# Cleaning closet walls



## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

I just thought I would give my observation on cleaning walls in a closet. I am getting a house ready for the owner to put up for sale. Part of the job entailed touching up the walls. After I had been on the job for a day or 2, it looked like the best thing was to wash the walls up 5-7 feet first, then spackle dings and touch up with saved paint. I used the cleaner I used last year on a cig smoke job. I bought a sprayer that foams the solution so it sticks on the wall longer. This id the trick on the regular walls, but when I tried it on a closet that was painted in the cheapest contractor white, the foam solution, bubbles and all, just sucked right into the wall and dissappeared. I was wet vacuuming up the solution after I scrubbed with a window cleaning brush, but the solution disappeared so fast I couldn't even wet vac right after spraying.

On a side note, the leftover paint (some of it 12 years old) was mostly BM. After opening and stirring a couple cans I noticed that little pin holes had formed on the bottoms of 2 cans and on the top of one. 

This is my meager offering of late.

futtyos


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

Welcome back!


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

dude, sorry, but you are spending way too much time cleaning stuff that you could just dust off and paint. Why even paint a closet to begin with? Usually people who are putting a house up for sale want it done quick and cheap, not my type of customer but that is the norm.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

gotta love the paint and primer in one, huh?


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Not spending lots of time*



MikeCalifornia said:


> dude, sorry, but you are spending way too much time cleaning stuff that you could just dust off and paint. Why even paint a closet to begin with? Usually people who are putting a house up for sale want it done quick and cheap, not my type of customer but that is the norm.


MC, I did not spend lots of time cleaning closet walls. I just wanted to see if spraying my special solution and scrubbing would do anything to one wall. My observation was that the solution got sucked up so fast into the wall that no cleaning could be done, whereupon I stopped all attempts at cleaning said wall. The other walls have paint that is cleanable and cleaning has made a visual difference. I am using existing paint to touch up spots and dings. Prepping and painting, especially on the 2 story walls, would cost quite a bit more for this job.

futtyos


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Old paint*



PACman said:


> gotta love the paint and primer in one, huh?


The leftover paint is from before paint and primer became popular. Most of the paint is BM at any rate. No Behr here.

futtyos


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

futtyos said:


> The leftover paint is from before paint and primer became popular. Most of the paint is BM at any rate. No Behr here.
> 
> futtyos


No drywall primer/sealer either!


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## loaded brush (Dec 27, 2007)

futtyos said:


> The leftover paint is from before paint and primer became popular. Most of the paint is BM at any rate. No Behr here.
> 
> futtyos


Bejamin Moore is a paint and primer product.


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## Toolseeker (May 25, 2017)

Not 12 years was it?


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## PNW Painter (Sep 5, 2013)

The closets might just be primed and not painted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ryanjoseph (Aug 24, 2017)

Please try wet newspaper to clean walls (tiles/marble)


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

ryanjoseph said:


> Please try wet newspaper to clean walls (tiles/marble)


Don't think I've ever considered using wet newspapers to clean tiles or marble surfaces. But then as a painter, I'd never consider cleaning them anyway.


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

Yah futtyos, just use wet newspaper to wash the flat closet walls...smh, all the professionals are doing it that way these days.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

Do they even sell newspapers any more?


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

CApainter said:


> Do they even sell newspapers any more?


Yes, but thankfully a lot don't sell so I can go to our local corner store in the winter and grab a bunch to use when I'm getting my woodstove going.


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

Maybe the ink from those wet newspapers would negate a prime coat?:vs_laugh:


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

RH said:


> Don't think I've ever considered using wet newspapers to clean tiles or marble surfaces. But then as a painter, I'd never consider cleaning them anyway.


Can't say I have ever cleaned any closet walls either:vs_shocked:


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## Brushman4 (Oct 18, 2014)

CApainter said:


> Do they even sell newspapers any more?


What is black and white, and read all over?


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

Brushman4 said:


> What is black and white, and read all over?


A skunk in a blender?


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## ridesarize (Jun 19, 2012)

Brushman4 said:


> What is black and white, and read all over?



A Gardz can in Futtyos hand?


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## Vylum (May 12, 2016)

i dont even knock cob webs off i just paint them in


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## Betheweb (Jul 26, 2016)

I had a fun touch up job the other day. The whole condo is pale yellow. Easy, right?
Realtor and I go to look what paint is there. There are 3 BM cans. Each is a different shade of pale yellow. There is can of Premium Plus Ultra in one of their pale yellow colors. And there are 2 more cans of Premium Plus Ultra tinted to match the BM pale yellow colors. Uhhhh.... It should have been a 10 minute job with a hot dog roller. Turned into a 3 hour job trying to figure out what goes where.


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## Brushman4 (Oct 18, 2014)

lilpaintchic said:


> A skunk in a blender?


No, it's a newspaper!


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