Abstract: Disclosed is a disposable surface wipe having a sensor which detects bodily waste contamination on a surface and which provides a signal indicating the presence of such contamination, desirably by detecting a component of the waste normally present in waste excreted by healthy individuals and not a component infrequently present in the waste due to special circumstances related to the health or other transient condition of the excreter. The signal provided by the sensor can be visible to a user of the article, and the article can include a substrate which incorporates the sensor. In a preferred embodiment, the article is a cleaning article which can efficaciously clean bodily waste contamination from a surface.