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[Mom2Dogs]

A friend of mine is moving into a new apartment...the cleaning person is quarantined for 10 days due to covid.  I told her I would help her clean so she can get moved in.

The walls need to be washed...not scrubbed but cleaned and possibly they will be painted, hoping that is not the case.  

I looked on line about washing walls, since that is not something I do but I have gotten two different answers....wash from the bottom up and another to wash from the top down.  From what I understand if it is done wrong there could be streaking...so which was is the best?

We are only going to use hot water and a little bit of dawn dish soap.

...any comments appreciated.

[Still Raining]

If she is renting, this is NOT for her to do.  Management must do it.  If they are that dirty she should not start her lease.

Since you have no way to know about the type of paint, you can make it worse.  Poor quality paint will wash well.

[dimin]

I do bottom to top to catch the drips before the streak. 

[Katcat1]

@Mom2Dogs   Always wash from the top down.  If there is any dirty water it flows downward but I would change the water if it got dirty.  My mom always washed walls when I was growinig up and us kids would help her.  She used Spic n Span because you did not need to rinse it.  I am surprised that people still wash walls but I was thinking about it myself because the landlord does not redecorate once you're in.

[January121]

WOW!!! .... I never heard of or knew anyone who washed their walls .... if I was renting a new apartment I would expect the landlord to have the appartment cleaned & painted with fresh paint. 🙃

[Mellyg]

You are a kind friend for offering to help @Mom2Dogs ; and I go from bottom to top. BUT.... like others have said, it isn't her responsibility to do this. If the walls are dirty the management company should have it painted.  In her lease, there may be a "cleaning fee", if she's paying that and they aren't fulfilling their duties, they should waive that.

As with most businesses, Covid has been challenging for many landlords and management companies. I'm sure the helpfulness from you and your friend is appreciated.

[homedecor1]

In my cleaning business many people had walls & baseboards done once a year.  This was never anything I enjoyed especially those with big houses 😉.  

I recall the ladies always started at the bottom and worked upwards same as when washing windows.

I don't recall any streaks.  Only streaks I liked were when room was cleaned vacumned rug as backing out of room.

I love a fresh clean house, but, no longer have the stanima to be this fussy! 

As for renting I thought it was a law apartments needed to be re-painted and fully cleaned before more-in.  

[Snowpuppy]

Agree that cleaning/painting is the landlord's responsibility. I did suite prep in college. I cleaned and painted vacant apartments in exchange for free rent on my unit.

That said, she should strike a deal if this is a small landlord. "Hey, Covid and all, I'll clean/paint/ready the unit in exchange for the first month's rent".

I've done this with success a few times over.

[haddon9]

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@January121 wrote:

WOW!!! .... I never heard of or knew anyone who washed their walls .... if I was renting a new apartment I would expect the landlord to have the appartment cleaned & painted with fresh paint. 🙃

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I feel the same way on both points...it's the landlord's responsibility to provide a clean apartment.  I can't imagine renting a place and having to do it myself.  I would hire someone before moving and ask the landlord to pay for it.

I also don't know people who usually wash their walls.  I can see dusting them but why are they so dirty that one needs to wash them?  As for marks, I use Mr. Clean wipes to get any dirty marks near light switches, etc.

I read that washing walls became a regular thing years ago when people had coal heat and walls really did get dirty & covered in soot.

[Foxxee]

We always start at the top and work our way down.  We never had streaking when we dusted the walls with a long mop every month and washed yearly with dish soap.

It does depend on the type of paint that was used and how old it is.  Old flat paint needed special care.  Despite streaking, my experience has been it also had a tendency to become somewhat shiny after washing.  

If the paint is old, I would want the walls painted with newer washable flat/matte paints on the market.