The smell might be from your pipes. When pipes do not have water flowing through them on a regular basis methane gas can build up and cause bad odors. Once you start running water again the odor will dissipate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you do this without messing up the paint? Every time I try to wipe a smudge off of mine, I end up with a bigger smudge that doesn't match.

same! and i can’t use thise magic erasers bc they take the paint off entirely

I did this with a very soft towel and all purpose cleaner. Don’t use anything abrasive. Magic erasers destroyed my paint as well.

Anonymous wrote:I have a lot of artwork and mirrors on my walls, many are quite heavy - I cannot imagine taking it all down and then back up to wash the walls.

Wipe around them and get as close as possible. That’s what I did in my powder room.

I have a lot of artwork and mirrors on my walls, many are quite heavy - I cannot imagine taking it all down and then back up to wash the walls.

Anonymous wrote:How do you do this without messing up the paint? Every time I try to wipe a smudge off of mine, I end up with a bigger smudge that doesn't match.

same! and i can’t use thise magic erasers bc they take the paint off entirely

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I also forgot to mention that my walls smell amazing! I feel like I just hit the lottery. This will be my new go to. I left a few weeks ago and came back home to a house that didn’t smell fresh. It wasn’t the first time.
I will be leaving in a few days and can’t wait to see if I come back to that same stinky smell or if perhaps taking the time to clean the walls have helped!

I don’t know but I fully believed my house smelled bad all the time and I could only smell it when I’d been away, but then we went away and had a house sitter and when we came back the house smelled normal/clean. So I think when a house is shut up and empty it can just smell stale. The house sitter didn’t do any out of the ordinary cleaning.

Op here. I think you may be right. I am less than a week post wall cleaning and just came back from a trip and sure enough, my house had that same old stale odor.

Did you leave your air and dehumidifier on?

Depending on where you live it can make a huge difference. Leave the thermostat set at about 77 in the summer, so you make sure the air will circulate, and a few degrees lower/higher in other seasons.

So in the winter keep it at 50-65 if you think the house would drop to 40 without heat.

I do this and can always smell the paint when we return.

I don’t. We actually have a Nest system that turns off when we are gone. I am going to try to leave my system running periodically to see if that helps. I also think I’ll ask a friend who is very honest if my house has an odd smell. I know she will be forthright.

Okay! I just returned home from a trip. I turned the Nest on about 3 times (30 mins) during my 4 day getaway. I also left an air filter running on low. The weird smell I’ve been complaining about was still there but a lot less obvious and in your face. I am going to get my dryer vent cleaned, air ducts cleaned and make sure my roof vent hasn’t been covered up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This really depends on the paint, people should definitely find an inconspicuous place and try this out first. We have a cheap flat paint on our walls right now from when we move in and any attempt at even wiping the walls results in paint removal and the ghastly color that the previous owners had underneath it (like seriously, the kitchen was both bright purple and dark green, the bathrooms were pepto pink, etc...).

If paint is coming off, it’s not because it’s flat. Something else is wrong with it and you just have to repaint.

They’re not saying it’s the finish, they’re saying it’s the fact that it was painted with cheap, low quality paint.

swiffer those walls !!

Anonymous wrote:This really depends on the paint, people should definitely find an inconspicuous place and try this out first. We have a cheap flat paint on our walls right now from when we move in and any attempt at even wiping the walls results in paint removal and the ghastly color that the previous owners had underneath it (like seriously, the kitchen was both bright purple and dark green, the bathrooms were pepto pink, etc...).

If paint is coming off, it’s not because it’s flat. Something else is wrong with it and you just have to repaint.

This really depends on the paint, people should definitely find an inconspicuous place and try this out first. We have a cheap flat paint on our walls right now from when we move in and any attempt at even wiping the walls results in paint removal and the ghastly color that the previous owners had underneath it (like seriously, the kitchen was both bright purple and dark green, the bathrooms were pepto pink, etc...).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I also forgot to mention that my walls smell amazing! I feel like I just hit the lottery. This will be my new go to. I left a few weeks ago and came back home to a house that didn’t smell fresh. It wasn’t the first time.
I will be leaving in a few days and can’t wait to see if I come back to that same stinky smell or if perhaps taking the time to clean the walls have helped!

