[SOLVED] human urine on wallpaper

[C. S.]

My husband and bought a 20 year old townhome a month ago--our first house. Worried that one of my less well trained cats would start marking his new territory, I bought a black light and checked all corners a few days ago to see if my fears materialized.

My cat was exonerated. However, the old wallpaper around one of the toilets had evidence of a human marking their territory (or missing the target) on many occasions.

Do I have to replace the wallpaper (it superficially looks fine, so I would rather not bother), or is there a way of sanitizing/cleaning the wallpaper? The thought of invisible bacteria hiding in the wallpaper grosses me out and worries me since I have my first child on the way in January.

[xrongor]

of course you did. thats why you did it.

forget the piss on the wall by the toilet. just think of all the piss that gets aresolized when someone pisses (man or woman, regardless of aim) and it floats around in the air until it lands on the soap and the toothbrush.

lysol is probably as good as anything.

maybe im reading too much into this, but im sure you know about lysol. you could have gone into the store and found some anti-bacterial cleaner. i think you need to have a talk with a REAL doctor and find out the REAL risks instead of playing the part of the overprotective parent with the resentful child.

randy

[Dave]

Also, put disposalable funnels on the back of your toilet. That way one will not have as much trouble aiming.

[Michael.Lacy.junk]

In the absence of a kidney or bladder infection, human urine is not a health risk, and, after all, you're not going to be consuming it. Further, the bacteria that do get into urine, to my knowledge, are the kinds of species that are widely present in any normal environment. My advice would be to worry about other things, such as parasite and other exposures you get from having a mammal pet. The caveat here is that I have no professional training in the health sciences, rather, I'm simply an active lay reader.

[Norminn]

There is probably not a toilet on the planet that doesn't have dried urine that seeped under it. Not a big deal, IMO. I would change the wallpaper, but only because I don't like urine on my wallpaper.

Unless a human has an infection, urine is considered sterile.

Wipe it down with soapy water with some bleach in it. You won't be breathing anything worse than you do when you empty the (yuck) cat box, which can spread disease. I convinced hubby to get an exterminator by telling him how roaches run though the cat box, snack on contents, and then run across the dishes in the kitchen cupboard. Yes, they really do do that. His cat would not have survived as long as it did if he had not stopped walking on my kitchen counters and dining room table. Sweet cat, and very trainable. Didn't like to be scolded.

Did you know people have mites living in their eyelashes? You inhale bug parts when you sleep? Max. allowable rodent parts in a sack of flour?

[xrongor]

imho, this is exactly the problem. people try to 'sterilize' their home environment but the world just isnt all that clean. i suspect that a baby that was kept germ free for the first 3 years of life would have a tough time if suddenly put out in the real world. that one commercial for the sanitary wipes with the lady following her kids around wiping everything just makes me cringe. pure scare tactic marketing.

i think it may be better to just let them roll around in germs and toughen up. this is all purely my opinion....

randy

[v]

Well, that's pretty common, its splash, not marking or even missing. Look at any baseboard heater near a toilet; restaurant restroom, hotel room, privatre residence, anywhere. After a few years of service they are usually seriously corroded from the piss splash!

Go back to wherever you used to live, and shine that light around there too. Tell us what you find. You have been living like this all your whole life, you just never knew it.

-v.

[Conrad Yates]

Try

for a solution to your problem. Does a fantastic job.

[zxcvbob]

If you listen *really* closely, you can actually hear the invisible bacteria partying and having sex in your wallpaper. HTH :-)

Bob

[JerryMouse]

Survival schools teach that urine is drinkable for the first few days of a disaster (after that it becomes too concentrated with minerals - just like seawater).

[JerryMouse]

Even if you do get it off, it'll come back.

Think about it.

[mbrooks]

Human waste can be filthy dirty, that's all. Urine usually starts out sterile but acquires considerable nasties when left uncleaned. Wallpaper isn't a good thing for a moist area like a bathroom. Tile it. Beyond that, it's not too much to ask adults to sit down rather than splash and at least put the lid down on the toilet when they flush. This will also lower the filth exposure of toothbrushes and bathroom soaps, lotions, etc.

[zxcvbob]

Just try telling a woman to put the lid down before she flushes and see how much good it does...

Bob

[Bonnie Jean]

Great big ditto. Germs are exercise for your immune system.

That said, I agree with the person who said the bathroom isn't a good place for wallpaper. I wouldn't worry about the urine...just wipe it with soapy hot water. Eventually you may want to take it down and paint with a semi-gloss.

[rck]

Yeah, they can't even put a seat down.

Bob

[ameijers]

(snip)

If the Lotto fairy ever smiles on me, the house I build is gonna have an Al Bundy/Tim Taylor bathroom, completely waterproof, with a floor drain and an raised-sill gasketed door. When it gets too grungy or smelly, just dog the door shut, grab the steam hose from the rack on the wall, and start at the top.

But short of that, yes, there should be nothing in the bathroom that can't be wiped down or thrown in washer. Carpet and textured wallpaper in the can? Nah.....

aem sends....

[v]

There is really no good reason why toothbrushes, lotions and bathing soaps are so universally in the same room as the toilet. The "toilet room" doesn't have to be the "bath" room, if people would stop and think about it a little. Yeah it saves plumbing expense to have all fixtures in one little room, but that custom dates back to when plumbing was a novelty and before "germs" were the concern they are nowadays.

My toothbrush isn't in the same room as the toilet. Neither is my bathtub. But I admit that's only in the main bedroom area, the other "bathrooms" in the house are conventional all-in-ones.

-v.

[ishmole]

Try shining that black light on a motel bedspread next time you check in! You will never sit on one again!

[Al Bundy]

Be sure to install the new Furgesson Ultra.

[Yaofeng]

Agree.

But here is something for you. How far do you go? We in the US enjoy clean, potable water which eliminates many ailments associated with handling of food. If you go to a country where water is sub-standard, you are at the mercy of all kind of bacteria there. Where locals have been very immune to them from exposure, you who come from the hygenic US are easy prey.

I just returned from China last week for two and a half week vacation. During that time I had three separate incidents of diahrrea. Natrually the Imodium AD I brought made good use. I was quite adventurous as food goes. My motto is if you can eat it, why can't I? So I suffered the consequences as a result. Believe me, you don't want to go through that experience.