How to Clean Your Painted Walls

Maintaining your painted walls is a great way to ensure the longevity of décor. In rooms that experience the most traffic, it is especially important to keep your paintwork clean. Grubby hands or paws leave behind dirt, which may contain a number of pollutants that can reduce the lifespan of your painted walls.

Keeping Dirt Off Your Paintwork

When it comes to furniture, you can either use items to your advantage or let them destroy your paintwork. Having medium or large items of furniture pushed up against your paintwork will create an environment for dirt and grime to adhere to the walls. If you decide to rearrange the room one day, you might find furniture-sized stains that make it impossible to change the room without repainting.

However, well-placed furniture that is pushed away from the wall or placed at an angle can also act as a deterrent against children and animals touching the walls. So long as you still have access to keep the walls clean, you will save yourself a fortune in repainting costs. The other upside is that you can move your furniture without worrying about large stains forming on your walls.

Basic Paintwork Care

Dust, dirt and grease are the main offenders when it comes to paintwork. If you can keep those under control, your painted walls will retain their freshness much longer. We recommend sticking to soft feather dusters or vacuum attachments. Harsh cleaning materials will mark or even crack the paint.

Using a soft cloth to wipe down your paintwork every month will make all the difference. Even if your painted walls don’t look dirty, you will see the difference once you wash the walls down. If you smoke at home, you will notice that all your paintwork has a yellow tinge caused by nicotine. It is important to clean painted surfaces that have been affected by nicotine as it seeps into paint and causes discoloration.

Choose the Right Cleaner

If you wanted to remove paint you would use paint thinner – so why would you use similarly abrasive cleaners on your paintwork? When you are cleaning your painted walls, it is essential that you choose the right cleaner. Abrasive cleaners will damage paint and may even take off protective layers that are helping your paint last.

The only things you need for your internal paintwork include soft cloths, vacuum attachments, cleaning products that do not contain corrosive chemicals, and a dry cloth. The idea is to remove surface dirt, not to scour or damage the paintwork in any way. Soapy water is more than enough to keep the walls clean during general maintenance.

A white vinegar mixture is ideal for oil-based painted walls. Use a sponge rather than a cloth when cleaning walls with this type of paint. Do not clean aggressively but instead use gentle motions to remove surface dirt and grease without damaging the paint. Oil-based paints need special care so know the type of paint that was used in your rooms before cleaning.

Cleaning Flat Walls

Most paints wash well, but when it comes to flat walls, you may be in for a challenge. Porous walls are especially difficult due to the fact that dirt has so many places to hide. When you attempt to clean flat walls, you may be tempted to get aggressive to remove dirt, but that is not the best tactic. You do not want to remove paint when cleaning.

Once the seal that paint provides is broken, it can lead to further damage over time from the natural elements. With flat walls, you want to start from the bottom up. Choose a soapy cleaning solution with low concentration and then increase the amount of cleaner if you do not get the desired results. Avoid abrasive cleaning products altogether and never exceed the concentration that you need to clean the wall with a moderate amount of elbow grease.

The Painting Company

If your paintwork is not up to standard and cleaning just isn’t working, you may want to consider bringing in a professional team of painters. Not all painted walls are redeemable through washing. If your walls are still looking old and tired after washing, reach out to The Painting Company.

We have a lot of experience dealing with paintwork that looks like it has seen its last day. Our professional team can swoop in and make your life easier. Call today to find out more about our company and the services we offer. We are dedicated to helping you realize your vision of long-lasting paintwork.