I don’t know but I fully believed my house smelled bad all the time and I could only smell it when I’d been away, but then we went away and had a house sitter and when we came back the house smelled normal/clean. So I think when a house is shut up and empty it can just smell stale. The house sitter didn’t do any out of the ordinary cleaning.

Op here. I think you may be right. I am less than a week post wall cleaning and just came back from a trip and sure enough, my house had that same old stale odor.

Did you leave your air and dehumidifier on?

Depending on where you live it can make a huge difference. Leave the thermostat set at about 77 in the summer, so you make sure the air will circulate, and a few degrees lower/higher in other seasons.

So in the winter keep it at 50-65 if you think the house would drop to 40 without heat.

I do this and can always smell the paint when we return.

I don’t. We actually have a Nest system that turns off when we are gone. I am going to try to leave my system running periodically to see if that helps. I also think I’ll ask a friend who is very honest if my house has an odd smell. I know she will be forthright.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you get a higher grade paint this isnt neccessary.

Disagree. It's the type of paint you get that matters.

You can spend $200 per gallon on flat paint but it's still flat paint and it will get marked up easily.

We tried doing satin in some rooms and I love it. It has a higher sheen than normal and MUCH easier to clean. It's similar to semi gloss.

Paints with higher sheens, in general, are EASIER to clean. That’s not going to affect whether or not you need to clean it. But mainly, it’s a preference thing. Aesthetically I hate how satin or eggshell looks on the wall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did this over the weekend. I also washed my kitchen cabinets with a clean mop (spin mop posted), with very hot water and a small bit of Tide powder.

Then I did the exterior doors, inside and out. Wow what a difference!

Thanks Pp. This is motivation for me. I hadn’t thought about the exterior doors.

Cabinets and all doors need to be done a lot more often than walls imo. Doors especially collect a lot of grime. Anywhere there is oil, dust will become grime. So kitchens and things we touch need more attention.

Agreed. I use a rejuvenation cabinet spray for my cabinets. That are painted gray. That are constantly filthy.

It’s totally worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you get a higher grade paint this isnt neccessary.

Disagree. It's the type of paint you get that matters.

You can spend $200 per gallon on flat paint but it's still flat paint and it will get marked up easily.

We tried doing satin in some rooms and I love it. It has a higher sheen than normal and MUCH easier to clean. It's similar to semi gloss.

A few years ago, someone was raving about ScuffX from Benjamin Moore.

I thought the poster was a loon, but it’s totally worth it. I painted my kitchen with the matte finish and the paint looks amazing two years later. Also- my kids are slobs and get spaghetti sauce on the walls. Wiping old sauce usually leaves some kind of mark- but in this case, absolutely nothing.

The paint matters. You buy Aura for color depth and longevity. You buy scuffX because you have kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I also forgot to mention that my walls smell amazing! I feel like I just hit the lottery. This will be my new go to. I left a few weeks ago and came back home to a house that didn’t smell fresh. It wasn’t the first time.
I will be leaving in a few days and can’t wait to see if I come back to that same stinky smell or if perhaps taking the time to clean the walls have helped!

I don’t know but I fully believed my house smelled bad all the time and I could only smell it when I’d been away, but then we went away and had a house sitter and when we came back the house smelled normal/clean. So I think when a house is shut up and empty it can just smell stale. The house sitter didn’t do any out of the ordinary cleaning.

Op here. I think you may be right. I am less than a week post wall cleaning and just came back from a trip and sure enough, my house had that same old stale odor.

Did you leave your air and dehumidifier on?

Depending on where you live it can make a huge difference. Leave the thermostat set at about 77 in the summer, so you make sure the air will circulate, and a few degrees lower/higher in other seasons.

So in the winter keep it at 50-65 if you think the house would drop to 40 without heat.

I do this and can always smell the paint when we return.