Slowed wound healing, mainly due to damage to small blood vessels, can be a serious complication of the condition which effects more than two million sufferers in Britain.
According to researchers a form of "super-oxidised" water can accelerate healing by killing bugs more effectively than bleach - without harming tissue.
The healing of wounds is a problem for diabetics who do not have good blood glucose control or have circulatory problems.
The key ingredient of the product called Microcyn - which was presented at biomedical business conference Global Healthcare in Monte Carlo - is electrically charged atoms called oxychlorine ions which destroy viruses, bacteria and fungi.
Wounds of diabetics treated with the product and an antibiotic healed within 43 days on average - compared with 55 days for patients given the standard treatment of iodine plus an antibiotic.
Hoji Alimi, chief executive of the California-based developers Oculus, said human cells are spared because they are tightly bound together in a matrix.
He said: "Microcyn only kills cells it can completely surround."
The vital atoms are formed by exposing purified water to sodium chloride, reports New Scientist.
These kill microbes and viruses but are present in much lower amounts than in bleach which also contains a slightly different combination of ions - including large amounts of the highly reactive hypochlorite ion.
Despite containing 300 times less hypochlorite than bleach Microcyn killed 10 strains of bleach-resistant bacteria, according to a study.
Professor Eileen Thatcher, of Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California, who carried out the research, said: "It may be that other unusual ions in Microcyn but not bleach are instantly lethal to bugs."
Mr Alimi has also found a way to stabilise the ions by making them react with and regenerate each other during storage so the fluid remains active for up to two years.
Microcyn was officially approved in the US for cleaning wounds two years ago but some physicians have also been using it off label to accelerate healing.
Dr Cheryl Bongiovanni, director of wound care at the Lake District Hospital in Lakeview, Oregon, has used Microcyn on around 1,000 diabetic patients with leg and foot wounds over the past 18 months.
She said: "When you spray it on you see the treated tissue 'pink up' and go beefy which is good because it means the oxygen supply has resumed."
Official phase II trials to test the product's wound-healing potential are currently taking place in the US and Europe.
Professor Andrew Boulton, of the Manchester Royal Infirmary who is conducting one such study, said: "It does seem promising. Hopefully it will confirm our initial good experience."
Tracy Kelly, care advisor at Diabetes UK, said 15 per cent of people with diabetes who develop foot ulcers eventually suffer amputations.
She said: "We would welcome any safe, effective treatment which could help hasten recovery."
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