How do I clean painted woodwork without stripping the paint?

Painted woodwork is cleaned by hundreds of small decisions about pressure and product, and the damage shows as patchy sheen rather than as obvious harm.

What you'll need

• Two buckets, one for washing and one for rinsing
• Soft cloths or microfibre and a soft brush
• Washing-up liquid, and sugar soap only if needed

Step by step

1. Work out what the finish is.Gloss and satin are hard-wearing and take gentle scrubbing. Eggshell is moderately durable. Matt and chalk paints mark from wiping alone and often cannot be cleaned without leaving a patch.
2. Test in a hidden place first.Behind a door, low on a skirting board. Wait for it to dry, then look at it from an angle — damage usually shows as a change in sheen rather than as colour.
3. Dust before you wet anything.A dry soft brush or a vacuum with a brush head, especially along the top edges of skirting and architrave. Wetting dust makes a grey slurry that then gets rubbed in.
4. Start with the mildest thing.Warm water and a few drops of washing-up liquid deals with most household grime. There is rarely any reason to start stronger.
5. Wring the cloth out properly.Barely damp, not wet. Water running down woodwork gets behind the paint film at joints and edges, which is what lifts paint and swells timber.
6. Work top to bottom.Dirty water runs downward, and running over an already-cleaned area leaves streaks that are visible once dry.
7. Use two buckets.One with the solution and one with clean rinse water. Otherwise you are progressively washing with dirtier water, which is why woodwork often looks no better afterwards.
8. Rinse and dry as you go.Residue left on the surface dries as a dull film and attracts dust faster than before. A clean damp cloth then a dry one, section by section.
9. Use sugar soap sparingly.It is designed to key a surface before repainting, and it is alkaline. Diluted properly it will clean heavy grime, but on a finish you intend to keep it can dull the sheen. Rinse it off completely.
10. Approach scuff marks gently.A soft cloth with a little washing-up liquid, small circles, minimal pressure. Rubbing hard removes the mark and the sheen together, leaving a dull patch that is more visible than the scuff.
11. Be careful with melamine sponges.They are a very fine abrasive. They shift stubborn marks, and they will burnish or dull paint if used with pressure. Light touch, and never on matt paint.
12. Avoid solvents and abrasive creams.White spirit, acetone and cream cleaners soften or cut through paint. Whatever they remove, they usually take some finish with it.
13. Deal with the grease near the kitchen.Doors and frames near cooking build a sticky film. A stronger solution of washing-up liquid and a longer dwell time works better than more pressure.
14. Accept when it needs repainting.Matt paint with a real stain, or gloss that has yellowed, is not a cleaning problem. A coat of paint on skirting is quicker than an hour of scrubbing that will not work.
15. Keep a little touch-up paint.A small jar labelled with the room and finish. Touching in a mark takes two minutes and looks better than any amount of cleaning.

Tips

• Barely damp cloth, two buckets, top to bottom. That covers most of the job.
• Test in a hidden spot and check it dry from an angle — damage shows as sheen, not colour.
• Matt and chalk paint cannot really be cleaned. Touch-up paint is the answer for those.

Common mistakes

• Scrubbing hard at a scuff mark — It removes the mark and the surface sheen together, leaving a dull patch that catches the light and is more noticeable than the original mark.
• Using neat or unrinsed sugar soap on paint you are keeping — It is formulated to key a surface for repainting. Left on, it dulls the finish and leaves a residue that attracts dust.

If it doesn't work

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