Taking Care of Newly Painted Walls in 5 Easy Steps
- Blog
- Brett
Your painter did a fantastic job refreshing your walls, and your home is now brighter and more inviting with its brand colour. But is that all there is to it? Or are there ways to make sure it will last longer? Find out below to learn how to take care of newly painted walls and prolong their lifespan.
Maintaining Your Newly Painted Walls
1. Supervise your kids while playing
Modern paints are formulated to dry within hours but sticky hands, crayons, and markers can mess it up. Even just a small smudge or a fingerprint is enough to ruin the beauty of a freshly painted wall. If possible, don’t let kids near a newly painted room or exterior wall. But if you really have to let your kids play in the room, make sure to supervise them and gently but firmly remind them that touching the walls are off-limits for now.
2. Keep the room ventilated to speed up drying time
Moisture is the number one barrier to the proper drying of the paint. To speed up the drying process, open your home’s windows and doors. Keep it well-ventilated to prevent mould from forming especially in areas such as bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms. Opening windows and doors during the day also helps get rid of unpleasant odours faster.
3. Let the light in
As mentioned, moisture is paint’s number one enemy as it helps mould form on your walls. To keep mould from forming, let sunlight in by opening doors and windows.
What if you have a south-facing room or the room is blocked by a wall so that it doesn’t receive a good amount of sunlight during the day? Then the best you can do is open the door or window to keep it as ventilated as possible.
4. Let it dry completely
Dry time depends entirely on the type of paint you are using. If you want something that dries faster, then choose water-based or latex paints. Latex paints already feel dry to the touch after just an hour after the application of the second coat, but make sure not to leave fingerprints or dirt on it until it has fully cured. Curing time for latex or water-based paint typically lasts up to 2 weeks under ideal conditions. For high-humidity and high-temperature areas, then expect the curing process to last up to 30 days.
What about oil-based paints? Oil-based paints dry longer than water-based paints — around 6 to 8 hours. Surprisingly, many oil-based paints are fully cured for as short as 7 days.
5. Keep it clean
Keep your walls clean to prolong the paint’s lifespan. Remove cobwebs and all sorts of dirt from walls as soon as you spot them. Wash your walls with a mixture of dish soap and water to remove dirt or dust. To be safe, make sure to conduct a patch test before washing the entire area with the soap and water mixture.
Once everything has been washed, rinse the walls by wiping them down with a soft cloth. Wipe them with a dry cloth afterwards and let them dry.
See how easy it is to maintain your newly painted walls? For questions about paint maintenance or colour consultations and quotes, simply reach out to us.
