Comments on: Wash the Walls, Really?

By: Scott Webster

Scott Webster — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:50:19 +0000

How do you avoid TSP coming onto your skin? I do agree that washing the walls is necessary but should we use chemicals if this is just living room, not kitchen? Indianapolis Painting Services

By: rin-ill

rin-ill — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:16:43 +0000

ugh, i never thought about sanding. i wanted to repaint our bathrooms… so much work!

By: Woodson painting

Woodson painting — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:10:17 +0000

Great advice! Yet another great read. Thanks

By: HeatherSolos

HeatherSolos — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:18:08 +0000

Thank you for your advice.

By: Letterpress

Letterpress — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:50:27 +0000

Nooooooo!
Have you ever tried washing that stuff off? Those chemicals alone will keep the paint from sticking, and frankly, it is so last year.

Come over to the Primer True Believers Side. Go down to HDepot and get a gallon or two of primer (I know you can tint them, but I mostly use white so I can use it under everything) and paint your walls first with the primer. Use rubber gloves as the primer will stick to you too. Then paint. It's unbelievable how easy it is and how wonderful it is. I've painted bathrooms, kitchens (twice, because I changed the color after 8 years), bedrooms, hallways, living rooms, the laundry room in the garage, and it all sticks fine every time. The hallways are going on 15 years and still look just as good as new (although the paint I used was satin finish–no flat matte except in low traffic areas for me). I've painted my cottage-cheese ceilings with primer, then painted over those (huge improvement).

Yay for primer–the miracle!

By: HeatherSolos

HeatherSolos — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:28:06 +0000

I am sorry it bothers you. If you create an actual IntenseDebate account, you have even more control over your content. The reason I installed a 3rd party comment system is this allows me to moderate the spam (which is obnoxious) away from the computer.

Aside from that a many people like aggregating their content, whether it's a comment on my site or their facebook, Twitter, and that ilk and commenting systems like ID, Disqus, and Echo give those users the freedom to do so.

I know that doesn't solve your issue, but I hope it makes my choice to use it more understandable.

By: mom, again

mom, again — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:58:48 +0000

Right, Kim! If the walls were painted with any kind of latex, even matte finish, you'll need to either sand the walls, or more likely you can rely on the etching effect of the TSP /fake TSP to do the same job. It will make all the difference. Without it, you will paint and paint and paint and still get tiny pinholes opening up to reveal the previous color. You might end up, like us, using twice as much paint putting on repeated coats in an attempt to overcome this. (pale blue over golden yellow. 2 layers of white primer in between, and still, there are spots where I can see the yellow through 3 coats of newer paint). By the time we did the room down the hall, we'd learned about washing the wall, and one slapdash coat of primer covered the red pretty well, allowing us one coat of the pale green.

ps I don't like that your comments page has somehow chosen my facebook ID, my real actual name, to ID me with, I'd much rather enter my own. very inconvenient to have to log out of facebook to do so.

By: kim

kim — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:36:24 +0000

In all my years of painting, I have only "washed" the walls once before I painted. I've always had good luck with flat (matte) paint over flat (matte) paint. However, the one room that I washed the walls had a semi-gloss paint applied (bathroom) and the new paint did NOT stick well even with the pre-cleaning.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:12:51 +0000

There is now a tsp substitute available which may do the same job without the same dangers. It's still scary stuff but no phosphate problems. I know Home Depot carried substitutes for tsp and someone at the paint desk should be able to say if it's as effective.

And painting, like many jobs is only 20 percent actual painting. The rest is prep. Since nobody on your team is a pro, you'll get the best, professional-looking job by laying down drop cloths, washing the walls, taping the woodwork and buying the right tools for the job. And saving most of the beer for when the job is done.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:14:10 +0000

Oh, and absolutely rinse well if you use the real thing. I remember my mom cleaned the ceilings with it once and rinsed 3 or 4 times. You know, they should put a dye in the tsp so when you're rinsing you know the tsp is gone when the color is gone.