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The Kitchen Table

What to use to clean painted baseboards?

10 years ago

They are painted light blue.
Around the house, they've just picked up the usual dust and dog hair, especially the ones near the windows.

I have a bottle of rubbing alcohol and vinegar for windows -- would that pull up the paint finish?

Or should I just damp-clean with a wet microfiber cleaning cloth?

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Comments (16)

MiMi
10 years ago
I use Dawn dishwashing liquid with hot water in a bucket and use a old hand towel or wash cloth. It works really well. I had some collected dust up a corner or two and got out the Shark hand steamer and blasted it out with that. I also used the Shark steamer on the bathroom cabinets to get dust out of corners and crevices.
Fun2BHere
10 years ago
I vacuum mine.with the dusting brush attachment. I also keep a paint brush handy to get into corners and niches.
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Hey, so I want to say that our house originally had white baseboards, but after a month I made my handsome hubby paint them white and use the shiny paint (idk if it was oil-based, but he knew exactly what I meant and got the correct kind) because keeping the flat white paint clean was consuming my life. So I recommend new *shiny* paint if your current paint is very matte. To keep them clean I use a Swiffer Extended Reach and lightly trace it along them...I don't have to bend down or be on my hands & knees, may God bless the Proctor & Gamble genius who invented the Extended Reach Swiffer :) I change our air filter every 3 weeks even if it doesn't look dirty. I had been Swiffering those pesky boards every week, which sounds extreme but it only took about 30 mins to dust the baseboards for both the 1st and 2nd floors, the entire house) and 1 Swiffer Duster Refill, or just the duster that was already on it if it was practically unused and clean. You could probably Swiffer your baseboards every other week or even every 3 weeks, depends on your home. One day I decided to take a Gain dryer sheet (unused) and tape it to my Swiffer, then I traced it back along the baseboards on the east wall upstairs in the hallway, leaving the opposite wall alone so I would have a constant with which to compare my variable. After 2 weeks the Gain boards were clean like they had just been dusted, the Western ones were the usual scale of 2-weeks-of-dander-sans-dusting. Maybe it's all dryer sheets, maybe it's just the Gain Original scent, I'm not sure since I haven't tried another kind. But it could nelp you out, so give it a whirl I bet you'll be surprised at how well your baseboard repel dust with the help of a dryer sheet. Be sure to trace lightly, otherwise you'll rub the softener onto the boards and spend the whole day cleaning off the dull spots that result
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How many feet of baseboard is affected? I know what ferrets smell like. I do not know what Nature's Miracle is. I doubt that the fins have any finish. Assuming that they are raw aluminum over copper tube, avoid acidic cleaners. Aim for a slightly alkaline pH, maybe 7-8.5 ish. Too acidic (low pH) will corrode the fins and copper. Obviously you need to clean out the fur and debris first. Consider phenolic and quaternary amonium cleaner-disinfectants. Otherwise, mild detergent should help. Consider HVAC evaporator cleaners like Nucalgon Evan-fresh or EVap Pow'r-C. They are formulated to be safe and effective on copper/aluminum assemblies, and safe for occupants. (I've never tried their "Blackhawk" cleaner, but it is probably a good bet.). It is an aerosol so it will be expensive if you had a lot of cool to clean.) Personally, for this purpose, I'd go stronger than that stuff, but for someone that does not have chemistry experience, I can say that they are safe for you and for the equipment. Since you are going for a smell, the material producing it is volitale so heat may be your friend. Steam might work well and should not hurt anything. After you are done cleaning as well as you can, Turning on the heat with the windows open might help a lot. Do open the windows and ventilate well because anything that evaporates with the steam or heat from the system might just condense on cooler surfaces if it. Is trapped in the room. That will just move the smell to the walls and such. Ferrets are great and very compelling animals. I have affection for them, but they make terrible pets from several standpoints. Good luck to you.
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Dave, you should go ahead and try that. It may come out fine. The reason I tape off baseboard and paint the walls last is because that is the way I have figured out over the years to have the best final result. It's not so much gravity that makes paint bleed under tape. It's mainly user error ... in other words, the person putting the tape on doesn't push that back edge down. Another way to get bleed is by brushing the paint too much and actually pushing it behind the tape with the bristles of your brush. You may find in the end that taping off a wall over your baseboard that it's not easy to make the tape straight this way. All you can do is try it out.
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Not sure how different modern painted finishes are, but for our much older painted cabinets, I clean them with a vinegar solution. (I use a 50-50 mix because it's the same multi-purpose solution we use everywhere else in the house, but you could easily drop that down to 10-90 for a much milder cleaning solution.) I sometimes add lemon juice if I have one handy, and that would probably help with the vinegar smell, which is the one downside---otherwise it does a really good job. I dilute it a bit, add a drop of mild washing soap, and use it on our wood floors when they need more than a vacuum, too, which works very well.
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Terri_PacNW
10 years ago
Even just a damp rag or micro fiber cloth..
FlamingO in AR
10 years ago
I would use Mr. clean. Mix up a small bucket full of that and then have another bucket of warm clear water for rinsing and just use a sponge or washcloth and work your way around the room. Rinse the dirty one in the clear water so you don't contaminate the Mr. clean.
Cherryfizz
10 years ago
What a timely post. I was looking at mine last week and thinking my baseboards and trim need a good cleaning. I was going to try the shark steam cleaner attachment because I can't bend over to wash them because of my vertigo and if I get down on the floor I can't get back up because of my bad knee. have an attachment that has a long fuzzy cover that might help clean them. I sure miss the days when I could wash the floors on my hands and knees
lisa_fla
10 years ago
Murphy Soap diluted in a bucket of warm water and a rag, no need to rinse.
User
10 years ago
Try the "magic eraser", that might be the easiest on the paint.
kayjones
10 years ago
I agree with Lisa - Murphy Oil Soap, warm water, a micro fiber cloth and a small bucket of cool water for rinsing.
socks
10 years ago
I just use a damp rag. Are all the cleaning products necessary? I never even thought of using anything but water.
kayjones
10 years ago
Socks, the oil soap conditions the wood, which, over time, dries out.
FlamingO in AR
10 years ago
But the baseboards are painted- how does the soap condition through the paint?

This post was edited by FlamingO_in_AR on Sat, Oct 19, 13 at 11:54
grandmamary_ga
10 years ago
Spic and Span is what I used to use when I could get down and clean them. I guess they need it now as I look at them. lol
The vacuum will do for now.
Mary
kayjones
10 years ago
Per Colgate's website:

"Murphy's Oil Soap was made especially for sealed wood but is a fantastic, natural, hardworking, safe cleaner that you can use around your house to clean any surface except glass.

Please do not use on unfinished or unsealed wood."
chisue
10 years ago
Any mild cleaner dissolved in water. If you use Murphy Oil Soap, use just a teeny bit or you'll leave a slightly sticky film. I have a 'lifetime supply' of Armstrong Floor Cleaner (overbought) that I use on floors and woodwork -- no sticky residue and no rinsing.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
10 years ago
Wood flooring manufacturers will not recommend Murphy's. It leaves a gummy film of soap....there are no conditioners or emollients in the soap.

I use plain water for baseboards...I honestly never notice a need for a cleaner. Maybe a bit of vinegar if there's something sticky.
jannie
10 years ago
Just a damp sponge.

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