Woodwork - Paint vs. Cleaning

Tray catches drips!

Think it's time to repaint the woodwork; think again!

Painting the wood work in your home is much more time consuming and much more costly, if you hire someone to do it, than painting a room. As a first option, consider cleaning all baseboards, doors and door frames, and cabinetry, before you decide to paint.

Gather the right tools for the job:
Small (6 quart) bucket
Mild water based detergent
Micro fiber cloths
Mr. Clean Eraser sponges
Terry cloth hand towel
Rubber gloves with a drip proof cuff
A large plastic tray or rimmed baking sheet
Blue masking tape
Vacuum with attachment

Mix a small amount, generally less than the recommended amount of detergent,
with very warm water in the bucket. You should empty your bucket frequently
so only fill it half way and try to keep detergent minimal, maybe only a
teaspoon full. Put all your supplies on the tray along with the bucket.
The tray keeps all your supplies together, is easily scooted around on the
floor, and most importantly, catches drips and keeps them off your carpet or
other flooring.

Put your rubber gloves on and think systematically. Begin in the corner of
your home, top or bottom level, and work your way around that room first,
baseboards, door frames, and doors, before moving to the hall or next room.
You may want to vacuum around the tops of the baseboard with a brush tool
and or the area where the baseboards meet your flooring with a crevice tool
before wiping. Use a micro fiber cloth that you have wet and squeezed out
in your bucket. Microfiber cloths don't leave streaks or excess water that
a sponge or terry cloth might. Start at the top of door frames and doors
and work your way down to prevent drips.

Use the Mr. Clean eraser sponge for heavily soiled areas such as around the
door knob or for scuff marks at the base of the door. Wet it completely
under running water in the sink, not your bucket as it contains its own
detergent. Squeeze it completely and then put it on your tray. Rub gently
and repeatedly any marks on the door or baseboards. If you rub too hard you
may discolor or remove paint. Avoid using the eraser sponge for the entire
door. They are expensive and deteriorate as you use them. A mild detergent
in water and your elbow grease with the microfiber cloth should do the
trick. Remember to wipe off the residue of the Mr. Clean eraser using your
microfiber cloth.

Nasty Garage Baseboard

As you are cleaning, if you notice chips or scratches in the paint that cleaning won't take care of, dry the area with you terry hand towel and put a small piece of blue masking take by the area. If at the end of your cleaning you have a sea of blue tape, painting the wood work may be the way to go, but at least you have a clean surface on which to work. If blue tape is minimal consider touching up chips in the paint.


Unfortunately if your left over trim paint is over a year old or has been stored improperly it will probably be unusable. It is fine to test the paint after shaking it thoroughly in an inconspicuous area. Let it dry completely (like 12 hours) before making a decision. Your best bet might be to take the old paint to the manufactures paint store and let them use the color code to mix you a quart of fresh paint. If they are nice and so are you they might properly dispose of your old paint for you.

When touching up paint on wood work use a small craft brush or maybe two; one brush could be less than an inch wide and flat, the other might be truly small, for filling in a tiny chip in the wood. Avoid using sponge brushes for this kind of project. Use a light hand and a tiny amount of paint. Usually just dipping your brush in the paint thats on the lid of your quart of paint will suffice. The idea is to fill in the chip only, not to start painting the door. Most likely, new or left over paint will not match exactly, so try to keep the touch up as minimal as possible.

Again, work systematically around each room, removing the blue tape as you touch up each
spot so if the phone rings you will know exactly where you left off when you were interrupted. Hopefully, a fresh cleaning will yield the result you are looking for in your trim. If you do have to do some painting keep in mind these tips:

Latex paint cannot be used over oil based paint without the wood work being
first sanded and primed. Your paint store or professional painter can
instruct you as to how to know if you have oil based paint on your wood
work. Chances are if your house is less than 20 years old you have nothing
but latex, however it never hurts to check. Cabinets that are finished or
painted bookcases are often finished more durably and may need to be sanded
and primed before painting.

If you home is very old or considered historic, consult a professional
before you paint. Older paint may contain lead which can be extremely
harmful to you, your family and pets if sanded or removed improperly. It
may not be in the paint on the surface of your wood work but could be in
subsequent layers underneath. Read up on lead paint on the internet. The
Environmental Protection Agency provides brochures to paint stores
concerning lead paint that you can pick up, just ask.

Do not dispose of old paint by pouring it down a sink, in a storm drain or on to the ground. In many cases water based or latex paints can be opened and filled with kitty litter and left open until the kitty litter has absorbed all the paint and completely dried and then you can pour out the "crumbs" in the trash and throw the can away. This is not safe with oil based paints. Check with your local waste management system for the proper disposal recommendation.




Place Paint on Tray to Scoot