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gilmoregal

White Woodwork - How Do You Keep It Clean?

14 years ago

I considered posting this on the Cleaning forum, but I know that many of you have white woodwork, so I thought I'd start here.

After 26 years of painted brown woodwork throughout our house, we just finished having every bit of it painted white (Benjamin Moore Satin Impervo Alkyd Enamel). I absolutely love the change, but so far I am finding it very hard to clean. In addition to painting, we also replaced carpet, lighting, countertops, plumbing fixtures, etc. Every workman seemed to leave fingerprints on my white woodwork, and I am not able to remove them using a soft cloth and warm, soapy water. (I have been afraid to try any other cleaners for fear of damaging the paint finish.)

If you have found a good way to remove fingerprints from your white woodwork, I would love to know. Thanks!

Comments (9)

  • 14 years ago

    I like to use Dirtex and I love Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on tough spots. I use it with a very light touch. It works great for me.

  • 14 years ago

    409 works for me. Spray on a cloth, then wipe.

  • 14 years ago

    DO NOT USE ANYTHING ON THE IMPERVO!! I can't say that loud enough. DO NOT USE ANYTHING ON THE IMPERVO!!! Ok, that being said, just leave it alone. IMPERVO has a curing time. If you don't have a can, I'll dig mine up. After the curing time it's incredibly hard. Then you can use almost anything on it. My trim was done almost 20 years ago and still looks pretty darn good. I just did my bedrooms this past spring with alkyd IMPERVO and they are wonderfully easy to clean with almost anything, even the Mr. Clean eraser. But you NEED to hold off and let it cure.

  • 14 years ago

    jaysmom49 - I still have a can that I can check. But I thought that the cure time was 5-7 days. My woodwork has been painted for at least 2 weeks - most of it has been painted for about a month. So shouldn't it all be fully cured by now?
    I appreciate the suggestions for Dirtex, Formula 409, and Magic Eraser. I'm still a little afraid to try the Magic Eraser - I once used it on a painted wall and noticed that it dulled the sheen a little. Maybe I was too heavy handed.

  • 14 years ago

    I think that the cure time for oil paints is actually something like one month. I talked to the guy at FPE and they suggested a minimum of one month, but more like two months for full curing. The people at Pratt and Lambert said the same thing. The paint on the bottom of my cabinets in FPE is rock hard now. It's been about a month and a half.

  • 14 years ago

    The first couple times I cleaned my white baseboard in the bedroom I found out it's not a good idea really to use a wet or even damp rag before dusting them well. Water or other liquid cleaner alone makes the dirt "stick", and my main problem was the caulking used to seal the baseboard along the top and along the top of the rounded toe board(forget the proper term). The caulking wasn't as washable as it was reported to be. Now much of it has a gray cast. ugh. and anything too strong dissolves it. Pinesol is what I use to wipe the wooden trim, cleans well.

  • 14 years ago

    I always find it funny when people say that white painted wood gets dirtier than stained wood! They both get just as dirty, but you can actually see it on the white surface and clean it. If your wood was stained you wouldn't have seen any of the finger prints. I find white painted wood easier to keep clean because you can see the dirt/spills and clean them as they happen. I have stained kitchen cabs at the moment and hate finding dried up spills that I never noticed when they happened. So much easier to clean fresh dirt/spills!

  • 14 years ago

    I have alkyd impervo (off white) on my kitchen soffits (they are elaborately paneled to resemble the cabinets below). They always end up greasy and dirty, so I have a yearly cleaning ritual with sponges, Fantastic cleanser, and microfiber cloths to buff it all dry. Sometimes I use Simple Green degreaser as well.
    It's holding up perfectly after 5 years, as I had counted on it to do.
    Casey

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