Urine makes my feet sticky

January 6, 2011 10:36 AM

My beloved 12 year old mini dachshund has suddenly developed incontinence. I've got the medical issues covered but I'm having trouble with the clean-up.

All the area rugs are sent off for cleaning and storage so I'm down to bare floors. The wood is oak (new when put down) finished with a C+ quality poly treatment. It's been cleaned for the past few years with Orange Glow wood cleaner/polisher. When a puddle is created, I get on it right away by sopping it with clean toweling. At first, I finished it off with Swifter wet jetting (the blue solvent). That made the floor very sticky. It stayed sticky. I then switched to the wood cleaner (brown bottle) Swifter cleaner. Same thing happens. Is it the build up of the Orange Glow that makes it sticky? Or is it the Swifter stuff? Oddly enough, when I do the same thing on the tiled bathroom floor or the finished colored concrete in the rec room, the same thing happens. I have never used the Orange Glow either places. Is the urine actually breaking through the base finishes? Thanks for all your advice.

posted by Pennyblack to home & garden (6 answers total)

Orange Glo does cause build-up, and it might be the ammonia in the urine that's causing it to become sticky. This article on how to remove OG built-up recommends using ammonia to strip off the Orange Glo.

Thinking laterally, would doggy diapers be the solution to your (and your doxie's) problem?
posted by essexjan at 10:45 AM on January 6, 2011

Or try a belly band.
posted by Wordwoman at 10:46 AM on January 6, 2011

Not sure if this will help, but my parents had a very old dog (my childhood dog) who was incontinent. She slept penned into a little area, sleeping in an upside down plastic garbage can lid (the round topped one) with towels in it, which they'd wash every morning. Worked pretty well, I guess she was mostly wetting herself at night though. I think they eventually wore out the washing machine.
posted by sully75 at 10:46 AM on January 6, 2011

Try Nature's Miracle - it's meant for cleaning up organic messes. They sell it at the pet store.
posted by radioamy at 12:37 PM on January 6, 2011

Seconding Nature's Miracle, we actually hacked our Swiffer so that we could refill the bottles with Nature's Miracle.
posted by nulledge at 12:49 PM on January 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

It sounds like maybe you're using too much detergent/soap on the floor? A few things to try:

1) Reduce the amount of detergent, but make sure the water is very, very hot.

2) Eliminate the detergent completely and just use very, very hot water for general cleaning. Spot clean with Nature's Miracle.

3) Continue to clean using whatever you're using now, but try rinsing with a vinegar/water solution afterward. Don't worry, the vinegar smell dissipates after a short time. You may have to rinse several times, using clean hot water with vinegar each time.

Also, as said above, Nature's Miracle is in fact a miracle. But there are several formulas, so check the bottles before you buy. Some are strictly for cats, some are smellier than others. (I find the orange one to be really good with the messes, but overwhelmingly fake orange-y smelling - too strong for a small room. YMMV.)
posted by SuperSquirrel at 1:31 PM on January 6, 2011