Do you wash your walls?

[Kim in Appalachia]

I'm am going to be painting our playroom/extra room.  I spent the afternoon scraping off the wall paper border and then washing the walls and trim.  The room was gross.  This is an old house (built 1902), and it is very dusty.  I do wash the walls in my bathroom, and in the kitchen as needed.  But as for the rest of the house, it never happens.  I know it should, but honestly, I barely have time for the normal, everyday cleaning.  But I'm thinking maybe it should be done more often then never.

 

So, do you wash your walls? 

 

[City Mouse]

Only when one of the kids opens a soda and has it spray all over the room. :-)

 

Really, I only wash the walls when there is visible yucky stuff or if I am going to paint.

[Guest]

No. Sometimes I try and other times I hesitate to invite people over because I'm ashamed, but there are only so many hours in the day and so much energy in the mama.

 

It's kind of hard to get past the social conditioning, but when I was able to think of spending $20 on a few hours of a housecleaner's (or homeschooled teen who was saving up for something's) time as beeing no more lazy and wasteful than spending $20 on takeout pizza or a new haircut or a "grownup's" DVD, things got a lot better for me.

 

I also made a pact with my "new best friend" that we would NEVER clean up before we visited each other's house because anyone who has the guts to homeschool doesn't need that kind of fake unrealistic standards and the self-flagellation that inevitably follows.

 

Try Simple Green. I've had good luck with using it to prep walls for painting, but it's been a few years. I think my landlord legally has to repaint my house if I ask him to, since I've been here for ten years without painting now, but I dread the upheaval as much as he dreads the expense so it's not happening in the near future.

[Melissa in Australia]

Only before painting. Except the bathroom, I wash the walls in there pretty regularly.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I used a tsp supstitute that I bought at Lowes.  I do have Simple Green.  I didn't think to use that.  

[lovinmomma]

I'm not an uber clean person. I'm more of a messy. So, maybe my kids have extra dirty hands or something because I wash my walls often? My walls are disgusting if I don't. Black stuff, food, fingerprints, basically yuck. I probably do it about once a month at least in certain areas. I've been known to do it weekly, though in the bathroom and living room. Maybe it's my pet peeve?

[lovinmomma]

I was told not to use a sponge. Use a wet towel with just soap and water and then use a dry towel right after to wipe it dry. Work SO much better than magic eraser or sponges do!

[Parrothead]

Only if there is a desperate need.

[swellmomma]

Not nearly as often as I should.  I just washed the boys' bedroom walls the other day because when I walked in to clean the room they were nasty.  I mean really...footprints from mucky shoes all up the wall and clearly dirty hands around the light switch etc.  The kitchen and entrance I wash more ofte but not enough as they often have dirty marks.  I grew up with my mom going around spot washing the walls and the carpets every saturday during her cleaning day.

[MomtoCandJ]

I do after maple syrup season. I use vinegar and water.

[CyndiLJ]

I don't do it as a regularly scheduled activity, but I hit the worst spots 3 or 4 times a year (doors, trim, etc).  We also make an effort every year, in the Spring, t touch up all the interior paint where there are nicks and dings.  I am really not a total neat freak, but I noticed early on that our house looked ten times nicer if I spent a tiny amount of time once a year doing that little touch up.  Even the kids like it and helped this year, and said it looked much better.

 

But our carpets?  Don't ask.  They need replacing, and that isn't happening costwise.

[catz]

Only if it needs it. I did it up our stairs this spring because it was filthy (we had contractors in through the fall and winter and I blame them.

[LucyStoner]

Yes. Not all the time, but usually ~6 times a year in high traffic areas.

 

Eta- much more often in the kitchen. The area above the stove and sink get wiped down a few times a week.

[Dandelion]

I spot clean them when I see visible dirt/grime.  Beyond that, no.

[Rebecca VA]

When we lived in Navy housing, we were required to wash down walls before moving out.  The walls were painted with semi-gloss, so it was pretty painless to wash them.

 

I would hate like crazy to wash flat (non-glossy) paint.  When I've lived in houses that had flat paint, I would only do the minimum of spot cleaning.

 

[Χά�ων]

Yes. Sadly, yes.

[Audrey]

Yes. Once a month all the walls get washed.  Not all at the same time, but spread out over the month.

[DarlaS]

I spot clean as needed and when it starts to look a little grungy or dusty, I wash them. I have ripped a couple old towels into washcloths just big enough to fit the swiffer (I overlocked the edges first.) and I use that.

 

We have pastel and bright colors mainly. You can really tell.

 

Oh! And all white trim. My idea--completely insane. It looks gross *fast*.

[kiwik]

Only the dirty bits. I have cleaned the ceilings to get rid of fly spots.

[GSOchristie]

I, too, use it for punishment, that's why all my baseboards are sparkling clean ;). I use vinegar and water in a spray bottle so there is no chemical risk for my kids. If my walls have a dirty spot, I use the magic eraser. I have to clean my kitchen and bathroom walls pretty regularly because the paint shows water spots.

[PrairieSong]

Only before painting or if an anonymous kid decides to shake the half gallon jug of salsa until the lid pops off, resulting in a massive tomato jalapeño explosion spraying EVERYwhere, including onto the popcorn ceiling which then has to be scrubbed, resulting in popcorn-less patches on said ceiling. The pink stains might remind anonymous kid's family of this episode forever after. Not that I would know. This is pure speculation.

[sewingmama]

Yes all the time. We live in a rental and one of the rules is no marks on the walls. My kids drag their hands along the walls as the walk so they are always grubby.

[Truscifi]

Only before painting. Except the bathroom, I wash the walls in there pretty regularly.

