How to clean a finger prints/smudges off a painted wall

nikotime

Hi all, just moved into a new rented property which has recently had it's walls repainted and all the holes filled in so there are no picture hooks. I tried to put up a mirror on the wall and have smudged it with fingerprints - and trying to clean it off with a yellow cloth and a bit of water has seemed to make things worse. Any tips on what to buy to clean it?
Cheers

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

You could try rubbing some white bread on the marks. I've done this on a wall painted with matt paint and the bread absorbed the oils from the marks.

keystone

Whats the paint surface?

Cheers

nikotime

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice wrote: »

You could try rubbing some white bread on the marks. I've done this on a wall painted with matt paint and the bread absorbed the oils from the marks.

Off to the shops now, will see how it goes...

keystone wrote: »

Whats the paint surface?

Cheers

It's matte.

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

I have found some other tips here too.

Matt finishes are a pain for absorbing anything sticky and oily.

As an aside... if its a rented property, I hope you got permission to make holes in the walls before you did it?!

keystone

OK the bread trick might work. If you still don't get the greasy marks out then abrade the wall lightly with a fine grade paper, seal the marked area with oil based undercoat or some 123 if you have it (for speed) then repaint the whole wall (because you'll never match it and the patch will always show thats why! ) using the same colour as the original but using Dulux Endurance. Its hardwearing and washable.

Cheers

keystone

Whoa - just noticed its a new (to you) rental property. Those marks should be noted on the checkout paperwork from the previous tenant and the check-in paperwork for you. If LL has deducted money from previous tenant's deposit to cover repainting and he plans to do so then why are you dealing with it?

I think you should chat to your LL before doing anything else.

Cheers

nikotime

It was me who made the finger print marks! And I did receive permission for putting a few paintings up, but naturally chose the worst possible place and my sweaty fingers made things worse.

Regarding bread, all it has seemed to do is leave lots of crumbs on the floor...

societys_child

I've some friendly blackbirds who will take care of the crumbs . .

if it's light coloured, toothpaste can work wonders on some surfaces.