Hand Sanitizer Paint Scuff Cleaner

This is a crazy tip I discovered.  It may be a well-known fix that's been on the internet for decades, but I randomly discovered it and I'm so thrilled to have an easy solution that does exactly what I want it to.

We have a new house with new paint.  New paint that doesn't stay new with clumsy adults and busy toddlers.  From time to time we get marks on the walls. For the first year, we knew there would be a repaint coming as things settled and we noticed needed fixes from the initial paint.  At a year, we blue-taped up the whole house and added in our biggest booboo's to be fixed.  That time has not passed.  Any messes now, we're stuck with.

There are Magic Erasers.  They do magically erase the mark.  But they very un-magically leave a shiny spot where you used them if you have flat paint.  I am far more annoyed by the larger shine spot than the initial scuff.  So I was biding my time until I had enough to call the painter back in to do a big overhaul.

Then one day there was a large mark made by an upholstered chair my son rubbed into the corner of the wall.  I wanted something that would dry, not leave residue on the wall while not being too abrasive.  I considered the bottle of hand sanitizer gel in the bathroom.  It would dry easily because of the alcohol content and would probably be something I could use to gently rub the paint with.

And it worked.  It worked amazingly well.  It pulled the mark off and didn't leave a noticeable residual area that looked "fixed."  I thought it was a fluke.  I tried it on another, different type of mark and got the same great results.  I got brave and tried it on a mark that was in sunlight a lot of the day in a very visible spot going up the stairs.  I had been annoyed by that spot for months.  I realized a week later that I didn't notice it and had completely forgotten it was there.  Great Scot, this solution works!

If you want to try this—and I make no guarantees—squirt a blob onto some tissue.  Gently rub at the spot back and forth.  You will notice that some of the paint comes off, but the mark does as well.  Let dry. Celebrate and dance.

The Big Boy Update:  Yucky.  He can say "yucky."  And he can say it in the proper situation—when his diaper is yucky.  He will tell you his pants are yucky when you're in the middle of changing him.  Yeah, we so already had figured that out.  I am hoping soon he will be able to tell us he is yucky before we notice.  Then I'll really celebrate and dance.

The Tiny Girl Update:  She can sit up now.  She didn't do the tripod thing like I had expected.  She has been practicing so much in the Bumbo seat and the scoot-about that she's got a lot of torso balance.  She wobbles all around, but she can stay up for minutes at time.  I need to catch this on video.  Maybe I'll go do that now.

Right-size Countdown:  1.0 pounds