Cleaning Questions

I rent a townhouse so we have the cheapest paint out on their on our walls. If I wash with soap or use windex the paint comes off. The only product I have found to wash the walls with is Magic Eraser. They recently renovated the townhouses I rent and moved me to a another one with new painted walls. So now I am super duper strict. My daughter and her friends know they are to NEVER touch the walls, and not to drag toys into them etc. I've been in this townhouse for 1 year now and my walls still look brand new and I haven't had to clean anything. My dad always had that rule don't touch the walls and I thought he was a jerk but now I appreciate why he had that rule. You know how kids walk through the hall and have two arms out touching the walls. My biggest pet peave now. You may want to just repaint and then get strict that's my only advise.

Hi S.,

I would clean it with a carpet cleaning solution and I would open all the windows and leave it open almost the whole day.

R.

You must have left too much water or didn't ventilate good enough. I would reshampoo them because I don't think the smell will go away. Be sure to go over and over and suck up as much as possible. Today would be a perfect day to do it because it's so windy. Even turn on the fan on your furnace and put box fans out to help. I usually shampoo in the evening and it's dry by morning and then I can vaccum up the residue.
You might put a few drops of tea tree oil in the water if you reshampoo because it's a disinfectant and will help with the smell.
Good Luck,
J.

I am very sensitive to smells especially with household cleaners, so when we needed to wash our walls before painting my husband decided to try a little bit of Oxyclean powder in a bucket of warm water to do the job. I was very happy with the results (even more happy that I didn't get a headache from the smell) and we ended up cleaning all of the walls in the house with Oxy. I love the idea of using a sponge mop, I'll keep that in mind next time. We did need to touch up with the Magic Eraser on the creative artwork from our daughter but that was minimal.
Oh, and we've had the musty carpet problem before and I have used Fabreeze and it seemed to work well once it was totally dry.
Good luck with your cleaning.

My little girl is a big spitter, so we have had our carpets cleaned many times. There is almost always a musty smell for a few days after. It kind of depends on how the floors were cleaned and with what, as to how long it will smell. The smell fades. I'm sorry I can't help with the walls question though. I rent and only do the touch ups. I use soap and water too.

Well, I'm not sure I can help with the carpet situation, but a great plan for the walls is to use a mop with a foam head(the cheap ones without the fancy metal squeezer work best). Just use a bucket and HOT soapy water, a tiny bit of a cheaper houshold cleaner (lysol) will also work, but use only a little bit. Another tip is to use a little bit of white vinigar in the soap that will actually work better than the cleaner. Then just mop away. Sorry I was of no help with the carpets. Good Luck!

It sounds like your cleaning machine may not suck up all the water. Get the fans running and open up the doors and windows to let as much air circulation through the house so the carpets can get completely dry.

If the smells doesn't go away, or your kids start to have some allergic symptons (sneezing, running nose, eyes,), perhaps you want to try and get the carpet re-cleaned.

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As far as washing the walls, it really depends on the type of paint used. Was it a flat, eggshell, semi-gloss, or gloss base? Generally if semi-gloss or gloss, the magic eraser can work great as well as most other products (the paint is has a gloss coating that creates a smooth surface. If the paint is flat, good luck, since you probably will rub the paint off despite your best efforts.

Check with a paint store and get their recommendations for cleaning the walls based on the base paint on it right now. Likewise, they can also give you recommendations on how to protect high-traffic areas with lo-maintenance solutions. It might be worth re-painting.
good luck

Did they get really wet?
Get some fans going on it to get it dry - mold will begin to grow in 48hrs.
Call A Perfect Choice Carpet and Furniture Cleaning next time, less hassle for you and they do an excellent job!
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