What's your fool-proof approach to washing white walls?
September 7, 2020 3:01 PM   Subscribe

Whenever I set out to get my walls sparkling clean they never end up that way. I need advice.

Commercial cleansers often seem more concentrated than the bottle suggests. The stuff I tried this weekend was some sort of orange extract conconction, and it took the paint off the wall even when diluted in line with the directions. On the other hand, I know I've tried stuff in the past that wasn't strong enough, which left grey smudges and stains/marks that were lighter but still conspicuous. A happy medium b/tw too strong and too weak would be ideal. Has anyone figured one out?
posted by BadgerDoctor to Home & Garden (14 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
A mild vinegar and a dash of dish soap solution is really the best you can do for painted walls. For tough spots, the melamine sponges are ok (remember to dampen them lightly first) but they are somewhat abrasive and it's easy to get carried away.

If that won't remove the discolouration your next best option is to paint over the stained areas. If you feather the edge it'll be a good match even if the sun has faded the wall a little. You did keep some of the paint, right?
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:07 PM on September 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


Magic Eraser is pretty good. I have heard that there are cheaper knock-offs that are essentially the same thing.
posted by entropone at 3:25 PM on September 7, 2020 [3 favorites]


Magic Eraser is pretty good. I have heard that there are cheaper knock-offs that are essentially the same thing.

Melamine foam is the generic version. They work, but they're basically extremely fine-grit sandpaper. I wouldn't do a whole wall with them.
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:49 PM on September 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


A mild solution of TSP. Dirt cheap, lasts forever and works like a charm.
posted by mhoye at 3:57 PM on September 7, 2020 [2 favorites]


I've been using Sugar Soap for years on rental properties; it cleans up the goo and grit of every day life pretty well. In North America, I think it is what mhoye has recommended; TSP, diluted.
posted by lemon_icing at 4:38 PM on September 7, 2020


Like many people, I discovered gocleanco on Instagram a few months ago. They recommend water and powdered Tide laundry soap for a lot of stuff - like a scant teaspoon to a gallon of hot water. You could add bleach if you wanted but I don't think it's necessary.
posted by rossination at 5:22 PM on September 7, 2020


I have verified the hard way - but can’t explain - that if you’re washing a whole dirty wall, you have to get it wet and scrub from the bottom up, and then rinse from the top down. Drips through dirt tend to stay visible even when the dirt gets scrubbed.
posted by clew at 5:49 PM on September 7, 2020 [6 favorites]


I've generally used an ammonia and water solution, eyeballing it, probably about a cup per 3/4 full cleaning bucket (make sure the room is well ventilated), although folks also use TSP and that seems to work well too. Vinegar would likely work, too, as suggested above, unless your walls are really grubby.

Rinse your cleaning rag regularly in the bucket solution as you go, and you'll want it damp (not fully wrung out) but not drippy for scrubbing/wiping the walls. If the dirt's not coming off, add a little bit more ammonia. Change out the solution in the bucket when it starts to turn grey from the dirt (your rag should look cleaner after rinsing it in the bucket), and switch out for a clean rag if you have a really grubby wall and the cleaning rag is getting too dirty that it's not rinsing out. Then you shouldn't have to do any sort of rinse step on the walls themselves.

(I've always had success cleaning from the top down this way? Again: rag wet but not drippy. But possibly clew has also tackled dirtier walls than I have or just uses a different method overall.)
posted by eviemath at 6:48 PM on September 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


(Both ammonia and TSP (and vinegar too) are non-soapy solvents, which I gather makes a difference if you're ever preparing a wall for painting, but also seem to be more effective at the general cleaning, too. Chemists of Metafilter could probably explain why that is better than me.)
posted by eviemath at 6:51 PM on September 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


Why not just repaint them?
posted by Ideefixe at 12:50 AM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]


Great recommendations here. For the spots I can't clean, I just paint over. I always have small can of white paint under the sink.
posted by georgehanson at 1:06 AM on September 8, 2020


If you are dealing with grease, I had good luck mixing a small amount of Dawn into a bowl of warm water and using a textured rag to gently clean the grease off. Then I used plain water and a rag for a rinse.
posted by JenMarie at 7:28 AM on September 8, 2020


Why not just repaint them?

Because if you paint over dirt and grease the paint peels.
posted by mhoye at 11:10 AM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]


Because if you paint over dirt and grease the paint peels.

I haven't had it peel but in a couple of spots the grease seemed to ooze through the new layer. My small child can't keep his hands off the walls and somehow thinks the walls are the perfect place to wipe and dry his hands after a not-so-thorough hand-washing. So I've tried a few things. I'm wondering now if putting a layer of primer over the grease and then painting will help.
posted by JenMarie at 3:08 PM on September 8, 2020


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