How to Clean Up After Painting your House

Some people love the smell of fresh paint; others can’t stand it. The truth is, while home decorating is of course designed to elevate and upgrade the look and feel of your home, some of the long-lasting side effects of painting can be difficult to ignore and even harder to remove.

In this article, we will consider all of the potential side effects of painting your home, before sharing some of our top tips on cleaning and removing all signs of home decorating – leaving you free to relax into your new environment without pegging your nose and staring at paint drops on carpets.

The hazards of home decorating

The more you can do in advance of a paint job, the better your home will fare. For many, that means storing furniture outside of the home for the duration of painting, covering the carpets and floors with dust sheets and protective layers, and keeping the windows open come rain or shine.

But why is this necessary? Painting is messy work, and you often don’t reap the full benefits of your work until the painter’s tape is removed, the dust sheets are thrown away, and the final aesthetic finish is revealed.

Here are some of the steps to take to minimise the cleaning you will have to do after painting your house:

  • Consider putting furniture into storage or, if possible, moving it to a different room during painting to ensure that you do not damage or spill paint on anything.
  • Use dust sheets to cover the floor and fittings in each room that you are painting.
  • Lay painters tape around the edges of fittings, along skirting boards, and around door frames and windows to keep a sharp line at the edge of the paintwork.
  • Always have rags on hand to dab at any oversized blobs of paint.

No matter how hard you try to prevent your painting from impacting the home and the rest of your interior space, accidents happen. That’s why the following section shares some tips from our professional experts on how to clean your home thoroughly after painting.

Cleaning your home after painting – expert tips

There are a number of ways your home will need to be cleaned, not just in light of any spillages and paint splashes, but also with regard to the lingering scent which is often associated with painting and home decorating.

Removing unpleasant smells from your home requires a combination of fresh air and quick action, with our advice being to aerate the room as much as possible during the painting and then work fast to alleviate the lasting impact of paint fumes in the room.

Some things you can try include covering furniture so that the smell doesn’t permeate into any fabrics, removing curtains and other pieces of material to protect these from the smell and keeping the space clean and tidy.

Any spillages should also be dealt with quickly, with our advice being to research the type of paint that you are going to use so that you can understand if it is oil-based, water-based, or something else.

A few other cleaning tips for after painting your home include:

  • Clean your brushes and painting tools at the end of each day, so that you can start afresh the next day. Dried paint which is stuck to a brush or roller can quickly cause the surfaces that you are painting to become bumpy and subject to collected areas of paint, which in turn can drip onto carpets and other surfaces.
  • Splashes of paint on appliances and light fittings may be easier to remove once dry, using a fingernail – rather than wiping them while wet.
  • If you’re concerned about getting paint on your skin or clothes, wear gloves and old clothing which you don’t mind getting stained. And above all, remember the number one rule of painting – don’t lean on anything as it might be wet paint!

Doing this research in advance will save you precious time when dealing with any accidents or decorating emergencies, ensuring your living space is clean and ready for any occasion.