Cleaning Your Walls Can Be A Nightmare – But Should It Be?
The invention of the first broom, and then the vacuum cleaner, revolutionised home maintenance, turning the backbreaking work of trying to keep your floors clean into something simple, and, at times, relaxing, requiring you to either sweep a wooden stick for a while or drive a small little robot around your home, and managing the robot's power cord is probably the most frustrating part of that experience.
Can someone hurry up and invent something on that level for cleaning walls?
Cleaning walls is not fun. There is no small robot to make life easier, no handy attachment that will save you from having to grab a wipe and both stretch to reach the ceiling and crouch to clean near the floor. It's hard, it's irritating, and it's a nightmare.
Should it be?
Not Every Paint Finish Was Made Equal
Unfortunately, while we would all love to pick a paint finish based exclusively on how it will look as a final product, you might also want to consider how hard they're going to be to keep clean, and that might mean you'll end up utilising different finishes in different rooms.
Of course, that breath of fresh air and diversity isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it can help keep every room in your home feeling interesting, but it is important to note that it will be present.
The Worst Offenders
When it comes time to paint your walls, if you're looking for a finish that will be easier to clean, then you're going to want to avoid the high-gloss, matte, or flat finishes. While all of these paints have their benefits (matte paint tends to be the most popular finish in homes), in terms of sheer cleanliness, these are the finishes that are hardest to clean.
Considering the price of matte and flat paints, most painters tend to just paint over any messes that are made on these finishes, though that does mean the entire room will need to be repainted, whereas high-gloss finishes are not only going to expose any imperfections in the paint job itself, but they're also going to be near-impossible to clean should anything go wrong.
The Shining Lights
Any finish that retains a bit of gloss, however, tend to be much easier to clean. A glossy finish can help give your kitchen an emphasis that no other coat could achieve, yet any food spills will wipe right of this finish without resistance. Semi-gloss retains that ease of cleaning even though it doesn't reflect quite as much light, as does a satin finish.
Finally, an eggshell finish can help create a more muted impression while still being easy to clean, which can be useful in specific circumstances. Fortunately, the team of professional painting contractors here at Premier Painting understand all of these processes, and we can help you select the right coat of paint for your home no matter what the circumstances.
