt, you’re bound to have a few accidents inside the house. Unfortunately, some of them happen without you realizing it — and if you don’t know where the urine stain is, you can’t clean it.

You can buy a UV light to reveal any hidden mishaps, but they’re not all equally effective, as some are little more than toys. In the reviews below, we’ll walk you through a few of our favorites, as well as reveal which ones we think are little more than junk.

If you buy the right light, though, you can finally get your house completely clean — just don’t be surprised if you see a few stains you wish you could forget along the way.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites 2023

Rating	Image	Product	Details
Best Overall		Vansky Black Light	Has 51 LEDs Durable aluminum frame Easy to replace batteries	Check Price
Best Value		LE Small Blacklight Flashlight	Non-slip grip Good for close-up work Great value	Check Price
Premium Choice		uvBeast Black Light Flashlight	Extremely powerful Last up to 100 000 hours Beam up to 30 feet	Check Price
		DARKBEAM Rechargeable Flashlight	Lightweight Portable Easily adjustable	Check Price
		KOBRA Black Light Flashlight	Solidly built Durable Long-lasting LEDs	Check Price

The 10 Best Black Lights to Detect Urine in Dogs

1. Vansky Black Light UV Lights – Best Overall

If you’re worried that you’ll accidentally miss a spot or two, that’s not an issue with the Vansky Black Light. This powerful flashlight has 51 LEDs inside it, allowing it to completely bathe the room in ultraviolet light.

Each one of those diodes can last up to 12 years, so you’ll get plenty of use out of this thing (assuming your dog keeps breaking the rules, that is). The flashlight itself is made of heavy aluminum, too, so it should be fully capable of surviving the occasional drop or two.

It takes three AA batteries, but they last a long time and are easy to replace.

The light will reveal accidents on just about any surface, including fabric, drywall, and tile. Just be careful, though, because you might learn more about your dog’s habits (and your housemate’s) than you ever wanted to.

However, that’s the biggest problem with this light: it reveals everything. If all you’re looking for is dog urine, you may have a hard time finding it among all the other stains.

Then again, working too well is a good problem to have, which is why the Vansky Black Light earns the #1 spot here.

2. LE Small UV Flashlight – Best Value

As you might expect given the name, the LE Small is, well, small. It’s easy to fit in your pocket, so you can carry it around with you wherever you go.

Similarly, it has a non-slip grip, which should come in handy while searching for accidents (unless your dog really had to go), and it’s extremely useful when checking for creepy-crawlies while camping.

As opposed to the Vansky above, this light has a relatively paltry 9 LEDs. That’s because it’s better suited for close-up work rather than examining an entire room. As a matter of fact, the two lights would go well together — the Vansky can be used to show you were to look, while the LE can help you be certain you cleaned up every drop.

The LE is also one of the least expensive on the market, which is why it’s our choice for best UV light for dog urine detection for the money.

Other than the number of LEDs, our biggest issue with this light was the fact that it’s a pain trying to replace the batteries.

Overall, it’s hard to find too much to complain about with the LE Small — but we found just enough to knock it out of the top spot.

3. uvBeast 100 Black Light UV Flashlight – Premium Choice

The uvBeast 100 certainly lives up to its name, as you could likely fight off a wild animal with this thing. It’s large and formidable, and it has a beam to match, as it’s capable of projecting up to 30 feet in front of you.

Now, unless you’ve got quite the mansion, you likely won’t need that much firepower. However, it’s nice to be able to flood the entire room with light to see exactly what you’re dealing with.

The price is formidable too, but the LEDs inside this flashlight are designed to last 100,000 hours, so you should get your money’s worth if you use it enough. Also, the aluminum casing is rust-proof and can take a beating.

The biggest issue with the uvBeast is the fact that pet owners likely won’t need all the power it’s packing — after all, if you’re spending 100,000 hours tracking down dog urine, you either need a new dog or a new hobby.

Those aren’t really criticisms of the light, which is fabulous. For the application we’re discussing here, though, you can probably do just fine getting less light for less money.

4. DARKBEAM Rechargeable Ultraviolet Led Flashlight

The DARKBEAM Rechargeable will save you some money on the backend, as you can recharge it using the USB port in the handle rather than replacing batteries.

That helps cut down on the weight of the light, too, and this unit is small and easy to carry with you or stash in a toolbox. Just watch yourself, as the charging port can snap off easily if you’re not careful.

It’s good that it’s so portable, because it’s not especially bright. Then again, if all you’re using it for is to check up on Fido every now and then, it’s likely the perfect size and power. Its diminutive size is especially handy if your dog likes to pee in hard-to-reach places where a larger light would just be cumbersome.

You can easily adjust the range by pressing the button on the handle, so transitioning between a complete room scan, and a close-up view of a particular spot is quick and painless.

If this list were about UV lights in general, the DARKBEAM would likely rank a few spots lower, but if you’re using it solely for keeping tabs on your puppy, it’s one of the best you’ll find.

5. KOBRA GLT-C5 UV Black Light Flashlight

At seven inches long and three inches across its face, the KOBRA GLT-C5 is a beast of a black light. It weighs nearly a pound, too, so we believe the manufacturer when they say this thing can handle a few drops.

Part of the reason why it’s so heavy is because it requires enough AA batteries to power a small nuclear reactor. You’ll have to use six of them at a time, and they’ll only give you about 20 hours of power.

