To not want to clean my walls

[SaraJS216]

I'm planning on a deep clean of my home and making a list of things to clean on top of the usual dusting etc. Just been googling and have read about cleaning walls.. I've never cleaned walls in my life (other than spot cleaning if DD has thrown food at the kitchen wall). I feel like if I follow the advice of everything that needs cleaning it'll literally take me days and it's stressing me out!

Anyone who's recently done a thorough clean, what did it involve and did you clean your walls?!

Life is too short. Get out there and do something you like. No one who matters is going to be looking at your walls.

I've never cleaned my walls except to get the odd mark or splash off them. If they start looking visibly grubby in general, I kind of assume that's when I should probably repaint them.

Only time I've cleaned the walls was an end of tenancy clean. Never do it as a regular occourance or even a deep clean. I'll do the skirting and around the light switches or door frames if it starts to look grubby.

Clean the walls? Never. I think housework is boring enough without creating stuff that doesn't need doing.

How do you even clean a whole wall?

If you are having a deep clean, surely you would clean anything that is dirty and needs cleaning?

About 2 years ago I was doing a deep clean and when finished, I sat down to admire my hard work. Well, the sun shining through my (now gleaming!) windows showed a mark on my wall. I got up to investigate and discovered it was dust. So thick I could run a finger through it. So, I had to get my duster out and dust the bloody walls, meaning I had to hoover the whole house again. It honestly never occurred to me ,in all my 20 years of living independently, to wipe walls.
I was mortified, thinking all my guests over the years must have been thinking "jeez, does this tramp never clean?"" 😅

Now I give the walls a quarterly dust. Life is too short for any more than that. And cleaning them with any kind of cleaning solution is more than I'm willing to invest in the project!

I feather duster the tops of mine around the edge to get rid of the spiders and any cobwebs every week or so as part of normal housework but would only wash them if something had splashed, like in the kitchen in an area where there aren't tiles or a splashback. If they are dirtier than that it's time to repaint in this house.

What do you even clean walls with that won't strip the paint off?

A couple of times a year I clean the stairway wall, as hands touching the wall on the way up and down leave a 'banister' of grime. I also have to clean the bottom of the wall above the bottom of the stairs as all my boys go through a phase of leaping up to slap the wall. Then there are the light switches and the wall around the switch, which also get grubby. Door handles don't look grubby, but door frames and door edges certainly do. They get cleaned more often. I clean all of these with just a damp microfibre cloth. No cleaning chemicals.

I used to have to do these 3-4 times a year, but the dc seem to get less grimy as they grow up, or better able to locate door handles and light switches.

Remember to sweep your ceilings!

If you don’t want to then don’t. But if you do, you will be surprised how much dirt comes off. Either uses a microfibre
floor mop lightly damped or a ladder, bucket and cloths. Soapy water. Beware some wall coverings are not washable even lightly done. (There’s your excuse if you want one).

medium sized room (master bedroom) done in half an hour.

OK - So what exactly is a "deep" clean?? I have only ever done standard weekly cleans, and the half yearly moving of furniture/beds to hoover under and behind. Never washed walls, or come to think of it, curtains...... obviously I am a terrible slob.

The people telling you that you need to clean the walls are those with a vested interest in selling cleaning products.

What a waste of time.

@BigWoollyJumpers a deep clean is a cleaning of everything in that room, so all furniture wiped inside and out, all walls and skirting washed. Ceilings dry dusted and all corners. Curtains washed, blinds wiped, windows and all surrounds washed. Carpets hoovered and cleaned. Knickknacks, mirrors, shelving wiped.
if it doesn’t move - clean it dust it wipe it.
(commercial, domestic and cqc cleaner)

This.

My Farrow and Ball paint marks if you breathe on it. I'd love to see how it looks if I wiped it all down.

@KnittingNeedles not a waste of time if it’s what the individual wants, like anything it up to individual needs and wants. (For example, I find holidays an utter waste🤷‍♀️)

As I said, some wall coverings are not washable - it’s back to redecorating with something more suitable! If you want to clean-check on a small hidden area first. Use a clean, damp (water only) cloth.

fwiw. Most offices ask for wall washing - and then get upset when the paint literally washes off the wall as it basically cheap, watered down crap paint!

I can't, they won't fit in the washing machine and anyway how would I dry them?

It's a non-starter for me.

Christ, don't ask on here what items people clean, they'll come up with a whole list of things it has never before occurred to you to clean.

BTW, did you know that it is illegal in the UK to do deep cleaning or any other type of indoor household chore during periods of good weather?

It's so rare that we get weather like this that it's immoral to waste it on 'deep cleaning'. The dust will still be there when the weather is gone, but the weather might not be still there when the dust is gone

No, never in my 55 years have I done that...... I just clean as I go along. Hey ho.

It would be easier to paint them if you’re that bothered.

Every so often, I use a clean sweeping brush with fine bristles and just hold it high and sweep down the dust from the walls & if need be the ceilings.
Takes probably 10 mins a room. Was really surprised the 1st time I did it, the amount of dust that came off.
Shouldn't leave marks like a damp cloth would.

@BigWoollyJumpers if you do it as you go, then you ARE doing it, just not as a deep or spring clean! Some people never do it at all, I mean never, ever not even as part of their routine wipe over- and it really shows! Like as in those extreme hoarders type programs.
I think the idea of a deep clean/spring clean has gone, largely due to time constraints, but also down to easier to keep clean furniture and habits (fewer open fires for example) and more modern cleaning appliances - robot hoover anyone?!

I do if if I see dust/marks otherwise why would you?

I don't 'clean' them but I duster them and wipe them with a microfibre cloth