If you have kids you will always be cleaning your walls. They go around the house with their grubby hands, dragging them along the walls. As lovely as it is to see this memory being made in your home. It also means that you have to keep up behind them, cleaning up. Parents’ work never seems to be done. Because as soon as you clean the walls, they have spilt something on the floor.
In Lockdown, I left a glass of red wine on the top bannister to take to bed and watch some tv. My daughter came whizzing by and knocked that red wine down the stairs. That’s right! Down my white painted stairs! Luckily as they were painted with gloss it wiped off okay. But it splashed up the walls. There was no way, that was coming off. So you know what we did? We framed it as our lockdown memory. Now we just have a framed wine splash on the wall. It was random but it was our lockdown memory and nobody else has one like this. When your floors and walls get ruined, there are ways to clean them up. But we also wanted to offer some advice on how to clean them too. Because let’s face it, there is a time and place for wine wall art.
Cleaning Your Floors
When you need to wipe scuffs off the wooden floor, this is easier than you think. And it is cost-effective because all you need is an old toothbrush and some toothpaste. Just use the normal, run of the mill toothpaste, none of the whitening toothpaste or gel toothpaste. Then gently scrub the floor to remove the scuffs. The toothbrush is going to be gentle because it is gentle when you clean your teeth, but the toothpaste is good at removing marks. Simply wipe the toothpaste away with a damp cloth.
If this doesn’t work, you can try to dab the scuff with some baby oil or vaseline and dry cloth. Then rub the scuff or mark until it has gone. Lastly, wipe away any oil or vaseline that you might still have on the floor. You don’t want anyone slipping over on it.
An old Japanese trick is to throw damp tea leaves over a floor before you sweep it. The dust and dirt then cling to the tea leaves and make it easier to sweep up. Then throw it all onto your compost heap if you have one. Although this works because it is an old Japanese traditional way of cleaning, you cannot do it on untreated floors. The tea will stain the flooring.
Cleaning Your Walls
We have all had kids that have drawn on the walls! The kids think they are allowed to draw on paper, so they can draw on the walls too. When they get inspired to draw a portrait on your walls, you need to know how to rub crayons off. The best thing about crayon is that it is wax, and when wax gets hot, it melts. So use your hairdryer and heat the wax crayon, then wipe it away with a damp cloth and baby oil. Some people have used a fabric conditioner sheet to wipe crayons away. A tumble dryer sheet is perfect for this. But if that doesn’t work, you could use shaving cream and gently scrub it with a toothbrush.
If you have washable wallpaper, use a bucket of warm water and washing up liquid to wipe the walls. Make sure you have squeezed out any excess water because you do not want to soak the wallpaper. If there is a grease stain on the wallpaper, get a small soft brush like a paintbrush or makeup brush. The powder some talcum powder over the grease stain. Leave it for about 30 minutes and then brush it off. It might take a few repeat attempts to do it.
If you have wooden panelled walls, then you are lucky because I love these walls in old homes. They give it character! But they do get dusty. You need some old tights or stockings that are laddered or have holes in them. Wash them so they are clean and then dip them in a mixture of 1-litre water, half a litre of white vinegar and 120ml of lemon juice. You can make more or less of the mixture as you need it. Scrunch the tights up into a ball and dip them in the mixture. them wipe the panelling over. This will leave them feeling and smelling fresh.
A Few More Tips
If you have painted the walls with vinyl matt paint try not to be too harsh with scrubbing. Because the paint will rub away and ruin your walls, vinyl silk paint is so much better to paint the walls.
Sprinkle bicarbonate of soda powder on the carpet to freshen it up a bit, especially in the winter. Baby powder could also work and it gives you that lovely baby smell too. Leave it overnight to work and then hoover away.
If you are painting your walls and you spill paint on the carpet. Mix some white vinegar, laundry liquid and warm water to dab it and then rub it away. It might take a while, but the paint will lift.
