Home & Garden How do I get color transfer off of, uh, walls?

amanda

amanda

I Bleed Georgia Red
Oct 18, 2005
11,159
15
#1
So, I have black sheets on my bed, because I'm just THAT cool. And white walls, because I live in an apartment and they won't let me paint. And over the past two years, those sheets may have, uh, rubbed against the wall. During, uh, particular activities. Which are not important right now! What is important is that they have left grey-black color transfer stripes on the wall. I'm about to move out of said apartment, and I am poor, and I would like my security deposit back, thankyouverymuch.

And since I should probably not ask the two, uh, friends that most likely helped me put these particular marks there to help me take them off, do any of you ladies have any suggestions for taking color transfers off of a wall? They're not very dark, just similar to what would happen to a white bag when carried against dark jeans. But they're definitely noticeable when my bed is moved, and will be REALLY obvious when the room is empty. I'd just paint over them, but I don't know what shade of white was used, and I don't want to have to paint over the entire apartment to match if I choose incorrectly. I could theoretically ask my landlord for the color, but I'd like to try removing them first so she doesn't have to know that they were there in the first place.

Or should I just be proud that my social life is active enough to leave giant marks on the wall? Anyone had to do this before?
 
#3
actually you need to use primer first bc the color would show thru the new paint...especially gray or black.
def ask the landlord what color was the orig paint. but even if you get the same color but thru out the time/sun...you will not get a perfect match. if you decide to paint..just do that one wall not the whole room. but usally when they rent out a new apt..fresh paint is the basic thing.
bottom line: paint usually does not cost that much. max you'll loss is about 100 or 200...you'll be paying the labor not the actual paint itself. i would not worry too much.
 
#5
same thing happened to my roomate. We moved everything out and realized there was this BIG HUGE purple spot where her pillows on the bed used to be. We tried everything, but unfortunately wall paint thats not oil based (or is oil based? i forget) shouldnt be rubbed or cleaned....so by the time we were done tryin to fix it, it was sooooo obvious where the original spot was. The spot was dry and a different color than the rest of the wall.

But, we did make friends wih the maintenance guy who happened to have the paint the apt complex uses in the garages. He didnt let us have one...but he did let us look at the name and told us where we could get it. Ask the maintenance guy...usually apt complexes stock their own paint.
 
#6
juneping said:
actually you need to use primer first bc the color would show thru the new paint...especially gray or black.
def ask the landlord what color was the orig paint. but even if you get the same color but thru out the time/sun...you will not get a perfect match. if you decide to paint..just do that one wall not the whole room. but usally when they rent out a new apt..fresh paint is the basic thing.
bottom line: paint usually does not cost that much. max you'll loss is about 100 or 200...you'll be paying the labor not the actual paint itself. i would not worry too much.
Click to expand...

painting is an absolute last resort. if it came to that, i think i'd just let the security deposit go - i don't think i'll have enough time to paint the wall between when my bed will be moved and when we have to vacate the apartment. since the color transfer isn't super dark, i'm hoping to have luck with cleaning it off instead.

i'm gonna try the mr. clean eraser, i think i have a few extra ones stashed under my sink.
 
#7
I didnt read the responses but I would try Mr. Clean Magic Eraser pads http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser-extra-power.do

Im almost positive it will take the transfer off the wall...or at least make it much less noticeable.

I know we dont really worry too much about the walls in apartments because we paint them every time someone moves out anyway, and any apartment I've ever lived in does the same. Its the major damage that we worry about.

As long as there arent any holes that need to be patched up, you should be fine. Do you rememebr if the paint was fresh when you moved in?


Still, I understand your concern. Try the eraser...
 
#8
I'll try the eraser. I think they're legally required to repaint with new tenants, but since this is a college town and renters are plentiful and very young/inexperienced, property managers tend to take advantage of tenants and charge them for anything and everything possible. Our landlords are good, but I don't want to leave it to chance if I think I could remove it. It's good to hear from someone on the other side of the situation, though, that makes me feel better!
 
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