March 11, 2020

How to Clean and Wash Walls

Historically speaking, wall washing was a big part of the spring cleaning routine mostly because homes were heated with wood and/or oil furnaces and there was a build up on the walls. In modern homes this task isn’t quite as necessary BUT it is something that should be done from time to time. I have SPOT CLEAN WALLS on my Rotating Task List. When it comes to Spring Cleaning I do a little more in depth approach to ‘wall washing’.

We recently had our floors re-done and I tried out a new method for wall cleaning and washing and I thought you might want to try it out too if you’re needing a thorough wall washing. You might not necessarily need to wash all the walls from the floor to the ceiling but definitely hit the high traffic areas and check for handprints, fingerprints, footprints, and other smudges and smears that tend to appear. I dust corners and walls as part of my cleaning rotation, this helps keep the walls clean as well as keep the dust down in the house.

CLEANING TIP: Did you know that allergens, chemicals, germs, and all sorts of microscopic particles hang out on dust? That’s why it’s so important to remove dust on a regular basis. Getting the dust off surfaces and out of our homes is important!  You can see more about this in my book, Clean Mama’s Guide to a Healthy Home.

DUST FIRST IF NECESSARY
Before you wash your walls, you might need to dust them – I have found that just using a dry mop pad on the large wall cleaner below works great! You could also use a dry microfiber mop pad on a  floor cleaner as well. If you just need to dust the corners and edges, this works or you can use an extendable duster. See my favorite spring cleaning tools here.

Here are the 4 different methods I use and recommend – choose one that works for you:

MICROFIBER CLEANING CLOTH
Spot clean with microfiber cleaning cloths – add about a 1/2 teaspoon of castile or dish soap to a container and fill with about 6 cups of warm water. Work from top to bottom and left to right and in a straight up and down motion. Work in small sections and dry with a microfiber cleaning cloth as you go.

CASTILE SOAP + BAKING SODA
If you have scratches or marks that seem a little stubborn, add 1 teaspoon baking soda to the recipe and method above. The baking soda will add a little scrubbing and cleaning power to the mix.

LARGE FLOOR/WALL WASHER
Keeping dust out of the house is imperative to a clean home, especially if you have allergies. I love using this large floor/wall washer on walls to dust and clean them quickly and easily and it also doubles as a quick floor washer. I bought these cotton terry cloth mop cloths for floors and walls too – they work great! This is a multi-purpose tool – use it for both walls and floors!

Here’s the step by step on how to clean and wash walls using the large wall washer:

1. Gather your supplies – this depends on what method you want to use.
2. Dust edges and corners – remove any cobwebs and dust that might be lurking in high and low spots.
3. Dust walls – once I’ve dusted the corners and edges I check the walls for anything that can be wiped clean.
4. Choose your method – spot clean or wash walls.

QUICK TIP:  I use FLAT paint throughout our home (you can see all our paint colors here) for a couple reasons but the main one is that I love how it washes up. I also keep a small container of extra paint to do quick touch ups with a small roller when necessary. The flat paint allows for a seamless blending of paint whereas I find that when doing paint touch ups with eggshell or semi-gloss the touch-up shows so I need to redo a wall instead of a quick touch up.

If you’re looking for an in-depth cleaning guide, my brand-new PDF packet, Clean Mama’s Guide to a Clean Home: Finding Peace in Your Routine has amazing checklists, a quick-start guide, DIY cleaning recipes and more. Check it out here.

See all the posts for the Spring Cleaning Month series here.