Cleaning the mouldings in your house
There’s nothing quite like mouldings for adding charm to your home’s interior! The one hitch is that these raised decorative elements are a real dust magnet. Here are a few tips and tricks to help maintain your mouldings and baseboards so that they can really shine!
Regular maintenance: dusting
To keep your mouldings from turnings into dens of dust, you need to regularly dust your mouldings and baseboards with a feather duster or microfibre cloth. If you don’t use lint-free cloth, the fibres can cling to protrusions on the moulding.
A light touch
When undertaking a major cleaning, take the time to wash the mouldings on your walls and ceilings so that they sparkle once more! Before you get started, clean the walls to remove dirt that you might otherwise push onto your baseboards during or after cleaning.
To dislodge dirt from wood or MDF mouldings, combine a gentle cleaner with water, following the manufacturer’s recommendations. A simple recipe for liquid dish soap in hot water is perfect! Soak a soft-bristle brush in the mixture and scrub the mouldings carefully to protect the paint job. If the mouldings have delicate detailing, use a smaller brush (such as a toothbrush). Gently rinse with clean water to remove any traces of soap and let air dry.
If your mouldings and baseboards are heavily stained, remember that it’s better to go over the surface several times with a light touch than to scrub furiously, especially for painted surfaces. Too much pressure can damage the paint job or cause it to fade, or can affect the finish.
We recommend that you do not let plaster mouldings get wet, as their porous surface tends to absorb water and dirt. Scrub very delicately with a soft bristled brush to avoid damaging the mouldings. Use a fine brush for work on detailed ornaments.
Pick the right paint
Planning to paint or stain your mouldings? A bit of advice: use washable and mould-proof paint that won’t come off during maintenance. As for the finish, the majority of specialists agree that a semi-gloss finish is the best for mouldings. For superior air quality, use paint without any volatile organic compounds (VOCs).