However, the 100 LEDs have extremely long lifespans. It’s very bright, too, so you shouldn’t need to squint to determine whether that’s really a piddle stain in the corner.

The long handle makes it easy to hold, and the wide head casts a huge beam. This light should reveal every fluid in the room when you turn it on (whether that’s a good thing or not depends on how you spend your Saturday nights).

The KOBRA GLT-C5 bills itself as suitable for professional use, and that may be what it’s best suited for. If you don’t mind spending a little more money, this can be great for home use, but we feel it’s likely overkill — which is why it slots in at #5 here.

6. TaoTronics TT-FL002 Black Light Flashlights

The TaoTronics TT-FL002 comes with a pair of protective sunglasses, which is a nice touch. Even better, they don’t add much to the price of the unit (although that may call into question their quality).

This is a pocket-size light that nonetheless packs some punch. The glasses do a good job of taking some of the edge off that light, which makes it easier to spot accident sites.

It takes three AA batteries, but the company includes those with the light.

The TaoTronics emits a torch-like beam, so it’s small but incredibly focused. If you know where your pup likes to go, this will give you all the help you need to track down his mess, but it will take a while to scan an entire room.

It doesn’t work on all surfaces, unfortunately. If you have vinyl-composite flooring, it will do next to nothing to reveal stains. It also struggles in the presence of any other light, so you’ll need near-complete darkness to use it.

The TaoTronics TT-FL002 is a good little pocket torch, and the glasses are a nice touch, but you might be better off investing in a better light and just buying some cheap glasses yourself.

7. Escolite UV Flashlight Black Light

The Escolite UV fills an odd spot in these rankings: it’s a fine flashlight, but that’s about it. There’s nothing about it that really sets it apart from the competition. As a result, its essential middle-of-the-roadness will be a running theme in this review.

It takes three AA batteries — more than some, less than others. It’s neither especially heavy nor remarkably light, and the light it emits is…fine.

It casts a pretty standard beam, much like a regular flashlight, so it’s not ideal for either pinpoint accuracy or lighting up the entire room. Then again, that’s likely all most dog owners really need.

It’s made of aluminum and has an anti-slip grip, so it’s ergonomic. The price is right in line with most other lights, too (we told you this would be a theme).

It’s hard to ding the Escolite UV too much, given that it does everything you’d want it to do. However, the fact that it does just that and no more means it doesn’t deserve to crack the top half of this list.

8. EverBrite E000067A UV Blacklight Flashlights

The EverBrite has a little more panache than many of the other lights on this list, as it comes in a hot pink color. You shouldn’t have any issues misplacing it, even though it’s small.

It takes three AA batteries, but there are six in the box, so you should be covered for a while unless you use it compulsively. There’s also a handy little lanyard on the back that lets you keep it close without having to grip it the entire time.

The light is fairly weak, though, so you’ll need to get really close to any stained spots to find them — meaning, you’ll need to have a pretty good idea where they are before you get started. This light was likely designed for spotting counterfeit bills rather than finding dog pee, and it shows.

The flashlight itself is also surprisingly bulky for such a small thing. If you hold it for any length of time, your hands will likely start to cramp.

We appreciate what EverBrite was trying to do by dressing up their flashlight, but we think their time would’ve been better spent by amping up its power instead.

9. UV Nova Black Light Flashlight

Like the TaoTronics model above, the UV Nova also comes with a pair of protective sunglasses. In fact, it’s likely the exact same pair, which should tell you something about their quality. However, the Nova charges a lot more for them.

Also, unlike the TaoTronics, the glasses don’t add much value to this light beyond protecting your eyeballs. If anything, they make it harder to find messes.

It’s large and powerful, but most of that power is used to cast a wide beam rather than a focused one. As a result, much of the light dissipates when used in an open room, but it’s not ideal for close-up work, either.

If you use it for longer than a few minutes, the handle starts to get hot, which certainly isn’t ideal. It also takes six AA batteries, and putting them in is something of a pain.

The UV Nova has promise, but it needs a pretty drastic overhaul before it can expect to climb very high in these rankings.

10. McDOER M109 Blacklight Flashlight

The McDOER M109 comes with a UV marker that lets you leave secret messages for your kids if you like. While that may be great for bonding, it adds to our general feeling that this light is more of a toy than a tool.

It is sturdy and durable, though, with a lightweight aluminum frame, so we can’t penalize it on that count. The light it produces is faint and dispersed, so it’s not much help for tracking down hidden stains.

Despite the weak beam, it’s a battery-intensive model, so you’ll need to fill it with six AAs to get it to work. It goes through them quickly, too, so expect to spend a small fortune on Duracells if you use the light with any regularity.

Most importantly, it struggles to reveal urine. You need to get up close and personal with the stain for it to show up, and even then, it’s easy to miss. As a result, it’s difficult for us to recommend the McDOER M109 as anything more than a plaything.

Conclusion: Black Light Flashlights

The Vanksy Black Light was our favorite of all the models we tested, as it’s lightweight, durable, and does a good job of finding hidden issues. It’s easy to use, too, which is always a nice bonus.

Coming in second was the LE Small. While not as powerful as the Vansky, it gets the job done, plus it’s easily portable and cheap to boot.

Buying the right UV light can allow you to finally remove all the urine stains that have been lingering on your carpets for years, and we hope these reviews have made it easier for you to find one that works for your situation.

However, if using the light gets your dog into trouble, please don’t tell him it was us that recommended it to you.

Featured Image Credit: KOBRA Black Light Flashlight, Amazon