When it comes to cleaning walls there are some important things that you need to know before you start.
Firstly there are a lot of products on the market that were created to clean walls that you shouldn’t use. What does that mean? Well wall paints come in a lot of different types, as do walls. Some products that are created for cleaning walls will actually strip the paint on some walls and create a bigger problem than the dirt you started with.
So the first thing to do is test the product you want to use on a small patch of wall to see if it leaves marks before you start using it all over the wall.
For example I know of a cleaner who a few years ago spent seven hours cleaning a client’s walls by hand; and in the words of the tenant got a fantastic result. A few days later the Agent checked the property which was being cleaned at the end of the tenant’s lease and noticed that the walls had wipe marks when you looked at them in the sun. The cleaner was then sued by the landlord and had to pay to get the walls painted.
So the first thing you want to make sure is that the products that you are using don’t damage the painting on the wall.
When it comes to cleaning you walls the first step and the topic of this article is sport cleaning. That means scrubbing the scuff marks and other main marks you can see on the wall.
Usually the marks will fall into one of four categories:
- Scuff marks and other obvious dirty marks that can be wiped off.
- Dents and Scratches
- Stains that can not be easily removed.
- General Oil and Dirtiness.
Spot Cleaning is focused on removing the first category – the scuff marks and obvious dirty marks that can be wiped off.
For this we often use Sugar Soap wipes. Sugar Soap doesn’t usually damage the paint and the wipes let you scrub the marks. We use the wipes as well as a dry cloth to dry the wall immediately after we clean it so that the chance of leaving wipe marks is reduced.
The spots that remain after this is done well are the ones that fit into categories 2 and 3.
If we are preparing a wall for end-of-lease so that the property will be returned to the agent we would usually not do anything at this point with categories 2,3 and 4.
If the Agent wants something done further then we would look at handling categories 2,3 and 4.
Category 2 is handled by painting the wall, so if this is needed we would not recommend doing anything further with cleaning and just get the painting done.
Category 3 is handled by either painting the walls or using a harsher cleaning product such as Magic Eraser or Gumption for example. Just remember that if they damage the paint you may need to paint anyway.
Category 4 is handled by a full wall wash. This is always done after a Sport clean and involves using a product such as Sugar Soap and a mop to wash the walls in full.
If you have any questions about how to get the best result and get your Bond returned in full contact us at Tiger Clean.