Of all the things in our homes that need cleaning, walls can be the toughest to clean and, especially, keep clean. The tiling behind my stove permanently looks like a Jackson Pollock painting. At least tiles can be wiped down with some water and cloth. There’s nothing like that feeling of dread when you step into your house and see a muddy paw print, or hand print, on your clean white wall. With these recipes and tricks that you can put together at home, you can say good bye to that sense of dread, and have your walls looking as good as new in no time.
1. All Purpose Vinegar
Vinegar is an extremely versatile chemical composition. It’s great for cleaning bathrooms, and sinks, but it can also be an ideal wall and floor cleaner, especially so if your walls are made from more heavy-duty materials.
By mixing 3 and a half cups of white Vinegar with half a gallon of water in a bucket, you get a solution that’s perfect for scrubbing out even the most messy stains on your walls.
2. Tile Cleaner
While tiles can be easier to clean, procrastination can be a big obstacle in this task. Wait a little too long to clean the grime, and it solidifies.
Mix one cup of white vinegar, 1 cup of dish washing detergent, and for added cleanliness and to keep the room smelling fresh, add a quarter teaspoon of Tea Tree Oil and Eucalyptus Oil.
This solution is especially good for the tiles and walls in your bathroom, and works best when sprayed and then wiped down with a rag or scrub.
3. Cleaning your Wallpaper
Dust and dirt build up in corners can be a real problem. If your walls are lined with wallpaper, the good news is there is an easy solution. You can use a normal small vacuum to clean wallpaper and get every last cobweb hanging in the corners.
It’s advisable to do this at least once every two months if not more frequently. That is, if you want to avoid your house looking like its Halloween time all year round!
4. Simplest Homemade Wall Cleaner
The potency of most cleaning solutions is usually determined by their purpose. For example, dish-washing solution is much stronger than soap for your hands. With walls, finding the right solution can be a little trickier because the solution can have its own effect on the paint or tiles.
This mixture is a simple one that can be effectively used on most types of material. All you need is 1 teaspoon of dish-washing soap, 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 2 cups of water. Mix thoroughly and apply to the stained area with a soft scrub.
5. Cleaning Crayon Marks
Anyone with kids will be familiar with the intense task of trying to scrub crayon markings off the wall. Once you get past the instinct to frame that piece of wall and send your child to the nearest art prodigy school, the wall still has to be cleaned. Most attempts to get rid of it end up just spreading the color more. Next time, just try using a normal pencil eraser, scrubbing gently in a circular motion. Art gum can also be very effective.
Once the bulk of the wax is off, a normal sponge or baby wipes can take off the last of it. If all else fails, non-gel toothpaste is a great option to try.
6. Getting Rid of Water Stains
These can be the most frustrating things to deal with. They usually start building up on the interior of the walls before eventually leaking outward, and can lead to the buildup of mold and mildew.
If you mix one cup of bleach with a gallon of water, you get a nifty cleaning solution that can be used to rinse out the stains. After rinsing with the solution, make sure to dry the affected area thoroughly with a blow dryer.
In case the stains don't go no matter how many times you rinse, get a new coat of paint for that wall and make sure to use stain-proof primer.
7. Cleaning up Grime
Cleaning grime is a gross but necessary task and we all have to deal with it eventually. You can try to avoid it but it'll just keep piling up. Don't worry, we've got a good fix for it.
You'll need half a cup of apple cider vinegar, a quarter cup baking soda, a gallon of warm water and finally one cup of ammonia to seal the deal. Mix them together in a bucket and use a sponge or a thick rag to wipe down all the grimy places.
Just to be safe, make sure you get all corners, edges and small areas like light switches, where grime and dust build up usually happens.
8. Baking Soda Cleanser
While the solution you mixed above is strong and ideal for cleaning thick and heavy grime, for the more normal but still irksome stains, baking soda has its own strength.
A quarter cup of baking soda mixed with only a tablespoon of water creates a mix that is ideal for cleaning stains and grime off painted walls, whether they are latex or semi-gloss. This is also a fantastic fix for the constant splatter in the kitchen.
9. Quick Fix for Grease
Well, if I'm being perfectly honest, I wasn't thrilled with the ending of the movie. Sorry, but some bad jokes just can't be held in.
On a more serious note, if you're someone that enjoys the occasional barbecue at home or has kids at home, you'll suddenly find greasy fingerprints slathered across your walls, or bits of gravy sprayed across it. This can be especially hard to get rid of because, like Crayons, grease spreads when you try to clean it, due to the presence of oils.
Mercifully, there actually is a really quick fix to this. Take a piece of chalk and color over the stain with it, till the grease is caked in chalk powder. Wait a few minutes for the grease to dry and then just clean off the entire mess with a damp scrub or cloth.
10. Bread as a Scrub
The next time you find a slice of bread with fungus on it in the middle of the loaf, cut off the fungus and preserve the bread. It’ll come in handy the next time you need to clean off grime, dust, grease or what have you.
Bread is extremely absorbent and has a way of grabbing all the dirt. After a few initial wipe downs with a slice of bread, you can try any of the above solutions to lightly scrub off the last of the gunk or stain on the wall.
