Wall cleaning - end of tenancy

porlock

We are due to move out of our rented flat in two weeks time, and have been gathering end of tenancy cleaning quotes. However, I have just noticed that none of these service seem to offer wall cleaning - one of them said to me that this is because they have had paint damage issues in the past.

The walls in our flat do need doing, but I have tried myself and, similarly, have given up as the paint seems to come off with the dirt!

What is our best option? I don't want to lose some of our deposit for dirty walls, but I don't want to lose it for damaged paintwork, either!

Seems to me that any less-than-honest landlord can paint a kitchen in non-waterproof paint and have their cake and eat it when the tenant comes to clean up!

Any and all advice gratefully recieved!

(ETA: We are non-smokers and no pets - we are mainly talking a few splashes on a kitchen wall, rather than years of nicotine and other damage, etc).

sooz

TBH the best thing to do with kitchen wall splashes is clean them off when they happen. You can try sugar soap. However, the effort involved in cleaning walls is rarely rewarded. Why not just repaint the kitchen walls?

What waterproof paint would you want on kitchen walls? I prefer paint above splashback tiles to all tiles, as otherwise the grout starts to stain & look worse. Atleast you can quickly repaint walls above a splashback & between cupboards.

porlock

Repainting, I suppose, is an option, although it feels like an odd thing to do in a rented flat. I'd be worried about the paint drying a different colour and making even more of a mess! And it's open plan, so it wouldn't just be a case of repainting the kitchen, but the entire living room as well! We genuinely don't have time for that!

Maybe I didn't mean waterproof, but I assumed kitchen paint should be fairly hard-wearing. If it comes off with one wipe of soap and water on a sponge, then that to me doesn't seem like it is up to scratch.

gettingbetter

hi porlock

i cleaned my kitchen walls
with magic eraser just needs cold
water and they came up a treat
you used to get it in wooworths
made by jml

kas xx

sooz

in which case I wouldn't advise repainting or washing walls. If it was a separate kitchen then repainting is the easiest option. Once you start you can't stop, so you'd have to either repaint or wash all the walls in the same open plan area.

try spot cleaning any obvious splash marks. do not spray anything directly onto the wall, as cleaning fluid/water mark runs will stain too. wet a soft cloth or sponge with a little kitchen cleaner & rub gently, then dry with a clean soft cloth. Or you can try magic sponges.

QTPie

gettingbetter wrote: »

you used to get it in wooworths
made by jml

The OP might struggle there... but could try and search the web for it... might be able to get it mail order...

There are a number of reasons for not having waterproof paint in a kitchen - we haven't repainted since buyign this place: since it was a new build, ALL walls needed to have breathable (i.e. non-waterproof) paint - toherwise the walls cannot dry out.

The best thing is to touch up the paint, but you need a direct match.

QT

sooz

Try supermarkets, robert dyas, homebase etc for magic sponges. I think boots also sell them

Henry_Hoover_2

Asda sell it, I think it's called "magic sponge" and was 99p. Lakeland also sell it, around £3.99ish.

silvercar

I would rather sacrifice a portion of the deposit than waste time, effort, cost of materials in attempting to repaint a kitchen & living room to landlord's satisfaction.

chickmug

Magic sponges also at Wilkinsons last time I got one.

porlock

Thanks to all. I will try and track down a magic sponge/eraser, but if it doesn't work it doesn't work and we'll have to write it off!