Cleaning Walls

Hi B., I've had great success with the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers (you can buy bargin versions cheaper) getting marks off of the walls without bothering the paint or too much scrubbing. Good luck!

B.,

Hands down Magic earsers from Mr. Clean. They are the best things since sliced bread. Seriously they are fairly inexpensive but with walls you will need a few because they tend to break apart when cleaning walls. Try them you will love them. I use them for everything, and I mean everything.

Good luck,

I am not sure how "washable" eggshell paint is, but you could use 1/4 C white distilled vinegar, a tiny amount of dish soap (like a 1/4-1/2 tsp) and 1 gallon of super hot water. This is working like a charm on the grout on my floor.

i am a fan of the mr. clean erasers! i have three little kids and we have the same problems with our walls. the erasers work great on everything, even washing crayon off is easy. since the erasers aren't full of chemical stuff and fumes, i let my kids "help" wash with them and they love to help. there are times they even ask for an eraser so that they can scrub the walls!

I know exactly what you mean as far as kid grime on the walls. The best thing I have found (even works on crayon!) is the Mr Clean Eraser. The original ones seem to go further than the generic or the super eraser. Good Luck!

Just use hot soapy water (like dawn dish soap) or vinegar & water to wash everything down and then use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser for any tough spots.

Vinegar is very good on walls, just be careful depending on what kind of paint you have you can wash it off, even with only water!!!
Flats come right off, eggshell is still a little iffy- but anything above that you should be good!

Good luck!

My mom always used Vinegar and water. Very green, inexpensive, but you have to handle the smell for a few hours. Good Luck!
P.S. I might add that all 4 of us kids had to help! :o) The smaller ones did the base boards.

When I was little my mom always used 409 spray and that seems to work. I also will use the multi surface clorox(sp) spray. I am sure if you used that Mr Clean sponge it would help. Thats all I can give you, our son hasn't started putting handprints over everything yet so hope this helps.

love, love, love the magic erasers! Works on our walls. We used them instead of TSP, and didn't need touse any liquid chemicals on them.

My newest favorite cleaning item is white vinegar. I use it instead of fabric softener in the wash - clothes are much softer and don't smell like vinegar either, I also use it on the shower door to remove the grime there - soap scum, mildew, mold, etc. For my laminate floor,I use about a gallon hot water, a squirt of dawn dish soap and about a cup of white vinegar, with a wash cloth on the end of a regular swiffer- no need to buy special pads.

For dirty walls, I'd use a very dilited slution of TSP and water - but only if they are dirty, greasy, etc. For normal dirty walls, I'd use the dawn, vinegar and water solution that I use on the floors. For stubborn spots, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers seem to do the trick.

We're painting this year - it's been almost 15 years. We used Home Depot's Behr brand paints when we originally painted and have been cleaning htem ever since wihtout a problem. I think a good quality paint will last the years and be able to be cleaned many times over. We consider it an "investment"!

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It works on everything and it doesn't leave scrub marks. I have used it on scuff marks, stains from food on wall (yes, 23 month old), cleans grout, everything. I'm currently looking at chocolate fingerprints on my wall that I am about to attack.

Use Mr. Clean magic erasers or wash with TSP cleaner.

Check the paint and make sure it's water based. We just tried the same thing and when we went to wash the walls the paint rubbed off because it wasn't a glossy type of paint. Hopefully you will have better luck then us since we had to repaint.

I just used Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponges yesterday. Wow! It doesn't have any odor or seem to have any harsh chemicals although I used gloves. I only wanted to tackle one area but ended up doing the whole house. Not too much elbow grease is required either. Good Luck!

Mr. Clean Magic eraser works great. You barely have to put any muscle into it at all and it gets tough dirt and crayon off the walls with ease. My husband is an auto mechanic so if it can get that type of grease and dirt off it should get anything off.

I use a couple of "green products" called "Tough & Tender"
and add a capful of "Sol-u-mel" Does a great job and there are toxic chemicals put into the home enviroment.
S.

The West Michigan Environmental Action Council (www.wmeac.org) has on its site a number of "green clean" recipes to make yourself. The one I think that would address your walls is the All Purpose Cleaner: 1 tsp Borax, 2 Tbsp white vinegar, 1/2 cup vegetable-oil based soap (ie Murphy's), warm water (2 cups), 1/4 tsp essential oil (Meijers has Tea Tree oil among the vitamins). Add the borax to the water in 24 oz spray bottle, cap, and shake to dissolve. Add vinegar and shake again. Then add soap and oil.

This stuff is magical! Dried spaghetti sauce on the countertop can be wiped away after one squirt! So I bet the kids' walls will turn out sparkling clean!

I have been using Shaklee's cleaning products the GET CLEAN line and love it especially the basic H for cleaning walls. Oprah favorite product is the Basic H
check it out online shaklee.net/avedisian

good luck C.

B.,

I am on an organizing and house cleaning list-serve called FlyLady and she offers 3 "huge"! microfiber cleaning cloths on her website for $9.95 + shipping. She calls them Royal Rags in a Bag. I have not purchased them yet, but am saving up.

Many testimonials from list-serve members have said they use just the water dampened rag to clean their bathroom sinks and can smell the cleaning chemicals from the past coming out of the sink as they are scrubbing. Just a few minutes of hard work and they said their sinks are clean. I'm hoping I have such great success when I purchase the rags myself in a month or two.

I have learned over the past few years that the FlyLady testimonials are not inflated or paid for by the website. Members write in because they are genuinely pleased with the results of the cleaning tools the website offers. Marla Cilley, the founder of FlyLady.net tries very hard not to sell junk, only items that are helpful to her members.

Here's the website:
http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_rag.asp

Good luck with your project!

By the way, I have found the Magic Eraser to be a bit harsh on some types of paint, so use with care.

I clean my walls every spring and use hot soapy water. Assuming there isn't any crayon/marker/pencil on your walls, with a little elbow grease on the tough spots, this should work fine.

You can try one of those Mr Clean srub sponges...all it takes is water to activate the cleaning agents.
There's also this great company called Melaleuca. All of their cleaning supplies (from laundry to toilets) is all made of natural ingredients - you can even pronounce the stuff that's in it!
I've been real curious to try those called Green Works. I don't know the company but they market the cleaners as earth friendly as well.

If you try a cleaner, maybe start with the glass cleaner. I don't think it's as abrasive as others.

Good luck!