Cleaning Painted Walls

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Tips On Cleaning Painted Walls

How to Clean Painted Walls

Some people have walls that hardly ever need to be cleaned. They only have to be dusted from time to time.

The rest of us have clumsy people, children or pets, and our painted walls show it!

Whatever is on hands (or paws), including natural oils, will usually end up on your walls.

To make matters worse, dust and dirt will stick more to those places we’ve touched because of the oils on our hands forming stains that are difficult to remove.

With preparation, washing your walls can go much more smoothly than you’d expect!

Two Major Painted Wall Cleaning Tips

The most important things to remember when you’re cleaning your walls are: 1) to remove the dust and dry dirt first, and 2) always wash your way up your walls.

Always start by dusting your walls from the top down. Then when you’re actually cleaning your walls, start from the bottom and work your way up! I know this sounds counterintuitive, but water streaking on dirty walls is harder to clean than water streaking on clean walls.

Cleaning Supplies Needed

To get ready for cleaning your walls, you’re going to need:

• Duster
• 2 Buckets (1 will work, but 2 makes it easier)
• 4 Clean Cloths
• 2 Dry Towels
• 2 Rubber Bands
• Cleaning Solution (test on inconspicuous part of wall first!)
• Step Stool if necessary

Preparing Your Walls

The first step before washing your walls is to dust your walls. While you’re up there, you might as well dust your ceiling, but at least start where the walls meet the ceiling and work your way down with a dust mop, static duster, feather duster, or even a Swiffer.

When you get to the floor, sweep up your dust mess if you have tiled or wood floors or grab the vacuum or Dust buster if you have carpet. It’s important to clean up the dirt and dust now before you might get the floor wet. It will make cleanup much easier! While you are dusting, look for marks on your walls.

If you see crayon, add WD40 to your supplies list. Other marks may be easily removed by a cleaning eraser.

Get on Your Uniform!

One of the most annoying things about cleaning your painted walls is that water drips down your arms as you clean. While you are preparing your cleaning solution in one bucket, make your “wall-washing arm protectors” by wrapping a cloth around each wrist.

Keep each wrist-wrap secure with a rubber band. Voila! No more drippy arms. You can also use sweatbands if you have them.

Buckets and Floor Protection

One of your buckets will hold a cleaning solution (a Borax and water solution or a general purpose cleaner with water solution will work well). The other bucket should contain clean water to rinse the walls after you wash them.

Toss a cloth in each bucket then move to your cleaning area. Put one dry towel on the floor right up against the baseboard. This will protect your floors (especially carpet) from getting wet as you clean. As your towel becomes too damp or wet, replace it with a dry one OR toss it in the dryer and take a 15-minute break! Put the other dry towel over your shoulder or on your step stool.

The Actual Cleaning

Now you’re ready to start. Remember that you’re starting at the bottom so get prepared to work on your knees! Start at the baseboards and cover an area about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way up the wall. Don’t do the whole length of your wall at once.

Do one small width area (about 3 feet or so at most) at a time all the way up, and then move down the wall. In circular motions, clean the area with solution from the cleaning mix bucket. Then take the cloth from the clean water bucket, wring it out, and rinse the area you’ve just washed.

Finally, take a towel and dry the area you’ve washed and rinsed. Move up to the next 1/4 or 1/3 of the wall and repeat. Check the wall for streaks when you get to the top. Wet streaks can be wiped away with the towel. Dry streaks can be corrected with the damp cloth from the clean water bucket.

Maintaining Painted Walls

When painting your walls, always use a semi-gloss paint. Satin paint can be easily stained or even removed from just water, which makes washing satin-painted walls nearly impossible. Regularly dust your walls with a duster or Swiffer. Keeping dust off of the walls will keep stains from forming as the dust is smeared into the walls with oily fingertips.

Attack marks as soon as you see them, even if they are just dirty fingerprints. If you get the marks early, you can usually wipe them off using just a damp cloth. Keep a white, vinyl eraser on hand to remove marks, and every time you paint, save a bit of the paint to be used later when small touch-ups are needed.

If you have a smoker in your home, wash your walls regularly to prevent heavy smoke stains from forming.