How to Clean Painted Brick

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Painted bricks over the interior or exterior walls demand timely cleaning. These bricks have the shine, texture, and appeal to glam up the entire property. But they experience a lot of dirt, dust, stain, and other adversities over time to lose their glaze.

Therefore, it is essential to revive them on time, to maintain the look of the property. Painted bricks add a subtle touch of elegance to your home.

And, if they have a layer of dust & dirt over them, then they might not look fresh & new. So, let’s check out the cleaning methods.

How to Clean Painted Brick

After a brick undergoes the painting process, the use of chemicals is prohibited because it might just erode or fade the surface. Therefore, it is important to carry out different cleaning measures to achieve the end goal.

There might be acrylic materials within painted bricks that will lose their elegance when they are uncleaned for a long time. You can learn how to clean painted brick with just DIY methods. And this guide will help you with the same. 

Method 1: Cleaning Painted Bricks With Dishwashing Liquid

Dishwashing liquid is free from any corroding chemicals. Therefore, it is ideal to be used over painted bricks for cleaning purposes. The steps here will help you learn the correct process of approach:

a brick with a colorful painted animal looking figure
  1. Get all the supplies such as two buckets, two sponges, few soft & dry clothes, dishwashing liquid, and clean water. 
  2. Firstly, you need to use a soft cloth for dusting or wiping away the loose dust from the surface. It is to ensure that you do not grind the particles into the paint while further cleaning. 
  3. Now, prepare the cleaning solution by mixing a little dish detergent into a bucket of warm water. Prefer a teaspoon of dishwashing detergent. 
  4. Dip the sponge in that solution, and then you can squeeze out the excess moisture and soap solution from it. But, do not wring it thoroughly, as you will need the solution to clean the painted bricks. 
  5. Start cleaning from the bottom surface of the wall, and work in sections. Continue applying the cleaning solutions over the wall until you cover half the area. 
  6. Before proceeding further, you should use the second sponge, damped with water, to wipe clean the painted bricks. 
  7. You can then use a dry and soft cloth to clean the area and dry it out. 
  8. Now, move on to clean the other half of the painted brick wall. Dip the sponge in the solution bucket again and continue applying it over the uncleaned surface. 
  9. Repeat Steps 6 and 7, and you will be done with the job. 
  10. It is essential to remove moisture from the wall surface to ensure that the wall doesn’t deteriorate over time. 

Method 2: Cleaning the Painted Bricks With Vinegar & Water

A faded and eroded painted bricks

When you intend to learn about cleaning your painted bricks, you can never ignore vinegar for the purpose. Vinegar has the property to clean almost anything.

So, try it out with painted brick walls as well. Here are the steps to give you a better glimpse at how to use it:

  1. Dust off the wall properly with a feather duster or a clean cloth. 
  2. Now, prepare a mixture of water and vinegar in a 1:1 ratio. 
  3. Mix it up well, and then add it to a spray bottle. 
  4. Now, you can prefer spraying it over the bricks in sections. 
  5. Start from the bottom of your painted brick wall, and spray the solution until half the area. 
  6. Now, let the solution settle down for some time before you can scrub the surface. 
  7. You will then need a sponge mop to clean the bricks of your wall. Instead of a sponge, you can prefer using nylon bristles as well. Do not use abrasive brushes as they might rip off the paint. 
  8. Now, rinse off the wall with clean water, and then dry it with a clean cloth. You should not leave behind any moisture over the wall surface. 

And this is the perfect alternative to the dishwashing liquid method. Also, you can easily get vinegar solutions from any local store or online shopping site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I Need to Consider Something Before Painting My Bricks?

Yes, you should consider that painting brick is a permanent thing. You cannot reverse it. You should also keep in mind to treat all the water-damaged areas to ensure that the paint doesn’t deteriorate from within. There are few more things for you to consider, for which you should refer to this article

Why Are the Positives of Painting the Bricks and Maintaining Them?

The first and the most important benefit of painting the bricks is to add a layer of protection to the bricks from exterior adversities. Also, you need to maintain the brick wall to protect it.

Bricks have pores that can hold debris, dirt, and moisture to damage them from within. And paint will prevent it! 

a kid scrubbing a brick wall with sponge

Conclusion

You need to keep in mind that painted bricks are a good choice as compared to raw bricks. It is because raw bricks are very porous and hold a lot of dirt and debris.

Hence, painted bricks are a good substitute. And to maintain them, you need to ensure that you are following the proper process.

This guide has it all for you! Learning the appropriate method will help you suppress the damage and improve the care. So, consider implementing the same! 

Allen Michael is the Founder and Editor of Home Viable, a website that he started to provide readers with tips on home efficiency and automation. He draws on his engineering background combined with his family-of-four experiences for his articles.