Beyond Cleaning - How to Clean up Baseboards

I can’t believe the difference cleaning and touching up baseboards makes. Even though baseboards aren’t often in our line of site, somehow, when they are touched up and looking bright and new again, it makes a room feel so much more fresh!

This does involve a tiny bit more effort than dusting your baseboards, but not much. The hardest part of any project I have often found is collecting all the supplies to get started, which weirdly seems to often be the case.

So next time you’re wiping/dusting your baseboards, consider touching up the paint, it’s easy…..this is how I did it (without taping).

TIP: see my blog post on how to “cut in” (using a detail brush)

TIP: Yes Mason jars will keep paint, for years even. Just be sure to label the tops and adding the code from the paint store doesn’t hurt if you’re thinking you may need more someday!

First you need to collect supplies.

For this you will need

1. Old toothbrush (if you don’t have one set aside somewhere, I recommend it. There are millions of cleaning uses that an old used toothbrush is great for)

2. Small container with soapy water (any soap will do)

3. Spray bottle of any cleaning solution you choose and water (for the actually dusting portion of the exercise)

4. Trim paint (most trim paint is a semi gloss paint, hopefully you have some left over somewhere that matches the baseboard you’re doing)

5. Detail paint brush (this is a small angle brush, also an art brush is excellent for those tiny hard to get to spots….but I don’t recommend cheap brushes, ever!)

6. 2 rags, one that you don’t mind getting paint on

First I sprayed my trim and wiped it down the way I would normally when do if I was just cleaning it. Once it was thoroughly clean I waited for it to dry. Then I carefully painted the trim without much worry to get right to the edges (works fine if its the same color as the existing). This is just to clean up not do a full paint, but it some gets on the floor or wall don’t worry. Doing a couple feet at a time, look for any areas that paint may have gotten onto the wall or floor. Using the toothbrush dipped into the soapy water, gently scrub the floor or wall. (Careful to use less water on the wall as it will drip) Finally wipe dry with those areas with your paint rag.

It really is simple and its actually the toothbrush that saves the day. The end bristles at the tip are perfect for sweeping closet to the trim. If you happen to miss some dollops of paint and don’t notice till later, don’t worry. Paint is often easily removed with a fingernail or a sharp flat edge and should pop right off. Razor blade scrapers are excellent for removing paint splatters and smears on windows even if its years old.

Don’t know how to use an angled trim brushe? The next blog post has some good tips on how to dip, hold, flare and pull an angled brush for clean straight lines (A trick I learned years ago from a pro).