Sticky Situation

It never fails. Well, most of the time.

It just seems that every time I just mopped up the kitchen floor, someone accidently spills her drink on the floor.

Call it Murphy's Law. Or rotten luck. How about blaming the mischievious gopher? (Think Caddyshack!)

I wipe up the spill (or the "spillee" does). Out comes the mop to re-wash the floor.

It dries, but it's sticky.

Sigh.

Fresh water. Fresh Pine-Sol. Rinsed out mop. Try it again. Mop up the area.

It's still sticky. More sighs.

Every time this happens, I tell myself that all the kids are drinking is water. That way if it spills, it doesn't get sticky. Milk gets sticky. Soda gets sticky. Kool-Aid gets sticky. Juice gets sticky.

But then it happens again.

Today was one of those days. I knocked over a cup. Down it went. Nice little puddle, rolling slowly towards the living room carpet.

In my house, a spill kind of travels to the east. (The house is not exactly level, but hey, if you were over 100 years old, you'd stoop a little, right?) I don't feel the tilt when I walk across the floor. I don't see it. I just know that it is a little lower on the east side of the house. If anything drops, it rolls towards the living room. A marble. A ball. Even a puddle. It just makes a river seeping slowly towards the carpet.

I've mopped up the floor five times today and it's still sticky. I rinse out the mop. I get fresh water and splash a little more Pine-Sol into the bucket. I even tried it without using the Pine Sol. Somehow, I am just spreading the stickiness.

Usually I can get the stickiness out. I just tried it one more time. If that doesn't work, I guess I am just going to have to re-mop the whole floor again. And again.

What am I doing wrong?

Do I need to get a book on household cleaning tips? Please tell me I am not the only one who deals with this.