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Safely Cleaning the Walls in Your Bay Area Home Without Damaging the Paint

Safely Cleaning the Walls in Your Bay Area Home Without Damaging the Paint

Having professionally-applied, beautiful interior paint is a direct investment in the value and style of your home. Because of that, it stands to reason that you’ll want to care for and preserve it as effectively as possible.

A lot of homeowners don’t realize just how much value there is in routinely cleaning your interior paint. It protects the surface from damage, and, as an added bonus, it helps to keep that “just painted” gleam. If your paint is a little older, you might also be surprised by the restorative power that cleaning offers.

What exactly are you protecting the finish from?

  • Dirt
  • Dust
  • Grime and airborne residue from cooking
  • Streaking in high-moisture areas (especially bathrooms)
  • Hand smudges
  • Stains
  • … and more

This leads us to an all-important, logical next question.

How Do You Clean Interior Paint Without Damaging the Surface?

The major risk is streaking or removing the finish… Sends shudders down your spine, doesn’t it?

This can primarily be avoided by never using an overly-harsh cleaner. While a stubborn stain on the kitchen floor might call for a powerful chemical and elbow grease, those both create a lethal combination for paint. Anything with bleach in it especially is just too strong.

You can start by vacuuming with a soft-bristled attachment to remove any dust or cobwebs from the corners and walls throughout the room (it happens to the best of us!). After a careful dusting, you can focus on scuffs or smudges with the following tools:

  • Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - These work beautifully for removing smudges and handprints in a gentle, non-abrasive way.
  • Fill a pail with a warm solution of water and mild dish detergent. Using a soft sponge, this combination can work wonders for your walls. Just remember, start slowly and wash gently.

Remember to Choose a Washable Paint for Higher-Traffic Areas

Sheen directly impacts how washable and durable your interior paint is. In spaces like the kitchen, bathroom, or other busy, high-traffic areas, investing in a higher-gloss paint will increase its strength and resistance to damage. Your professional painting company will certainly be able to help you navigate these options and select the most beautiful, and practical, products for your home.

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Customer Reviews

“Our paint crew did a great job and the foreman, Gersson was exceptionally great to work with. He was always available to answer questions, good at problem-solving, very patient, kind, and highly professional with great customer service. We definitely recommend this company, and Gersson and his crew.”

— Andrea Y.
Berkeley, CA

“The entire MB Jessee team is courteous, efficient and professional. From scheduling and estimating to the crew managers and crew, they all did an excellent job on a small (but complicated) two room project in my house. I'm already thinking about getting them scheduled for the next project in the spring.”

— Cari Cheney

“I cannot imagine finer painters--and I have worked with many. They work exceptionally hard. It is a joy to see their workmanship!”

— Alicia R.
Oakland

“The kitchen looks NEW! You guys are amazing.”

“Charles finished yesterday and did a fantastic job. We really enjoyed meeting Charles and having him in our home. He is a great guy in addition to his attention to detail in his work, the protection of our floors, walls and furnishings, and his overall interaction with us both. I would be pleased to recommend him to any of my clients.”

— Ken Morrison
Oakland

“Hello Matt,Just another notice of thanks to your wonderful crew, Rigoberto, Javier and John. They did fantastic work, with Rigo providing meticulous and conscientious attention to the details and excellent woodwork finishing, as evidenced by the beautiful fireplace. Javier did a fantastic job in the bathroom especially, it looks "brand new," and John always does quality work, both with the interior and exterior. I can tell they care about what they do. Rigo's "punch out" was very thorough, too. I will call again when I need some more work and will definitely recommend your company and fine crew. I also felt as a homeowner, I could leave my house in their good hands during the day and that took a lot of worry from me, they were honest, prompt and reliable. They were also very kind, respectful and clean in their work, very professional. Thank you.”

— Beth Marx & Melissa Kirsch
Oakland

“I loved working with M.B. Jessee from start to finish on a relatively small paint job that grew a bit. I felt in very good hands from the moment Matt Jessee came out to give me the estimate and talk about my job. He was very easy to talk to and he handled my changes very well. Then the actual work done by Rigoberto and Mario was impeccable. They were neat and meticulous and the paint job looks beautiful. I could not have asked for more and when I did, they accommodated me 100%. I will not hesitate to call M.B. Jessee again and to refer them to friends.”

— Nancy Kurkjian

“I just wanted to thank you all for doing such a phenomenal job on our recent house painting. We are very happy with the outcome and can't say enough good things about the crew. Everyone working on the project was outstanding and made it a great experience. Thanks to everyone.”

— Daylan
Piedmont

“I want to express my thanks for a job well done. The rooms look great and there is no problem with any marks on the all the trim, floor, carpet, etc. The paint job is lovely. I also want to express my thanks for the level of professionalism the foreman showed in running the job. He was very attentive to any changes I needed to make, was extremely careful in getting the faux paint color and effect correct. Thanks so much for a job well done.”

— Suzan D’Arcy

“Awesome work by highly experienced, professional painters. They were: Conscious about the amount of time it would take. Ours had a lot of pre-work and took 3 weeks. Accommodating when we added a few last-minute changes Understanding when a heatwave hit and we remove some of the plastic sheeting over windows, which they had to put back up the next day. Accessible, especially the on-site crew (Hi Jose & Victor!) -- always answering questions and checking in. The end result is a perfect paint job that makes our 94-year-old house look brand new. I would definitely hire MBJ again”

— Stacey R.
Oakland, CA

“Very easy to work with, they did an outstanding job with our project of re-painting our painting our kitchen cabinets. Given the scope of the job and that our kitchen is roughly half of our upstairs living area they did a fantastic job of minimizing the mess. Workmanship was top notch, would definitely recommend.”

— Vince Scola

“Just had MB Jessee paint the interior of our house and they did a wonderful job. They tackled some crazy wallpaper as well as painted some very high ceilings and walls. The whole process was quick and they did a great job! We are very pleased. I was also very impressed by the crew. They were very personable, kind and actually took pride in the work they were doing. In one of our conversations with the lead Ricardo, he actually told me he was very proud of how the rooms had turned out. I agree sir! It turned out great and it's not often you hear someone thinking of your home like they would theirs, and putting that level of work and quality into it. That made a huge difference in how I viewed this company. Ricardo, you were fantastic and thank you for the great job, we will be using you again.”

— Jeff M.
Danville, CA