- Daniel Miller
- Updated: Jan 16, 2023
How to Store Urine for Drug Test Properly
You can store your clean urine for up to 6 months.
But how you store it is what determines its long-term viability. And that’s what I’ll be showing you in a few minutes.
How to collect clean urine
Whether or not a urine sample will be acceptable for testing starts right from the collection point.
When collecting pee, it’s important to ensure the utmost care to prevent contamination with foreign agents that might lower your chances of passing the test.
For instance, dirt and sweat from hands can easily interfere with several vitals such as pH and specific gravity.
The storage container’s cleanliness or bags also matters a big deal (we’ll talk more about this in a moment).
Besides ensuring the utmost purity of the urine and thereby increasing the preserved sample’s viability, keep in mind that urine is regarded as a biohazard.
As such, proper collection is the start point of a series of steps necessary for handling it to prevent food contamination, especially now that you intend to store it.
Human urine can go bad because of the wrong temperature or bacteria.
If the stakes are high – use the Incognito Belt – the premixed synthetic urine on a stealth belt. It is a safe and convenient way to pass your drug test.
Best ways to store urine for drug test
What you store the urine in is of utmost importance too.
You could use either a re-sealable bag or a bottle, depending on how long you intend to store the urine.
A re-sealable bag will fit the bill if the test is scheduled within 24 hours from urine collection time.
If you are refrigerating or freezing the urine for more than a day, a bottle might be the best way to go, thanks to the reduced risk of leakages.
Speaking of bottles, the type (glass or plastic) and size are other considerations to keep in mind.
An 8-ounce water bottle might fit the bill if you’ll be freezing the urine for a month or 2.
If you are storing the urine longer than this, you’ll need to go with an 8-ounce glass bottle since it offers the best airtight seal.
Should you use a larger bottle?
Well, there’s no limitation on the amount of urine that you can store.
However, 16oz is way too much, not unless there’s no possibility of ever getting clean urine for a long time.
The limitation to storing so much urine is that you can’t refreeze the remaining amount once you have thawed/heated it.
When and how to store it
Urine that is meant for immediate testing should be handed over within the first 4 minutes.
This is a regulation by the Department of Transportation (DOT) that ensures that the urine submitted for testing is within the required temperature range (around 98.60F (37c) on average).
On your body
If you’ve just collected the urine from your donor and you intend to hand it over for testing in an hour, you won’t necessarily need to refrigerate or freeze it.
You need to worry about maintaining the temperature within the acceptable range (between 90F and 100F (32c and 38c)).
The best idea here would be to store the urine in a re-sealable bag and then place it close to your body to ensure that the fresh sample won’t lose heart.
The most practical area to store it is around your thighs.
Placing it under the breasts also does work (for the ladies), only that it might be hectic to get out, that is, if you’ll be collecting the urine in an observed environment.
Refrigerating the urine
If the test is scheduled anywhere between 24 hours after urine collection, refrigeration becomes necessary.
The importance of this is to keep the temperatures at around 39 degrees F (around 3.8 degrees Celsius).
This prevents bacteria proliferation (rapid increase) that would otherwise increase urine breakdown, thereby getting you some unwanted attention.
Freezing the urine
As I told you earlier, it’s possible to store human urine for periods of up to 6 months without losing its viability.
Storing it for such long periods might be necessary, for instance, if you are currently clean, but you plan to start using some drugs that you are constantly being tested for.
Besides, you might want to freeze the urine if you intend to stop taking some prescribed drugs (pain management medications, for instance) that your doctor will be testing on regularly.
Whether you are freezing or refrigerating the urine, you must label it correctly.
This is important, especially if several other people will be storing their urine in the same refrigerator or freezer.
How to warm the urine
Whether you had frozen or refrigerated the urine, you’ll need to come up with a way to warm it to the required temperature range since you cannot submit it as it is.
With frozen urine, it’s always advisable to leave it out to thaw at room temperature.
Depending on the volume of the urine, the urine should thaw completely in 10-15 minutes.
Warming the urine in the microwave
It’s usually so tempting to speed up the thawing process by heating the urine in the microwave for a few seconds, and most sources recommend it, by the way.
You could do it.
But you need to be very careful since the risk of overheating and ruining the urine quality is very high.
There are several other safer ways of warming urine for a drug test than heating it in a microwave.
Heating pad
The most common is using a heating pad.
These are disposable pads that heat and hold urine at the required temperature range until you are through with the test.
Recapping it
Whether you are trying to keep a bag of urine warm for use in a few hours or if you want to store it for a few months, all the nitty-gritty details from the collection point to how you thaw it matter a big deal.
It all boils down to ensuring that the sample is not contaminated along the way or gives the bacteria in the urine a favorable condition to proliferate and break down the urine components at a higher rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Does Urine Stay Good For A Drug Test?
It can stay good for up to 24 hours in a fridge and up to 6 months when frozen.
What Temp To Store Urine For A Drug Test?
If you need to store the urine for up to 24 hours, you should store it in a 3-4 Celcius fridge temperature. If you need to store urine for a long time, you need to keep the temperature below 0 Celcius.
What Kind Of Container Should I Store Urine In For A Drug Test?
You can use a re-sealable bag or a bottle. Storing in a bottle is more convenient. Make sure that the bottle is clean because the bacteria can contaminate the urine.
How Can I Store My Urine With Opiate In It For Drug Test?
Yes, you can store it if you follow the directions we provide in this article.
Human urine can go bad because of the wrong temperature or bacteria.
If the stakes are high – use the Incognito Belt – the premixed synthetic urine on a stealth belt. It is a safe and convenient way to pass your drug test.
