How to Clean Paneling on Bedroom Walls

Keep bedroom paneling clean for health, hygiene and aesthetic reasons.

It's important to keep paneling in a bedroom clean for health, hygiene and aesthetic reasons. Dirty paneling is unattractive and makes the room look shabby. But even more importantly, the recommended eight hours sleep per night means eight hours of breathing the air around your bed. By keeping the paneling clean, you reduce the amount of dust in the atmosphere, thereby cutting the amount of dust you breathe into your lungs. You also reduce the amount of dust that ends up falling on your duvet and pillows. This means less dust is reintroduced into the atmosphere when you make your bed each morning

Things You'll Need

• Vacuum cleaner
• Dusting attachment
• Crevice nozzle
• Mild detergent/wood wash
• Bucket
• Cleaning rags
• Terry towels
• Spray polish

Instructions

1. Vacuum the paneling thoroughly. Use a dusting brush and go over each section of paneling carefully. Attach the dusting brush to the extension wands to reach higher sections of paneling. If the paneling is made of strips with narrow grooves between them, use the vacuum's crevice nozzle to suck debris out of these narrow gaps.

2. Make up a solution of mild household detergent and warm water in a bucket if the paneling is made of painted wood or plastic. If the paneling is made of wood sealed with varnish or stain, make up a solution of wood wash and warm water.

3. Wash the paneling from top to bottom, using cleaning rags. Mentally divide it into equal sections and work on one at a time. Rinse the paneling using clean, warm water and dry it with a terry towel. Air the room by opening the window to ensure the paneling is completely dried.

4. Polish the paneling if it is made of varnished or stained wood. Use a spray polish for wood, and once again work on one section at a time. Use a terry towel to spread the polish on each section. Buff each section to a shine with a clean terry towel.

Tips & Warnings

• Buff wood to as high a shine as possible. This will make it harder for dust to adhere to it and make routine cleaning with a vacuum easier.

• Do not balance on a set of steps to wash high sections of paneling. This is dangerous. Use a sponge mop so you can keep your feet firmly on the ground.

References

• House Cleaning Central: Cleaning wood paneling
• "The Cleaning Bible"; 2006; Aggie MacKenzie, et al.