When You Need to Wash the Walls Before Painting, and When You Can Do Without It
Painting the interior walls in your home is one of those tasks that seems pretty quick and easy, but usually ends up taking a lot more work than you expected. That’s because it’s not just a matter of brushing or rolling on a coat of fresh paint — there’s also all the prep and cleanup that goes along with it (and usually cut from home makeup TV shows).
And along with prep work like rearranging furniture and covering everything with rags, there’s the matter of washing the walls. Here you can get confused. Most manuals and instructions for painting cans of paint indicate that washing the walls before painting them is an important step.
But if you have seen professional painters at work, you may have noticed that they often skip this step. So what is it – an important part of the process or one that is not really needed? Here’s what you need to know.
When to Wash Walls Before Painting
Washing walls before painting them is the rule, not the exception. However, as The Spruce points out , instructions on exactly how to wash walls vary by manufacturer, from wiping them down with a sponge and warm water to cleaning them with TSP (trisodium phosphate), a powder that is mixed with water to form the alkaline solution used to dissolve fat and oil.
Generally speaking, if you’re going to paint interior walls, it’s best to wash them first.
When you can not wash the walls before painting
The reasons why professional painters typically don’t clean walls before painting depend on the situation, but if they’re paid by the job (rather than by the hour), it’s not hard to see why they skip this step.
Financial considerations aside, some professional painters, such as Eric Regan of Mission Painting & Home Improvements in Overland Park, Kansas , say that in most cases, interior walls in certain rooms of your home don’t need to be washed before painting. – including if you do the work yourself.
So how do you know if you can skip this step? Firstly, if you are painting the kitchen, bathroom or any other room where you cook or take a bath, there is no way out, at least wipe down the walls. The same apples to vertical surfaces in any room, as well as to the ends and ledges.
Also, according to The Spruce, if you are strongly against washing your walls before painting them, they must meet all, if not most, of the following conditions :
- Not too dusty
- No pencil and/or grease stains on the walls
- The house does not have a wood burning fireplace
- The walls practically do not come into contact with hands
- There are no pets in the house
Even if all of the above criteria apply to the room you are about to paint, you should still give the walls a quick (dry) wipe to shake off any remaining dust or debris that you may not be able to see.