Top Cleaning Solutions For Dirty Walls
It can be easy to forget about cleaning the walls of our homes, or to simply ignore them in the belief that it doesn’t really matter whether they’re clean or not. And to be honest, since we don’t eat our dinner off of the walls, perhaps it doesn’t matter from a hygiene point of view, but in terms of aesthetics, it’s certainly important to keep walls clean.
If your walls are looking less than fresh and clean thanks to grubby fingerprints, crayon stains and goodness knows what else, here are some top cleaning solutions to try – just remember to test them out on a small corner of the wall first:
Simple cleaning solution for interior walls
Requiring only 3 cheap and easy to find ingredients, this solution is a good all-rounder for general wall stains and scuffs:
- 2 cups of water
- A teaspoon of dish soap
- A teaspoon of white vinegar
Mix the ingredients in a large bowl or bucket, dip a soft cloth or sponge in and scrub gently at the walls.
Baking soda solution for interior walls
Gentle but with the ability to cut through grease and grime, this solution simply combines baking soda (a ¼ cup) and a tablespoon of water mixed together in a bowl or dish. Ideal for painted walls and kitchen backsplashes, this environmentally friendly paste can be applied to the wall with a soft cloth or sponge, and wiped off with clean water.
Ammonia, vinegar and baking soda solution for grimy walls
For walls that are dirty in general, this recipe works wonder when wiped over the surface of the wall, and cleaned off with water:
- 1 cup of ammonia
- ½ a cup of apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup of baking soda
- 1 gallon of warm water
Don’t forget the baseboards when cleaning your walls with this solution, and around light switches; for harder to reach, smaller areas, you can use a toothbrush or q-tip.
All-purpose cleaner for tiled walls
While wonderfully effective on walls, this solution is also ideal for tiles and shower walls:
- 1 cup of white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of dish detergent
- ¼ teaspoon of tea tree oil
- ¼ teaspoon of eucalyptus oil
Combine the ingredients and pour them into a spray bottle, giving them a good shake to combine them thoroughly. Then, simply spray onto tiled walls or other surfaces, leave it to sit for up to ten minutes, and then wipe down with a cloth or sponge. Able to cut effectively through water stains and soap scum, it can help stop bacteria from growing in moist areas, such as those found in kitchens and bathrooms.
A solution for eliminating crayon marks
Crayon marks appear on the walls of most homes with small children, but with a pencil eraser, art gum, baby wipes or a damp sponge sprinkled with baking soda, you should be able to eliminate them with relative ease. A non-gel toothpaste may also work.
Vinegar solution for exterior walls
For vinyl siding and other exterior walling, you can make up a solution of 3 and a half cups of white vinegar combined in a bucket with half a gallon of water, and simply apply it to the affected walls with a scrubbing brush. This is also a great heavy-duty cleaner for interior floors.
For walls that require more than a light wiping down with one of the solutions above, why not ask a cleaning company to come in and get your walls clean for you? With zero effort on your part, you could go to work and come back to sparkling clean walls good enough to eat your dinner off of!
