Dirty Walls? Let's Fix Them!
Whether you're getting ready to put the house on the market or for the upcoming holiday season, deep cleaning is a must. And it all starts with the walls.
Let's tackle the removal of some of the most common stains on walls.
Dog Smears
For lack of a better term, these are the stains dogs leave when they rub along the walls. The typically brown smears aren't too hard to remove.
Start with a damp "magic eraser," gently rubbed on the stains. This should remove most of the grime. If there is anything left, the folks at houselogic.com recommend creating a DIY cleaning solution that contains: 1/2 cup ammonia, 1/4 cup white distilled white vinegar, 1/8 cup baking soda, and a 1/2 gallon of warm water.
Kitchen Wall Grease and Grime
Start the grease removal with dish detergent and hot water. If the grease is caked on and has been caked on for some time, you may need to move on to something stronger, such as a paste composed of baking soda and water.
Finally, for even tougher stains, try a solution of ammonia and water, especially for the filter. Wear gloves and a mask when working with ammonia and never mix bleach with ammonia.
Permanent Marker
Permanent markers are tough to remove from walls. Thankfully, one of our favorite bloggers has the solution. Spray the wall with a glass cleaner and then gently rub the marks with a Magic Eraser.
You may have to keep scrubbing, but Karen Bertelsen at TheArtofDoingStuff.com swears it works.
Crayon
Magic erasers work like a charm on crayon marks. If they don't do the trick: Dab some non-gel toothpaste on the spot and use a sponge to scrub it, use a pink eraser to scrub the mark, or moisten a kitchen sponge, dip it in baking soda and scrub the crayon mark.