A Simple Guide To Clean Walls
Posted June 25th, 2018.
Walls get dirty, especially at the height of small children and pets. Sometimes it’s easy to overlook wall grime–until the mess is really obvious. Fortunately, cleaning walls is really easy, and this simple guide to clean walls with help you keep your office walls sparkling. The trick is to clean them regularly–well not so much of a trick as a reminder. We recommend you clean walls as part of your weekly or monthly checklist.
Walls also get dusty, so use the brush attachment on your vacuum to remove dust and surface dirt from your walls. This will start the process of making your walls look great. You’re still going to need to wash them to remove all the grime from the office walls, especially if you haven’t done it in a while (or ever).
This simple guide will take the mystery out of cleaning your walls, allowing you to get it done quickly and efficiently.
What You Will Need
Vacuum with brush attachment
- Towel
- Broom
- Bucket with warm soapy water
- Bucket with clean water
- Dust cloth, brush or sponge
- Drop cloth
Step-by-Step Instruction
Step One – Remove all artwork from walls and pull your office furniture into the center of the room, away from the walls. This will give you plenty of room to work.
Step Two – Remove dust from your walls is with a broom and towel. This is also a good way to clear out hard-to-reach cobwebs. Make sure you get from the ceiling to the baseboards, no matter which method you have chosen.
Step Three – Now it’s time to lay down the drop cloth, just in case of any spills or drippage from the walls as you clean them. This will help protect your floors from the water.
Step Four – With a lint-free cloth or sponge, it’s time to scrub! Wash the walls with the warm, soapy water from the top down for best results. Stay away from anything dyed, as it may change the color of your walls. Make sure that your sponge or cloth is damp, not wet, as too much water can cause damage to your walls.
Step Five – Now it’s time for the rinse. Follow up step four with a clean water rinse, and make sure you are changing out the water in both buckets to keep them clean. Dirty water is just going to put the dirt right back on the walls and not clean them. And nobody wants to do that.
What About Painted Walls?
Latex Painted Interior Walls – To clean latex painted walls, you’re going to need either a few drops of dish detergent in a half-filled bucket of water, or two to three teaspoons of distilled white vinegar in a gallon of water. Wet sponge and wring dry, then apply to the wall to clean off dirt and grime. Keep the sponge damp but not wet, as you do not want water dripping down your walls. If marks do not come off using one of the two solutions, then you will have to repaint to cover them. Never use harsh cleaners or degreasers on latex painted walls.
Oil-Based Painted Interior Walls – Oil-based paints are sturdier than latex ones, but you use the same solution to wash them. However, you can add a mild degreaser, especially in areas such as the kitchen or break room. With oil-based painted walls, never use a harsh scrubber to clean; a soft sponge or rag will do, the same as latex paints. Otherwise, you will remove the paint every time you wipe, leaving streaks of missing paint on your walls.
Exterior Walls – With exterior walls, whether latex or oil-based paint, you start by wetting down the walls first. To get a solution of a half cup Jomax, a cup of bleach and water; you’re going to want to use a pump garden sprayer. After adding the Jomax and bleach, fill the container with water. Use the pump garden sprayer to lightly add the mixture to your walls. Let it stand for about 15 minutes, then use a soft scrubbing brush (nothing harsh) to remove mildew, mold, dirt, and other debris. Use a garden hose to rinse. If you have a two-story home, you can use a pressure washer to reach the top floor if your garden hose doesn’t, but it has to have a 25-degree nozzle and you can’t use pressure. Using pressure could damage the paint and the siding.
Deep Cleaning Vs Spot Cleaning
The instructions above also work for spot cleaning, though you will only be washing the spots where dirt is showing, such as around door jambs, light switches, and any other high-traffic areas. Spot cleaning is a good way to keep your walls looking fresh, especially if you do not have time to do a deep cleaning of your walls, since a deep clean would have to happen when you are closed for the day or on the weekends/holidays.
The instructions above are for deep cleaning, which means washing your walls from top to bottom to ensure their cleanliness. Experts recommend doing this at least twice a year, in the spring and the fall. Spot cleaning should happen more frequently, at least weekly if not daily, as grime builds up and becomes noticeable. Deep cleaning requires far more effort than spot cleaning, as you have to move all the furniture, take down anything on the walls and scrub gently from top to bottom. Spot cleaning just requires a damp sponge and a quick walk around the room to see if there are any grimy areas on the walls.
At Fox Cities Janitorial, wall cleaning is part of our standard office cleaning service. Give us a call today, and let us do the dirty work for you, without interfering with the daily running of your business. Keep your walls sparkling and smelling fresh longer with our wall cleaning service. Clean walls are a part of keeping a clean office that your clients will love, so go ahead and give us that call. You’ll be glad you did.