Day 6 – The Twelve Days of Christmas Cleaning

Day 6 – The Walls

Now it’s time to start cleaning. Today, just work on the walls. Believe it or not, the cleaning tasks I will assign the rest of our 12 days will make your house look wonderful. So far, you’ve only gotten stuff out of the way. Even if you haven’t done any of that, work through the cleaning projects. It will make a world of difference.

The eraser-type products (Magic Eraser) work well on painted walls–except for flat paint. Tips and steps I use:

• The dirt tends to smear easily so start by wiping the wall with a rag dipped in the equivalent of dishwater. This will get the top layer of dirt off.
• Do small areas at a time.
• Keep a second towel wet with clean water to wipe off the wall once you have used the eraser on it. Otherwise, the dirt smears and it looks worse than when you started.
• One other thing about these products. They work so well because they are stripping a light layer of paint off the top. If you scrub too hard in one area, it will rub off all the paint.

You can always paint over the wall if the cleaning doesn’t work. Just be sure to clean it first. Using primer is a good idea, too.

While you are working on the walls, clean the  electrical switch plates. They can get really dirty over time. Use a cleaning wipe, diaper wipe, or cleaning cloth to wipe these down. They typically clean easily since most are made of plastic.