 

Me too.  Oh, and I wash around the light switches and the door frames at ds' hand height.  He always has grubby hands.

[I.Dup.]

I do not make it a habit or part of my normal routine to wash the walls but if I notice they are dirty (certain places get dirtier than others) then I give them a good scrub. I usually use a wet rag. I will pull out the Magic Eraser if one of the babies gets into markers or something though.

[fraidycat]

Yes.  I pace when talking on the phone.  When I pace when I'm talking on the phone, the dirty spots really seem to jump out at me.  So while I'm pacing and talking on the phone, I grab a rag and wipe down a wall, doorway/door, or lightswitch here and there.

 

The kids also get wall washing duty when the mess is very obviously theirs and not just normal "everyday wear and tear".  We have a phantom booger wiper here.  Neither child will admit to it, so both get to wash walls when I see one.

[Pawz4me]

I wipe down the dirty spots as needed.  That usually means around doorknobs and light switches, behind the pets' bowls and anywhere the cats rub regularly (usually on door frames).  Once or twice a year I wipe around the rest of the walls with a Swiffer duster to knock down any loose dust and cobwebs.  Our house is only a few years old, so not prone to the dustiness of older houses, and my kids are well past the age of wiping their hands on the walls.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I should add

I have white walls throughout the house. The only places that get regular washing is from the kitchen around the corner and down the hall to the bathroom. The hall has a bumpout that is just wide enough for the kids to want to climb up it. :glare:

 

BTW: I hate flat paint.

 

 

The previous owners not only used flat paint, they didn't prime fresh drywall  :huh:  The playroom is the last room that had that flat paint/no primer combo.  They also used flat paint in the the kitchen, and put some horrible textured wallpaper over the stove, that can not be scrubbed.  But the kitchen has to wait. The rest of the house has mulitple layers of wallpaper over 100 year old plaster.  I did scrape one room, but we painted over the wall paper in the living room. The room I scraped was so hard.  Each layer had mold and old coal soot inbetween.  Even though I covered everything and kept the door closed it seeped out everywhere.  It was so nasty.  We decided it was better to leave the paper alone.   Some of the the other rooms the previous owners drywalled over the walls.  

 

We also have the nasty old carpets, but no money to replace them.  Someday....

Right now I have to be content with a new paint job, and some inexpensive new window treatments.  

[Kim in Appalachia]

Only before painting or if an anonymous kid decides to shake the half gallon jug of salsa until the lid pops off, resulting in a massive tomato jalapeño explosion spraying EVERYwhere, including onto the popcorn ceiling which then has to be scrubbed, resulting in popcorn-less patches on said ceiling. The pink stains might remind anonymous kid's family of this episode forever after. Not that I would know. This is pure speculation.

 

Popcorn ceilings are worse than flat paint.  Who came up with such a horrible idea??

[Kim in Appalachia]

Yes. Once a month all the walls get washed.  Not all at the same time, but spread out over the month.

 

I am very impressed.  I am not a wash the wall kind of person, but I'm impressed by those who not only think to do it, but than do. I do think it's a good idea, but between being super busy all of the time, and this huge old house I don't think I could even commit to doing it once a year.  I may try though.

[MSNative]

I live in an old house with flat paint on plaster walls.  I have to wash my walls way too often.  A friend told me to use diluted Murphy's Oil Soap to wash the walls.  It gets the dirt and the oils from fingerprints, etc. off.  Really works.  I still have to wash the walls but they stay cleaner in between.

 

BTW - I hate flat paint, too.

[KungFuPanda]

I vacuum cobwebs and hit scuffs with the magic eraser.

[KungFuPanda]

The previous owners not only used flat paint, they didn't prime fresh drywall :huh: The playroom is the last room that had that flat paint/no primer combo. They also used flat paint in the the kitchen, and put some horrible textured wallpaper over the stove, that can not be scrubbed. But the kitchen has to wait. The rest of the house has mulitple layers of wallpaper over 100 year old plaster. I did scrape one room, but we painted over the wall paper in the living room. The room I scraped was so hard. Each layer had mold and old coal soot inbetween. Even though I covered everything and kept the door closed it seeped out everywhere. It was so nasty. We decided it was better to leave the paper alone. Some of the the other rooms the previous owners drywalled over the walls.

 

We also have the nasty old carpets, but no money to replace them. Someday....

Right now I have to be content with a new paint job, and some inexpensive new window treatments.

My mother washed the walls because of coal soot. This might be why I don't feel compelled to do it I'm in the suburbs and I don't even get much dust on flat surfaces, much less the walls.

[lailasmum]

Very occasionally.

[goldberry]

Ok, question - I never have washed walls, except for spot cleaning and around light switches.  But I noticed recently that the walls in my dining room (which is open to the kitchen) have SOMETHING on them, that looks like something sticky that then dripped down the wall, but it's all over.

 

It reminded me of when we lived in Texas and had this horrible space heater in the winter that made condensation.  But now we live in Colorado where there is barely any humidity.  What could this be???  Could it be something from the kitchen somehow?

 

 

[MomtoCandJ]

Ok, question - I never have washed walls, except for spot cleaning and around light switches. But I noticed recently that the walls in my dining room (which is open to the kitchen) have SOMETHING on them, that looks like something sticky that then dripped down the wall, but it's all over.

 

It reminded me of when we lived in Texas and had this horrible space heater in the winter that made condensation. But now we live in Colorado where there is barely any humidity. What could this be??? Could it be something from the kitchen somehow?

This is why I wash my walls after syrup season :) all the condensation from the sap has collected on the walls and loosened any dirt that may not have been noticed before.