Cleaning (White) Matt Emulsion

iamstacie

Hi,

I'm getting ready to move out of my rented house, and have been trying to clean fingermarks/scuff marks off the walls, however when I do you can see where I've cleaned as it has a clean circle surrounded by a dirty/dusty circle. Any ideas what I can use so I don't get this? Or should I just give up and repaint the whole lot?

Thanks,
Stacie

BrandNewDay

You need a Magic Eraser. In the US, they're called Mr. Clean. I forget what they're called over here, but they do exist. They're these weird spongy things. All you need is a bit of water and they remove scuffs from walls. Also crayon. There's a reason they're called "magic" as you'll see if you try one!

suzywoozy_3

No ideas but I am in exactly the same situation and would also like to know - I don't want to repaint the entire house either.

paintpot

The magic erasers are good as suggested. Another thing I do is get a mini roller (it's a really small metal implement), ones you use for rollering doors not a massive one, using a fluffy roller head (for undercoating) rather than the smooth one used for gloss and roller the patches using the paint sparingly and rollering it outwards until there is no paint left on the roller to blend it in. It doesn't always leave a perfect finish as paint does fade over time.

Matt paint doesn't take well to be being wiped like silk paint so this works better. However, a landlord should accept some scuff marks etc as you describe as wear and tear so I wouldn't worry too much. I use the method I have described being a landlord if there are only small marks prior to reletting and it tends to work well unless the paintwork is old and faded in which case I repaint the whole area.

Hope this helps