We love to experiment with everything pee-on-a-stick related! While also giving out helpful information relating to Home Pregnancy Tests (HPT's), Ovulation Predictor Tests (OPK's), Charting your fertility and much more!
If you happen to have a Facebook, you may be familiar with our TTC (Trying To Conceive) Group we have on there, basically tailored around the fascinating world of Pee Sticks! Well, we decided to conduct a little experiment with Lime and Lemon Juice to see if perhaps, (as rumor has it) either would create a false Line?!
After flipping through a ton of website pages and results from our beloved Dr. Google – I have come across some speculation on the possibility that certain liquids (aside from Urine) can cause a false positive on a HPT! (Home Pregnancy Test) and it made me really curious. Needless to say, I decided to conduct a little experiment myself to see if Soda, Juice or Tea could yield a possible false result!
With so many different HPT’s (Home Pregnancy Tests) on the market today, it’s Sometimes difficult to choose which one specifically might be best. There are different sensitivity levels, different types, and different ways to use them!
You can choose from a wide variety of Midstream Tests, Cassette Tests, Test Strips….. And of course with how our technology has now advanced, Digitals! The digital Tests work much the same way, but instead of two Lines that can be hard to interpret – it can tell you in words on a screen that says, “Yes,” “No,” “Pregnant,” and then there’s the dreadful, heartbreaking result, for those of you actively TTC (Trying To Conceive), “Not Pregnant.” The Clearblue Easy even has a weeks estimator that can tell you how far along you are! Which by the way, I’ll be demonstrating the basics on how to use one of these with this clever brand.
It’s always best to use FMU (First Morning Urine) whenever testing for HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) the Pregnancy hormone produced and metabolized in our urine within a few days Following implantation, especially during early Pregnancy. Now I will say however if you’re opting to test early, a digital test usually requires a higher concentration of the hormone to yield a positive result. You may opt to try testing first with a slightly more sensitive test before using one of these that may need a concentration of up to 50miu. You can view (Home Pregnancy Test Brand Sensitivities) ⇦ THERE.
I normally opt to collect my Urine in a clean, sanitary cup rather than putting the wic in my Urine stream. One reason being – it can possibly create errors if Urine splashes on the test and also if you notice your Urine isn’t Concentrated enough you can dump it and try again later, so you don’t end up wasting a test! Diluted Urine can also yield a false Negative result if not enough HCG is present.
Once you Take the test out of the wrapper, it will then start to activate it. (Always Read the instructions carefully before taking a pregnancy Test to avoid any errors).
If you opt to put the tip into your urine stream, you’ll want to hold the screen facing downwards to avoid any splashing, while continuing to hold it in your Urine stream for 5 seconds.
If you collected urine in a clean cup, simply Dip it in there for 20 seconds. (Again, this only pertains to a Clearblue Easy Weeks Estimator – different Tests specify different amounts of time for this so read your instructions carefully).
Put the cap back on and lay it flat with the screen facing upward. You’ll notice that if done correctly the time clock on the screen will start flashing. It should Take about 3 mins for the test to reveal the results.
If pregnant, it can also take an additional 3 mins to reveal how many weeks you are!
For a more in-depth look you can view my instructional video on how to use a Clearblue Digital!
Whenever you’re testing for Pregnancy, (especially in Early Pregnancy) it’s always best to use FMU (First Morning Urine) in order to have the highest amount of HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) available for detection. If that’s not possible you can always hold your Urine for a minimum of 2-4 hours while refraining from drinking any beverages!
But unfortunately with that being said, highly Concentrated Urine typically is very dark in color, in comparison to diluted Urine which is very transparent and light. Sometimes when the test is completely dry, (more often than not) after it’s been sitting out for a while – it can leave a nasty looking Urine film where it once ran across the test.
If you’re anything like most of who are actively TTC (Trying To Conceive) there may come a time when you would like to show a family member or even a friend online to seek their opinion in distinguishing a second Line – (Evaporation Line?) or perhaps you would just simply like to share the good news! Either way, a strong, yellow film can make the test very undesirable and even a bit embarrassing to show. So what can you do?
I conducted an Experiment, and this is what the Tests initially looked like the next day.
I was supposed to make an Update on the outcome and was a bit grossed out with the way they looked. Not to mention Dried Urine can also cause an Evaporation Line to appear.
I had read somewhere that you can CLEAN a TEST simply by redepositing water on it, so I thought I would test the theory out. I used a Cassette Test and a Test Strip for this specific Experiment. I treated both of the HCG Tests as if they had never been used before and deposited 5 drops of water where the Urine would go, then proceeded to re-dip the Test Strip. I started to see the water (slowly but surely) literally wash away the Dried, excess Urine!
I was actually very surprised that I was watching this work Because the stains were REALLY DARK.
The trick is, you have to make sure that the test is COMPLETELY DRY first before attempting this, otherwise there’s no way for the water to absorb and you will over saturate the test including the container (which can be a huge pain!)
In the end, this is how the Tests looked! And I gotta say, I was really impressed!
You may want to do those a couple times before you deem this as Picture-Worthy!
“Terrible!!!!! False Positives that are thin and only one side of the vertical line that sucks!!!! Don’t buy these or the Dollar Store Brands.” – TTCWolfCub
“The walmart brand OV test are no good. my first time using it a couple test turned out invalid and also i got a positive off of one but when my blood results came back negative a couple days after. the walmart brands give false positives…i warn you…be careful…i have had a bad experience with it before.” – Dori
“The local Wal-Mart didn’t have the ClearBlue Easy non-digitals that I usually get so I bought this product. Hey, all the Equate brands that I used were the same or better than the known brands. What could have gone wrong?
I followed the instructions in the box and four of the tests didn’t work! No matter if I peed in a cup or peed on the stick, nothing could register to make the test work. Because of this, I never was able to get a positive OPK. I will never use this brand again!” – jerrysliljess
“I have NEVER got a positive response on any. I’ve purchased two boxes and in both boxes half of them didn’t even work! I will not be wasting my money on these again! – ADavid323
“It works okay, buy you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to guess whether the line is dark enough, to mean you’re ovulating. I abandoned these after a few months of confusion as to whether I was actually ovulating or about to ovulate, or what. I went back to the other brand that shows the smiley face when it’s time. The lack of guesswork was worth the extra money I saved on these. Actually I didn’t save anything with these because I had to use them for several months. I used the smiley face one once and got pregnant right away. Oh, by the way this is my second pregnancy, and both times started with this type of test to save money, but it was the smiley face that did it for me each time. Don’t waste your time, ladies!” – LMC
