What Causes A Dye Run On A Pregnancy Test?

Enjoying motherhood is a desire that most women look forward to the experience and cherish forever during their lifetime. When a married woman misses her period, the first thought that crosses her mind is, am I pregnant?
If you’re going through this kind of phase, don’t worry. There’s a simple and highly efficient diagnostic testing tool to perform the pregnancy test and confirm whether you are pregnant or not.

Home pregnancy test, as it is commonly known, is a very good way to resolve the suspense. You can conduct this test in the comfort of your room, at home itself. Follow the instructions in the manual of the kit carefully for accurate results. If not, there’s a high possibility of these tests giving confusing or misleading results. In particular, be careful of false positive results, known as dye run pregnancy test positive, which can mislead you. Some women may experience irregular periods so know when to take a pregnancy test for irregular periods.

What Is A Dye Run On A Pregnancy Test?

The test line on the kit is the most important mark to display the results. Depending upon the placement of the test line, you can conclude if the test result is positive or negative. However, in a few cases, a smudged line appears in the testing window, and this is the false line. This can mislead you as there are high chances of mistaking it as the test line. Such smudged lines are called Dye run on a pregnancy test.

A blue colored smudge is known as a blue dye run on a pregnancy test. Similarly, a pink colored deformed line is called a pink dye run on a pregnancy test. Always remember that a true test line will never be smudged. It will only appear as a solid line.

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What Causes A Dye Smudge on a Pregnancy Test?

When the dye cannot run smoothly on the test kit strip, it gets accumulated in an area, resulting in a smudged line. You cannot consider it as a reliable test if a dye run on pregnancy test smear is formed. In this case, you must take another test to obtain an accurate result.

Dye runs happen when the dye did not get enough time to settle down for the test to complete properly. Dye gets over saturated and does not settle completely.

A common mistake is, reading the test past the given timeframe and therefore interpreting results incorrectly. So, for accurate results, you should always check for the results within the timeframe mentioned in the manual.

A line which shows up way after the usual 5-10-minute timeframe is called an Evaporation Line. Although they are colorless, these lines might turn blue or pink. Don’t confuse them for true lines. This happens because after some time, the urine dries up on the testing window but the chemicals in it end up forming some color. If blue in color, such lines are known as blue dye run on a pregnancy test. If it’s pink in color, then it is known as a pink dye run.

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Blue Dye Pregnancy Test

This type of test kit consists of two windows. The large window contains the control line that shows you that the test is running correctly. Beside this, there is another window where the test line will show up.

If the test result is negative, a single horizontal dark solid blue line will appear. On the other hand, if the test result is positive you will notice a horizontal line intersecting with the vertical line, to form a plus symbol (+).

A dye runs forms when the dye gets stuck on the strip in the kit. Therefore, it cannot give an accurate result. That’s why this line cannot be considered as a positive indication of pregnancy. Hence, it is recommended that you retake the test after 72 hours.