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How to Clean Satin Painted Walls

Laura Hageman

Satin paint is soft and smooth and has a glossy appearance. It goes on easily with a roller, but when it comes to cleaning it, a heavy amount of water can wash away the paint along with the dirt. In order to avoid cleaning a satin wall incorrectly, follow a few guidelines.

  1. Dust the walls. Use a duster in order to keep dust off the walls. This will help keep your satin painted wall clean, because dust can smear across the wall and make blotches on the paint.

  2. Dampen a soft cloth and wipe the wall starting from the bottom of the wall, working your way to the top. This should be done once a month.

  3. Remove fingerprints immediately. Satin painted walls take fingerprint marks easily. To keep the wall clean, get a damp cloth and wipe softly over the area that was touched in order to prevent the fingerprints from setting into the paint.

  4. Use ammonia. Dampen a sponge with a mixture of water and ammonia. Add three caps full of ammonia into a bucket half full of warm water. Wipe the sponge on the dirty area of the wall. Do not rub or it will take the paint off.

  5. Use a small brush to touch up areas with dirt. Going over dirty areas with a small brush can make the wall look clean again. Always keep some clean paintbrushes in addition to ones you can use for touch-ups.

  6. Tip

    Do not water down the sponge or cloth when cleaning the satin painted wall since it could remove some or all of the paint.