Tips for Getting Clean Walls While Protecting the Paint Job
You spent a lot of time selecting the right paint colors for your home, and you want to keep those paint colors looking beautiful. So when your walls get dirty, you’d like to clean them without messing up the paint color or paint job. But it can be tricky applying a cleaning solution and sponge to the walls. So are a few tips on what you should and shouldn’t do while cleaning to leave your walls looking beautiful.
Do clear out the area before you start. Move the furniture away from the wall to make it easier to navigate the area. Then cover the floor with a drop cloth, newspaper, etc. to protect it from getting wet.
Do dust the walls and baseboards before you begin washing. If you add moisture to a dusty area, it will make it infinitely more difficult to clean.
Do try to use the gentlest cleaning solution. If your walls aren’t very dirty, try using only water to wash them. Or mix a gallon of warm water with a good squeeze of mild dishwashing detergent. If you need to use a stronger solution for more soiled walls, do a spot treatment onto a small area, to ensure that it won’t remove the wall paint or alter the paint job, before applying it to the entire wall.
Do wash your walls during warmer weather. Leaving your windows and doors open will help speed up the drying process and reduce the chances of getting water streaks. But no one wants to do that if the weather is cold. So a good time for Wayne, NJ residents to wash their walls is during late summer.
Don’t slack on the washing technique. One great way to tackle the wall is to break it into sections. Wash one section of the wall with the soapy solution, and then follow up with clean water to wash away soapy residue. Lastly, dab any excess water from the area before moving on to another section of the wall.
Don’t stop in the middle of washing a wall. Complete the entire wall, bottom to top and left to right, before taking a break. If you stop before completing it, then you can get wash marks on the wall paint.
Don’t use a dyed or colored sponge during washing because you risk staining the walls with the dye. Instead, use a natural sponge for washing and then use white cleaning cloths for dabbing away the excess water.
Don’t forget to use a stepladder or stool for the hard to reach corners. The corners tend to trap more of the dirt, grime, and cobwebs, but they can be easy to forget about.
While you are working on your walls, you may get inspired with some new painting ideas and colors. If so, let us help transform those painting ideas into a gorgeous new paint job. Reach out to our painters here.