Washing Walls

[BabyMonkeys]

One of my little guys is leaving in a couple of weeks so I'm working on getting the house interview ready again. I haven't interviewed in over 2 years! I didn't realize how much damage those little grubby toddler fingers have done to my walls. I tried wiping them down gently with a magic erase, but I'm washing the paint off the walls. The renters before me clearly had eccentric taste in paint. The dining room has some sort of wild purple under the white, the living room has a weird orange color. Thankfully I stopped wiping as soon as I started seeing the color peek through. I'm kinda at a loss as to what to clean them with. I really don't want to have to repaint, but I guess I will if I have to.

[Play Care]

One of my little guys is leaving in a couple of weeks so I'm working on getting the house interview ready again. I haven't interviewed in over 2 years! I didn't realize how much damage those little grubby toddler fingers have done to my walls. I tried wiping them down gently with a magic erase, but I'm washing the paint off the walls. The renters before me clearly had eccentric taste in paint. The dining room has some sort of wild purple under the white, the living room has a weird orange color. Thankfully I stopped wiping as soon as I started seeing the color peek through. I'm kinda at a loss as to what to clean them with. I really don't want to have to repaint, but I guess I will if I have to.

When we bought our home the builder had used the basic beige flat paint. After a couple of years it looked so grubby and could not be washed. We have been repainting the rooms where it's the biggest issue. Not a big deal for some, but DH and I both hate painting in a big way. But DH is also too cheap to pay someone to do it...
In any event I do think re-painting or touching up is probably your best option. Good Luck!

[Mike]

Soap and water takes off most water based stains. The trick is the rest. Pretty much everything is either water or oil based. For oil based, use oil. Baby oil does magic for cleaning.

[Leigh]

I clean mine with Odoban, just a couple of drops of Dawn, and water.

[MunchkinWrangler]

Magic erasers are great but they are the lowest grade of sandpaper. New paint instructions actually say to not use them as they sand away the paint. Plain soap and water is your best bet.

[Unregistered]

I use Scrubbing Bubbles on my long hallway walls that lead to the bathroom. Takes off grubby little handprints.

[CityGarden]

I use Scrubbing Bubbles on my long hallway walls that lead to the bathroom. Takes off grubby little handprints.

Very neat to know. I have always used soap and warm water

[Unregistered]

Start small, just in case it does anything to your paint. But I have never had a problem.

[AmyKidsCo]

Magic Erasers were fantastic on my white plastic shelves but I wouldn't use them on anything else.

I'm trying Scrubbing Bubbles next time I wash walls.