Flat paint is a commonly used type of paint in homes nowadays and comes with many benefits, such as achieving a matte finish and helping to hide imperfections. But as with all things, there are downsides to flat paint as well.
Some downsides are that these types of walls show smudges, dirt, and other buildups a lot faster than walls that use different variations of paint. This means that they need to be cleaned even more often.
But unfortunately, another con to flat paint is that it’s more sensitive to cleaning solutions, and if you’re too rough then you could even peel the paint from the wall! So today we’re going to be teaching you how to clean your walls with flat paint safely and efficiently.
Easy Cleaning Strategies For Walls With Flat Paint
When coming up with a complete strategy for cleaning these walls, you need to take several aspects of the cleaning process into account. This means that there isn’t just one thing to keep in mind, instead, there are several.
So here are the basic concepts of how to clean a wall with flat paint and we’ll dive a bit deeper into them in the following sections.
- You’ll need to have the right setup in place beforehand, such as a tarp on the floors and outlets that are properly covered.
- You have to choose the right cleaning materials for the process, soft sponges, gentle cleaners, etc.
- Use the right steps! You may not have to begin with a wet cleaner, sometimes a quick vacuum can solve your problems.
- And finally, think about some preventative measures that you could take in order to ensure your walls don’t get dirty often. Wiping scuff marks off quickly and keeping your hands off the walls are some examples.
The Setup – Before You Clean The Walls
Before you begin cleaning your walls, it’s important to make sure that you won’t be accidentally dirtying or damaging other parts of your home. So to do this, you may need to set up a few things first.
You should start by removing anything you can from the surface you want to clean, so things like paintings and mirrors need to go. Secondly, you should move any furniture that’s in the way. You want to have as much space as possible, and you don’t want to risk getting cleaning solutions on expensive pieces.
Additionally, you may want to cover your floor with a tarp of some kind if you’re planning on using a cleaning solution that could drip easily. And along those lines, you should probably cover your electrical outlets with some painter’s tape. Better safe than sorry!
Choosing The Right Materials
As we mentioned earlier, walls with flat paint are a pain to tidy up because there are a lot of cleaning solutions that will harm them more than help them. So you need to choose gentle cleaners if you can. Here are some of our suggestions…
- Soft sponges or microfiber cloths to clean with
- Warm water
- Dishwashing liquid, distilled white vinegar, and baking soda
- And maybe even a little touch-up paint
The Right Steps To Clean Your Walls With Flat Paint
Now that you’ve prepared the area, chosen the right materials, and are ready to actually clean your walls, let’s look at how you should go about doing it.
- In the beginning, you want to simply remove any dust from the walls. You can do this in any way you feel most comfortable with. Some people might use a vacuum, others could sweep the walls, or maybe you’d prefer to wipe it down with a dry rag.
- Next, if your walls still look dirty, you should step it up a notch and use some of that warm water we mentioned earlier. Wet a rag or sponge (wring it out before using it) and clean the walls from top to bottom with the warm water.
- For those of you that still feel your walls need more cleaning, you can move onto the next step which is to use a slightly stronger cleaning solution. Mix together one quart of warm water, one-half cup of distilled white vinegar, and one teaspoon of dishwashing liquid. Use that mixture to clean the walls in the same way as you did with the warm water, but make sure to go back and rinse off the soapiness with some warm water afterwards.
- For extra stubborn marks that still haven’t come out, you may need to add some baking soda to a wet rage and clean off the area with it in order to remove them.
- And if all else fails, then use some touch up paint to cover up the scuff or mark.
Keeping Your Walls With Flat Paint Clean
But as you can see, even the simple solution for cleaning your walls can be quite time-consuming. So it’s best if you can keep your walls clean, and avoid the long process for as long as you can.
Doing so is fairly simple, just try not to touch your walls often and make sure that if you notice a small scuff you clean it off right away before the mark becomes more stubborn.
Conclusion
Even though walls with flat paint can be a bit more delicate than other types of walls, it is still possible to clean them in a way that won’t damage them. And in order to keep your walls looking pristine, this is probably something you should do whenever you see them start to look a little dirty.
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Just make sure to choose gentle cleaners, and be mindful of how the paint will react to certain cleaning methods. If you do that and follow the steps listed above, then everything should turn out just fine.
