It doesn’t take long for walls that were once looking fresh and vibrant, to start looking drab and discolored. From scuffs and smudges to scrapes and fingerprints, dirty walls can impact the overall look of your home, but fortunately, getting rid of them is easy when you know how.
Before you start trying to clean your walls yourself, check out the brief guide below to make sure you don’t make the problem worse:
Determine whether your walls are coated with flat paint (non-gloss)
If your walls have been painted with a flat paint, that doesn’t have a glossy or matte finish, you should be able to tell (if you didn’t already know) by looking at how it reflects light. Flat painted walls don’t reflect light at all well, and while this type of paint is ideal for disguising imperfections on drywall, it’s not as easy to clean as walls painted with a glossier finish.
Take a look at your walls in daylight, and if they don’t have light bouncing off of them, they’re likely flat painted.
Try cleaning with water and vinegar
For fresh stains and lighter grime, a little clean water and some gentle wiping with a cloth or sponge may be all it takes to remove dirt. If this isn’t effective, however, you can try putting a little white vinegar onto a cloth or sponge and applying it directly to the stains.
For tougher dirt and scuffs
If you’ve tried both water and vinegar and neither have been effective, you can move onto an eraser sponge. Do note that these should only be used for cleaning small sections of dirt on walls, and if you have tougher stains or a larger section of wall to clean, you might need to try a store-bought product. If this doesn’t work either, try using diluted dish soap before you give up altogether, or call a local painter.
Try touch-up paint
If all of your stain removing efforts have been in vain, you can try covering the affected areas with touch-up paint if you have some left over, or using a tester pot from a store in the same colour. If this doesn’t work, or it does but you’re not fully satisfied with the result, you may need to paint over the entire wall again. If you decide to take this step, try using eggshell paint as the finish this paint gives makes it easier to clean.
Clean up as stains appear
Sometimes it’s hard to avoid getting your walls dirty, especially with small children sharing your home! But, by cleaning up stains as soon as they appear, you can help avoid them from becoming tough, stubborn stains that make not just your walls look dirty, but your entire home.
If you’re not confident with cleaning your walls, or don’t have the time or inclination to do so, you can ask a cleaning service to rejuvenate them as part of their cleaning schedule in your home.
