Sparkly Clean: A Kintsugi 'How Do I Clean This' Thread

Alright this is probably a strange one, but I know that I'm not alone in that sometimes a stain or a mess happens that NEEDS to come out and I've got no idea how to treat it till someone turns up with the knowledge. Google is an endless font of resources, but sometimes it's just easier and better to know someone who's done the method they're recommending and can offer specifics or variants in the method itself! Sometimes things that seem like they shouldn't work work in really specific situations for different materials, too.

From vinegar to dish soap to specific washing instructions to baking soda and beyond, I'd like to set up a general "How do I possibly unfuck this mess" thread people can offer advice or seek advice on.

 

Starting with my own problem: a greasy wall.

Spouse for the last year, due to our lack of a headboard and lack of noticing how bad the problem had gotten, has been greasing up the wall by our bed without fail in a specific area where only he was resting. We've since moved the bed and while we have plans on how to prevent Stain Part Deux, we are left with a large grease stain from his head and arm and pillow. This is a plain white painted wall, and I am Concerned. I've read about vinegar and I've read about soapy water but if I do much the pain comes off.. This is a Cheap wall.

Any ideas on how to save our wall and future deposit? :/ I'm scared it'd show through paint in the future at this rate and it just looks unsightly..

 

For grease you want to use something with orange oil. That shit is like magic.

 

hm.. any specific brands to look for that you'd recommend? i'm hoping to use something that's easy to find that won't make a cheap wall implode and stain worse or get rid of the cheap excuse for paint that's already on it. i've not attempted the vinegar yet so idk how well that'll go over yet, but Oof this thing is fugly. Seriously whoever decided to give paper white walls in an apartment is a sadist. 8I luckily i've got about a year till lease is up now to poke and prod at it gently.

 

Oh hey, i have a cleaning need

Spoiler: groce

so! I threw up on an empty stomach tuesday morning, mostly contained to the trash can but there is a patch of carpet to be dealt with. At the time i dumped some baking soda on it and havent really had the spoons/inclination to do anything else but i guess i should before it sets more or something.

Do i scrub it? Vacuum it? I have vinegar but i assume it won't help. My landlady may have carpet cleaner if i ask.

 

:o can i ask more about the carpet? is it shag, or close cropped? Is it dark or light colored? That might help get more useful info specifically, but carpet cleaner from landlady might definitely be useful either way since she'd prolly know about care for that specific carpet if it's Too Much.

 

It's light coloured unfortunately, although it's fairly short.

I probably shouldnt have left it this long, hmm. I guess i should clean my room and ask her in the morning

 

It's also worth checking the law & regulations in your state. I know in California, if the paint's 3 years old or more its value has depreciated to zero because they'd have to repaint for new tenants anyway.

 

alas I'm in Ohio and it was a fresh coat of paint situation before we moved in a year ago. :c it's just a cheap wall with shitty paint on it that seems to be absorbent in the most frustrating way. we'll likely be charged for repainting regardless because that seems to be A Thing that happens a lot, but I'm still hoping to clean it up even just for my own peace of mind and not needing to stare at the dang thing lmfao.

 

1. How do you clean car cupholders? I am failing to think of any method that doesn't just turn the goop and the grime into soup. Like, is there a trick to it or am I just gonna have to sit out there with a few rolls of paper towels and a lot of fucking soapy water and just scrup + wipe dry + scrub + wipe dry etc. until they're clean?

 

I like to spray it with cleaning liquid and let it sit for a few minutes then attack it with a cloth, but I've also done a lil bit of vinegarwater and baking soda to suds the hell out of some spots that didn't want to soak as easily. :o If it's grimy sometimes just letting it soak will make it turn into an easier to wipe up sludge.

 

I usually clean greasy wall spots with a tiny amount of liquid dish soap and an old toothbrush. Would maybe forgo the toothbrush and use a soft cloth if I were concerned about the integrity of the paint?

 

my only big worry is it's not exactly surface level: it's been added to steadily for over a year and anxiety brain says "it's not actually possible to get rid of it, it's sunk in and ruined everything now" @w@;

 

Maybe something like lysol wipes? Less actual drying time maybe

 

On the topic of greasy stains, in case this is still a problem:

So my parents did the Wrong Thing straight out of college and bought a fixer upper in their price range, which turned out to be code for dumpster fire in a vaguely house-shaped disguise. Among its many notable features was the tobacco stain corner. The previous owner, a dedicated smoker of pipes, had likely placed a favorite armchair in this corner. Or maybe they sat on the floor every day, I dunno. Either way, years and years of pipe smoke buildup. The walls were brown. The ceiling was brown. The stain was impressively multilayered and greasy. There was no way in hell they could paint over it without removing it first because grease.

I asked my mom how the fuck they'd cleaned it. She said liquid dish soap and a sponge. Sponge on a stick for the ceiling. She warns that this activity is really gross.

(She and my dad went on to recommend trisodium phosphate, which is apparently available at hardware stores (and also on Amazon, I checked) for cleaning shit in preparation for painting. This might not be so good for extra fragile paint, not sure?)

Just asked a friend who participated in a major renovation of a very old home, she thirded the liquid dish soap as a great degreaser that most people have around the home, and added that if you're trying to be extra careful and have a lot of time, q-tips are good for extra gentle scrubbing.

 

Ooooh, will keep in mind for the attacking of the wall! and i'm sure this'll be hecka useful to someone else likely, ty for being so thoroughly :D (also oh god that house sounds like my childhood home)

 

One of the family cars actually has removable cupholders, which are the best thing ever. In cases where they can't be removed, I'd go over it with a vacuum first with that attachment that looks like a hose. Dunno what it's called, the flexible round pipe-looking thingy.

After that, a bucket of water with a little lysol and a rag? My family has old cloth diapers we use for cleaning rags. An old t-shirt or sock or something would probably work just fine. Dip in bucket, wring it out, stuff into cupholder, twist to clean, rinse in bucket, repeat until not so yucky. Dry with a second, dry rag, or a paper towel.

So pretty much exactly what you described, but you save on paper towels.

 

For grease stains, dish soap is the best thing I've found. It also works on blood.

Spoiler: Menstruation grossness

it works really well on period blood. If you accidentally bled all over your underwear, you can soak it in water and then rub over the spot with dish soap. May not necessarily make it look like the stain never happened (though sometimes it does) but it sure helps.

 

Another thing I learned for ring-around-the-collar for higher collar things is.. shampoo. :D bc it's marks from your body, it dissolves the junk on collars rlly easily too. just wet the collar before washing, apply some shampoo and suds it up, then wash it. Bam.

 

I never heard of dish soap for blood, I've always used hydrogen peroxide :o kind of curious to compare the results of each for SCIENCE next time it comes up.