Hello again! This house we have just bought has old plaster walls, they need some nail holes filled, and they need painted (they have been painted before). They are kind of dirty. What is the proper way to clean them? Do they have to dry for a certain amt of time? Is it ok to sand instead of clean, or should both be done? I am being told different things by different friends and would like you alls opinion. Thanks in advance!
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I used to use TSP for cleaning walls before painting; some states have banned it for environmental reasons, NJ being one of them. But I still have a box I'm hoarding for special jobs.
There is a TSP-substitute. I haven't tried it, but I imagine it'll work. Mix up a batch with warm water in a big bucket according to the instructions, and use a big sponge. I like the sponges used for grouting.
Don't make the sponge too wet, or you'll be having water running down onto the floor. Just work your way around the room. You'll see when the walls are clean. They don't have to be perfectly clean, tho.
It's not a bad idea to follow up with clean water to get any TSP residue off. Then prime the walls with a good primer, and top coat.
This may seem like a lot of work, but 90% of painting is in the preparation. A good prep job will make a long lasting paint job.
Good cleaning advice. I still get TSP at the local paint store (Young's Paint & varnish, Fanwood, NJ). I also thought I remembered TSP being banned in NJ and nobody else seems to carry it, but I can get all I want at Young's.
Really! That's good to know.
I might just have to stop there one of these days, and stock up.
thanks for all of these suggestions! Is this cleaning going to remove the old paint, or just clean the walls off so that the new paint sticks good? I don't really want the old paint off, it is just white or creamy color....
If the existing paint comes off when washing, then it needed to come off to get a good paint job. Conversly, if you leave something - anything - loose and flakey on the walls, you are wasting time and money to paint over it. It will flake off ruining the new paint job
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What Piffin said-
you shouldn't be scrubbing so hard that the paint peels off. The TSP does etch the old paint a bit, so it has some "tooth" for the new paint to grab onto
I agree with everything that Shep said. TSP substitute seems to work okay. I know that the TSP package says to rinse it and that's also good advice. I often use one bucket with the TSP or its substitute and another with clear water. Put sponge in the TSP water and squeeze it out, wash a section of wall. Rinse sponge in the bucket of clear water and squeeze it out over that bucket. Go back with wrung out sponge into bucket with TSP and get sponge wet, wring it out, do nother section, etc.. This keeps your first bucket of TSP water from getting so dirty and you can empty the bucket of "clear" water when it gets grungy. Works very well for removing cigarette smoke from walls. (The water will look like tea after about a 3' x 3' sevtion has been washed and it will look like coffee after one small wall has been cleaned!) Rinse walls the same way, using two buckets, both with clear water.
Oh, one more thing, and here's where people like to argue, but I assure you, what I say is right--always start from bottom and work your way up when using TSP. If you are washing siding, wet everything first with a hose (not practicle for inside though!). By working from bottom up, runs and drips go through wet areas and don't leave nasty and almost impossible to remove streaks. This seems counterintuitive, but it works. The soapy, grimy runs down the alreacy washed wall are easily mopped up with the squeezed out sponge. If you start at the top and let the soap and dirt run down the dry, uncleaned wall, it will leave streaks and they will be almost impossible to get rid of.
Lastly, if there was lots of smoke or other stains, BIN or any pigmented shellac is a good primer--work with lots of ventilation though if you use it!
I use the trisodium phosphate too.
Be sure to wear rubber gloves. Too much time scrubbing with bare skin in TSP will leave you with no fingerprints for awhile.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
"Too much time scrubbing with bare skin in TSP will leave you with no fingerprints for awhile."Some of the people around here might think that is an advantage. <G>.
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
tee hee!I have used it all day and only ended up with extra clean hands.But my wife helped me once, and by early afternoon, she was complaining her fingertips hurt.With no callus to start with, that stuff had whittled the skin down to see-through condition. I got out the bag balm and put her paws into rubber gloves for the rest of the day. She was fine a few days later.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I worked in a lab at an oil refinery for part of a summer once. We used something called "Alcanox" (not sure of spelling now--that was in 1971) to clean beakers that had had things like crude oil in. I'd hold my palm over the open end of a graduated cylinder of that soapy water and shake it and my black hands would have a white circle in the middle of the palm where the Alcanox took off the oil and dirt. It was great stuff. The can said it was for hospitals for removing blood from lab equipment and so on.
sounds like a good cure for VD;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Clean (WASH) the walls first - the way everybody has said so far. Don't short cut this. It's the first step of a good paint job. TSP, or the substitute works real well. I use good hot water. Sometimes I even add a little Murphy's oil soap, whether it's needed or not.
Sanding is not a substitute. You sand to remove flaws in the wall, or after you plastered or spackled any imperfections. You can also sand if the paint is really glossy, to break the glaze so you can paint over it.
If the paint isn't glossy, after you wash it down and patch it, prime with a good primer and then paint.
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals