How to preserve your newly painted walls…
Now that your interior walls have been painted the next step is to provide regular cleaning in order to preserve your new investment! The first and foremost troublesome dirt causing agent is environmental dust. The closer you live to a city the darker the dust! Secondly, the next dirt causing agents are humans and domestic animals. If you can get rid of the three above mentioned dirt causing agents then you are in for a life free of cleaning and possibly the need to ever repaint the walls again! However, life with dust, people and animals is unavoidable so here are some handy tips on how to clean up those pesky wall stains:
- First and foremost, to start off a good relationship between you and your interior walls we recommend that you select a high quality top coat paint. Many products on the market cater for the modern home, moreover manufacturers have created formulas that can withstand rigours cleaning. Additionally, we recommend that when selecting a top coat paint, allow for some gloss to be added-the more gloss in your paint the easier it is to clean!
- Secondly, the type of paint finish-mat, gloss or textured, will affect your cleaning process. Therefore, throughout the article you will come across cleaning tips that may accommodate the type of surface you are about to work on.
- The most basic form of wall maintenance would be dust removal. For mat and gloss surfaces a microfibre cloth is sufficient. Make sure not to press the cloth to hard-that way you will avoid rubbing in any dirt. In addition to a microfibre cloth, a gentle vacuum cleaner with a soft bristle attachment can provide thorough removal of dust as well as convenient way to remove dust form any textured finishes!
- If you have decided to wash your walls it is important to choose what kind of cleaning product you are going to utilize. In order to remove any small stains such as shoe marks, hand prints, and etc., a home-made paste of soda bicarbonate and water will suffice. Place the paste on a microfibre cloth and in gentle circular motions remove the stains. Then, wash off the paste with warm water and a clean cloth. If there are any light switches or electric sockets on the wall, you may want to clean them with your bi-carb paste too. Lastly, when the stains have been removed it is time to wash down the walls. It is advisable to prepare two separate buckets of warm water. Add a drop of gentle dishwashing liquid to one of the buckets which you can use as your cleaning agent. Do not use clothing detergent-they contain enzymes and will break down the paint! Also, invest in a high quality cloth that will not leave any fibres on your surfaces. When washing the walls, wash from the bottom up, this way you will avoid the creation of water strikes. Wash off any soapy water from the walls with the second bucket of plain warm water and a clean cloth.
A final note, make sure to take under consideration what kind of surface you are about to wash! Mat and gloss surfaces will react differently to cleaning. Therefore it is advisable to firstly do a “test patch” over a small and remote surface of your wall. This way, you can test if your wall is compatible with your product and procedure of choice. At the end if you do not feel confident in cleaning your walls just call a professional and they can do all the hard the work for you!
Thank you for reading and happy cleaning!
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