How to Remove Common Stains from Your Walls (Chicago-Approved Tips)

Between work, family, and trying to enjoy everything Chicago has to offer, keeping your home spotless can feel like a full-time job. We get it. That’s why we’re sharing some real-life cleaning hacks to tackle those stubborn wall stains, so you can spend less time scrubbing and more time living.

Ever looked at a mysterious mark on your wall and wondered, “How on earth do I get that off?” You’re not alone. From artistic toddlers to everyday accidents, walls see it all. Before you consider a full repaint, try these simple, effective methods to restore your walls to their former glory.

The Crayon Conundrum

Kids love to express themselves, and sometimes the canvas is your living room wall. For crayon marks, grab a clean cloth and lightly spray it with WD-40. It might sound unconventional, but it works incredibly well. Wipe gently and watch the wax lift instantly. You may need to repeat the spray-and-wipe a few times for complete removal.

Important: WD-40 will leave a greasy residue. Always do a follow-up wash with a solution of dish soap and warm water to prevent streaks. If you’d rather leave this messy task to the pros, a quick apartment cleaning service can handle it for you.

Permanent Marker (The “Why, Kid, Why?” Stain)

Permanent marker seems to magnetically attract walls. The fix is simple: use a high-alcohol hand sanitizer or 70% isopropyl alcohol on a cloth. Dab and wipe, and you’ll see the ink disappear. The key is patience—lather, rinse, and repeat several times without scrubbing too hard, as you don’t want to damage the paint’s finish.

For stubborn marks you don’t have time for, consider fast cleaning services to get your space back in order quickly.

Makeup Mayhem: Lipstick & Foundation

Makeup stains are a common culprit, often transferred from hands to walls, doors, and light switches.

Lipstick on the Wall

We first tried micellar water, but it only removed the top layer. The winning solution? Hand sanitizer again! It tackled the remaining stain perfectly, proving its versatility beyond just sanitizing.

Foundation Stains

Foundation, with its high oil content, can be tricky. Micellar water works well for initial removal (it acts like a magnet, just like on your skin). However, on flat paint, it might leave a slight oily stain. The best follow-up is a mix of dish soap and warm water—the same combo you’d use to clean your makeup brushes!

If these detailed steps feel overwhelming, that’s what deep cleaning help is for. Sometimes, you just need a cleaning service near me to handle the tough stuff.

Your Walls Aren’t Wrecked—They Just Need a Little TLC

With the right technique, most wall stains are no match for you. The golden rule is to always test any cleaner in a small, inconspicuous area first and to use gentle pressure to protect your paint.

Of course, maintaining a consistently clean home is another story. If your to-do list is overflowing, remember that a trusted Chicago cleaning company is just a click away. Whether you need to clean your apartment from top to bottom or just want someone to clean my apartment regularly, professional cleaning services in Chicago can provide the lasting results you deserve. It’s the easiest way to get your space cleaned without the weekend sacrifice.

Welcome back. Today I’m going to show you how to get a few different stains off of your walls. We picked some of the most common ones that you guys ask me about all the time. So, here we go. Starting with crayon, you’re going to grab a clean cloth and spray it lightly with some WD40. So, this is like an unconventional way to clean it, but it works so good, you guys. Wipe gently and you will see it lift instantly. You may need to spray or wipe a few times to get it fully off. Now, don’t forget to wipe the wall down and clean it up because it’ll look kind of like greasy afterwards. So, a good way to clean this up with would be with some dish soap and warm water or some powder tide and hot water. You do not want those greasy streaks on your walls. Now, next up is Sharpie. And I don’t know why, but kids always like to write on walls with permanent marker. So, you’re going to use any high alcohol based hand sanitizer, or you can use just like 70% isopropyl alcohol on a cloth and watch it disappear. So, it’s actually really easy. You just have to repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat. Do it a few times. Don’t rub too hard cuz you don’t want to take the finish off of the paint. Next up is lipstick. Now, we wanted to just see if like the mascara, is that how you say it? water would remove it, but it’s only really removing the top layer. So, we decided to try hand sanitizer again to get the remaining stain, and it worked like a charm. Now, lastly, foundation. This is always on people’s walls and doors because they get it on their hands and then they touch the walls and the doors or the light switches. So, we tried mascalar water again and it took it off instantly, which makes sense because it takes it off of your face instantly like a magnet. Now, unfortunately, foundation has a really high oil content, so it left a bit of a stain on the flat paint, but it did do a decent job. A good way to get this stain off would just be dish soap and warm water because that’s what we use to clean our makeup brushes, you guys. So, your stuff’s not wrecked. Neither are your walls. You just have to clean them.