So...

[telophase]

...last night, when I sent that message from my phone*, I was in the midst of a cleaning frenzy, sparked by I have no idea what. I've complained about the paint in this place before -- essentially, you can't clean any painted surface with water, as it strips the paint. So the walls behind and to the left of the stovetop were filthy, because they were dirty when we moved in, and previous cleaning efforts had failed, and they'd been gathering the usual gunk from our cooking. (And part of the paint is bubbly too, from the heat and steam generated by cooking.)

I'd cleaned the countertop with Lysol kitchen cleaner and a paper towel, and experimentally tried it on the wall: success! A good deal of the cooking grease and splatters on the wall came off, and the paint didn't! So I indulged in a frenzy of wall and cabinet cleaning. It's so much better now. Not perfect, by any means, because there's stuff that just won't come off - thick grease splatters, I guess - and if any of you walked into the room, you'd probably look around and think "This is clean?" But not if you'd seen it before.

Anyway, anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of what's left, short of stripping the cabinets and repainting? (It's a rental: no way are we going to invest that much effort in. We've already put more effort into it than the previous renters did.) The stuff that's left is thick, and will scrape off slowly if you use your nail, but (a) I only have so many nails and (b) if you scrape any harder or use a larger-surface cleaning implement like the scrubby side of a scrubby sponge, the paint starts coming off. I recall sometime back that someone on the f-list was asking about cleaning stuff that works with (or at least doesn't remove) water-soluble paint ... anyone know of any such? And do you think it'll get through the grease lumps? (Honestly - there's this perfect arterial-spray pattern of thick, yellowish goop across the wall. I have no idea how it was achieved, as it was there when we moved in.)


* Spiderwebs covered with paint: yes, they didn't bother to clean the surfaces before repainting. Gah.

Comments

[loligo]

Try a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. They work via micro-abrasion and are safe on many surfaces. (But always test in an inconspicuous place -- I had one that worked great on all the different wallpapers in my house... except one. Which now has a big pale streak right in the middle of the wall, because I didn't test. *g*)

[telophase]

I'll have to see if that works, thanks.

I am just boggled at why someone would use water-soluble paint in bathrooms and kitchens.

[movingfinger]

I don't think they used water-soluble paint (or I hope they didn't: is it flat white?), but it's likely they skipped cleaning and prepping the walls before painting and the paint is just sitting on top of grease/cig smoke/whatever.

Mr Clean sponges can be a little abrasive, so test on a small inconspicuous spot. I use TSP to clean greasy walls and shelves before painting, but given the fragility of your paint, it might be too strong.

If the gunky areas are relatively small, orange oil will probably work without too much abrasion. You could try an orange oil based cleaner and work up to the straight stuff.

If you have a local hardware store, not Home Depot, you could ask there.

[movingfinger]

On thinking about this a bit more: since you say Lysol worked without messing up the paint, in your place I would begin by spraying a heavy load of Lysol (or PineSol, also a good grease cutter) on the really bad stuff and letting it soak awhile, refreshing as necessary. I would expect that several treatments would be necessary---spray, soften up some of it, wipe it off, spray again, wait again while it softens, wipe again, etc.

[cajunbaby86.livejournal.com]

We use a kerosene heater in our house through the winter, and come spring we have to scrub the walls to get rid of a similar residue. A mixture of Pinesol, smidge of bleach, and water with an old washrag seems to do the trick. If it's really bad, be prepared to scrub for a bit.

On the plus side though, it's great exercise for the arms! ;)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I'm leery of the water and severe scrubbing, since both strip the paint, unfortunately.

[cajunbaby86.livejournal.com]

Hm, that's strange... that must be some old paint, then. One of those swiffer wet things? As long as whatever is being used isn't dripping wet and rough like a Brillo pad it shouldn't pull the paint, at least I wouldn't think.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

A damp, squeezed-out sponge starts pulling paint off - it's ridiculous! At least Lysol and paper towels worked, unless I caught the edge of a spot where paint had already started coming off when I was pressing hard.

At least I know we'll be (eventually) giving this house back better than when we got it ... and I'll be making sure the management company knows that!

[cschells.livejournal.com]

One of those Mr. Clean magic erase sponges? You don't have to get them very wet...

[madame-manga.livejournal.com]

Yuk. Having moved into more than one house where someone had done a hasty repaint job without cleaning the surfaces first, I know your pain. It's the grease UNDER the paint that's probably causing the peeling. This is the problem with rentals (or a former halfway house that we got nice and cheap as a fixer-upper.)

About the only thing that will really do the trick is stripping down the whole surface, proper prepping and repainting. But yes, that's a lot to ask of a renter. It depends on your tolerance for cruddy surfaces -- would the landlord give you a rent break for doing the work? The only reason I will stand for doing painting prep is that since I own my house now, I can do any interesting faux effects I want on the top coat.

Red Juice

[amberley.livejournal.com]

I've had good results with The Clean Team's Red Juice (http://www.thecleanteam.com/catalog_f.cfm) which is nontoxic, and in its undiluted form used to degrease diesel engines.