Are cheapie tests actually invalid if opened?

Question

If so, why? I’m talking about pink dye cheapies like Walmart 88 cent and dollar tree. They’re just strip tests that are in a plastic cassette and already exposed to air, so why would taking the plastic top off change the validity of the result? Genuinely curious 🙂

Answer

Hmm never thought about this with these! But I feel like it shouldn’t change the validity since there’s no plastic covering the window like midstream tests!

Answer

I always say no because they're already exposed to the air. Like first response and clear blue have plastic over the test window. No part of their strips are exposed to the air. So I can see why they'd be invalid if opened, and digitals always have 2 lines and the reader is doing different things. So I get those too. But tests like dollar tree and Walmart cheapies are basically just dip strips in plastic casing.

Answer

They are not invalid. Since they are already exposed to air they're not having a reaction with it. You are not "making them invalid by doing that" like a lot of people assume. Sure if you leave the test sitting out long enough, with or without, taking it apart an evap line could show up but that's what majority of tests do when they are out of time frame. Even if it's a for example FR which is in the casing, if there is a pink line before you take it apart you are still pregnant. It's not like you get a faint positive take it apart and you're all of a sudden not pregnant. But again the longer you let a test sit there's more of a chance for an evap to appear and some can look like they have color.

Answer

No but opening the case may reveal dye pools or runs that the case obscured. There’s really no reason to remove a test from the case.

Are cheapie tests actually invalid if opened?

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