Are Clearblue digital pregnancy tests reusable?
Answer
In a word: no. Here’s why: When you take a home pregnancy test, your urine causes a chemical reaction to give you results. If you take a test one morning, stick it in your drawer and then pee on it three days later, those chemicals that were activated the first time can’t just regroup, go back to their proper places and then re-react to new urine and give you an accurate result. That first urine has already caused the chemicals to have their reaction, so you need to use a fresh, unused test each time you take one.
The same rules apply to Clearblue digitals and all other digital pregnancy tests for that matter. Though digital tests have the added component of sensors that read your urine, they’re still made to only read a sample of urine once, and any additional testing after that just wouldn’t give you reliable results.
One myth that’s floating around the internet is that you can retake a pregnancy test once it’s fully dried because then the urine can reabsorb through the test strip. That’s not true! While the urine will probably reabsorb and travel back through the test just as it did the first time around, it’s not going to give you an accurate result because, again, the chemicals have already had their reaction, and they’re no longer able to activate from the fresh state they were in when you first unwrapped that test.
To make sure that you get an accurate result the first time you take a digital test make sure that you’re taking the test at the right time, in the right way. Read the instructions on the box before taking it. In general, when you’re using a digital, you should make sure you have a clean, dry cup to catch your first pee of the day. Then, dip the test into the urine rather than peeing directly on the test to ensure the test strip is exposed to the urine for the right amount of time and to avoid getting any moisture on the digital face of the test.
You should also only take a digital test just before or after your missed period since these tests aren’t as sensitive as traditional HPTs and need more of the pregnancy hormone “hCG” (which there will be more of the further along you are) to turn positive.
