What's the best cleaner to use in order to clean my walls?

Question

My husband and I are smokers. I took our picture off the wall to dust and it was so gross! I often will take our wooden blinds down and soak them in bleach water, but I am not sure the best way to scrub the walls. Should I use a spray, or water mixed with a cleanser? Wash wrag or brush?

Answer 1

my friend she cleans her walls with 409 since her husband smokes and she dont.  it works good .

Answer 2

I like using a simple solution of gentle dish cleaner (like Dawn) with warm water.  Use a wash rag.  A brush might scratch the paint.

Answer 3

wash down your walls with vinegar and water and use a rag.

Answer 4

might be easier just to re-paint it!

Answer 5

The best way I have found to clean walls is with TSP (Tri Sodium Phosphate) and hot water. You'll need something strong to get off the cigarette smoke. You can find TSP in Wal-mart, Target, Home Depot, etc. Mix the TSP with the water according to the box directions in a scrub bucket. To save your arms and wrists, and to have the job go faster, use a hands-free butterfly-type sponge mop (Wal-mart, etc). This way your hands won't go in the strong solution, and you will get the walls just as clean in a shorter amount of time. Start at the top of the wall and gently mop the wall. Depending on how dirty your walls really are, you may want to change the solution during cleaning, you'll be able to tell. You don't have to rinse. The mop will not scratch the walls, but you will want to take any nails out of the walls temporarily, because they'll rip the sponge. I have cleaned lots of walls by hand, and this is the way to go. Good luck!