If you have just had your walls faux finished, papered, plastered, hand-painted or stenciled, here are some tips you might like to know to keep them looking their best:
- A wall that has been finished with latex paint or sealed with acrylic varnish will be quitedurable and you can clean it as you would any other wall after cure time. A non-oily cleaner such as Spic-n-Span would be fine. I use a baking soda paste, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, or Soft Scrub without bleach on scuffmarks. Use it sparingly on a damp rag. Stubborn marks like pencil, crayon, etc. may come off with Clear Magic or a Magic Eraser used according to package directions. Try Soft Scrub, Clear Magic, or Magic Eraser first on an inconspicuous spot. Walls should cure six weeks before cleaning.
- Walls finished with pearl or metallic glaze can be cleaned, as explained above, after the walls have cured for 6 weeks, but a light hand should be used with any cleaning.
- If walls have been finished with acrylic wax and bee’s wax, the walls can be cleaned with a mild cleaner such as dish soap or Spic-and-Span, etc. When the walls are to be repainted, a heavy-duty primer should be applied first. Alkyd waxes must be stripped off walls before repainting.
- A flat finish wall should NEVER be scrubbed because it will create a shiny spot. For this reason, I do not recommend flat finish paints. Newer types of flat paint called ceramic flat, matte, or scrubbable flat can be scrubbed, but check and double check your paint can information.
- A wall that has been faux finished using latex glaze can be cleaned after six weeks’ cure time. A gentler touch should be used with a latex glaze. Baking soda paste will remove scuffmarks. Try in an inconspicuous spot first.
- Walls finished with metallic/ holographic foil or gilding can be wiped carefully with a damp rag or dusted. No abrasives can be used, as they will scratch the foil or gilding.
- Embossed stenciling may be removed by sanding. A paper textured finish can only be removed from your walls if it has been installed over wallpaper liner, old wallpaper, paneling, or strippable wallpaper primer. Remove a paper textured finish as you would wallpaper. If the textured finish has been applied right to the wall, it can be skim-coated or reglazed.
- Venetian plaster, lusterstone, sandstone, and other textured, stone-based finishes can be primed, repainted, and reglazed if the texture is still desired. If the texture is no longer wanted, these finishes must be skim-coated, unless done over wallpaper. These finishes can be cleaned as described above with the exception of Lusterstone, which should only be cleaned with soap and water. I can retrowel any significant marks.
- Hand-painted paper has been laid over a strippable wallpaper primer and applied to your walls with a strippable wallpaper adhesive. The hand-painted paper should be removed as you would any wallpaper. It can also be painted over and reglazed if it is primed first with white-pigmented shellac.
- A wall to which tissue paper has been applied can be primed, painted, and reglazed or the tissue paper can be removed as with wallpaper or it can be skim-coated.
- Stenciling and hand painting will stand up to cleaning, as would any wall. The stenciling or painting should not be scrubbed hard with a cleanser, however. Prime over the stenciling with a stain-blocking primer before repainting.
- Painting on your ceramic tile can be wiped with a mild cleanser after six week’s cure time.
- Touch ups to your walls may be done using the basecoats and glazes I have left with you. Please keep these in a place where they will not freeze. Paint should be sealed tightly and stored upside down. I also offer a touch-up service, so please feel free to call me if disaster strikes.
