I have a lot of lighting elements in my home. String lights are the foundation of my lighting strategy, but I also have a Himalayan salt lamp, sea-glass lamp, and a wooden branch wrapped in LED and globe lights. The diffused light makes my space feeling grounded. I also burn a lot of candles. Their low light, ambient flicker and warmth is peaceful to me. The glow and the way their light softens everything it touches, it’s soothing. I also have a history with candles. My love for them started a spell ago when I was a teenager.
I Put a Spell on You
When I was in my early teens, I was into witch-craft. Living next-door to Salem MA, The Witch City, was most likely the catalyst for my interest. A good friend had joined a coven and brought me along for the short lived ride. It was at this time that I got it in me to cast a love spell. Looking back, I realize that it was because my home at the time was void of love.
Nobody talked to each other because asides from our contemptuous judgements we didn’t have much to say. It was a scary place to be. I wanted to feel loved and connected to my family but I didn’t know whom to turn to. So naturally I cast a love spell 🙂
Connecting with Friends
The friend who introduced me to witchcraft had recently moved to my hometown after getting in trouble in his hometown. I was roaming the streets and looking for trouble, so naturally we were two peas in a pod.
I told him about my plans to cast the love spell and he helped me gather the supplies from a shop in Salem. We then went to a park in our neighborhood to cast the spell where I used to play with my childhood friends, for one last visit. I don’t remember all the details of the ritual, but it was at night, there was a blanket of snow on the ground and after I cast the spell, as I was walking away I looked back over my shoulder and I could see a soft halo of light cast from the candle’s flame. The light reflecting off the snow covered field felt warming. The cozy scene has stayed with me and it still brings me a sense of ease when I think about it. I knew that would be a special moment.
Candles, Present Day
Fast forward 20 years and I’ve since stopped practicing witchcraft. But I’m burning a lot of candles. I started buying scented ones from a local department store. I burned three at a time, all different scents for the better part of a decade. I was trying to create a cozy environment where I felt safe, the way I did on the night I cast my love spell. Looking back I realize I was going a little overboard, not to mention it was an expensive habit.
$30-$40 every three weeks or so adds up to roughly $600 a year. As Melba would say, “is no bueno”. I’ve recently switched to a more sustainable habit of one large pillar candle, and one to three tea lights a session. But what I hadn’t realized is that burning scented, paraffin wax candles will build up a layer of soot on your walls. I discovered this one day when I saw a spot of built up soot on my wall and gave it a quick wipe. The contrast from the spot I cleaned to the rest of the room was pronounced.
Cleaning Up: Is This a Good Idea?
So I started scrubbing my walls that day impulsively, as I’m prone to do. This left large, noticeable streaks of soot on my walls that were more unsettling than their original state. I was busy so I decided to live with what resembled the set from a horror film for a few days. Until I walked by the streaked walls one morning and again, on a whim, started cleaning them. Incase you’re wondering, this was still a bad idea.
I started with the wall I initially scrubbed. I sprayed it with all-purpose cleaner and wiped the wall clean with a cotton rag, using broad strokes. You can probably guess what happened next. I ended up just moving the large streaks of soot around on the wall. I was frustrated. My go-to cleaning tactics weren’t working so I decided to do some research.
Looking for Help
So I landed on The Spruce‘s site for some cleaning advice. They’re a site dedicated to all things home related that I use in situations like these. There I discovered that the best way to clean soot was a chemical called TSP, or Trisodium Phosphate. I looked for it at my local hardware stores but found out that not only is it not sold locally, it’s also highly toxic and banned in 16 states. I thought about ordering it online but then asked myself, “is this a good idea?” I’ve been known to make some questionable decisions, but potentially poisoning myself is where I draw the line.
The alternative was a combination of dishwashing detergent, a sponge and some elbow grease. This, however, was very difficult. It took me about seven hours and I made almost no progress. I had to wash and rewash the same spot about five times to get it clean. So I stopped, reconsidered the project, and decided to call for back-up.
Calling the Professionals
I read on The Spruce’s website that most companies charge between $100-$900 for this type of job, the average costing about $300. I decided that my time is worth more than paying someone to clean it for me, and the days of pushing myself beyond my limits are over. So I started looking for quotes from local companies and found one who I recognized and had good reviews. I gave them a call and set up a time for them to come by and give me an estimate. I was excited about the prospect of having my walls professionally cleaned. Visions of cartoonish sparkling walls filled my dreams, and thought since it was only one room it would be on the cheap…
The appraiser came, inspected the room and said he’d email me later that day with a quote. $2,200… As a friend of mine used to say, “that’s bonkers”. That’s a hard no for me and not to mention extremely disappointing. So I decided to give cleaning another go, only this time in smaller pieces.
Hey Google, How Do I Clean Soot?
I did another Google search to see if there was anything other than TCP I could use but it was still the first recommendation. But I persisted and came across a Reddit article that said to use shaving cream and a damp Magic Eraser. I did some more research and there are loads of uses for shaving cream to clean a variety of things. So I gave it a shot.
I was surprised, really surprised. I mean come on, shaving cream? But it worked! I cleaned about a square foot section of my wall and it came up, one pass, no streaking. The previous method was not only time consuming but I also had to clean small sections multiple times before it was clean “enough”. The shaving cream method was, spreading a thin layer of lather on the walls, then wipe it clean with a damp cloth. Maybe a light scrubbing as needed. You can see the contrast in the photo to the left from soiled to clean.
Let the Cleaning Begin
I told my dad about it and he said he’d help. I think he agreed solely for the novelty of saying he cleaned a wall with shaving cream, but nonetheless, he said yes and we lathered up. Can in hand I made a plan to clean up my mess.
The Plan
- Brush the Walls: The article I read on The Spruce said that the first step to ridding your walls of soot is to vacuum them. This removes any particles that are loosely clinging to the walls. I didn’t vacuum but I did sweep them. This helped remove not only the soot but also any miscellaneous debris (not the Primus album).
- Lather the Walls & Wipe with the Eraser: Next was spread a dallop of shaving cream on the wall and with a damp magic eraser and scrub about one square foot at a time.
- Wipe Away the Soap & Soot: After scrubbing the area, wipe it clean with a damp rag being careful not to let the soapy streaks re-soil the area you’re working on. Soot is essentially grease from the burned candle wax mixed with ash from the wick and impurities like added scents. This is why it’s so streaky. I used a microfiber cloth which is super absorbent and holds very little soot in its fibers when wringing it out compared to a cotton rag.
- Wash, rinse, repeat: This step is important when you’re cleaning wooden surfaces like the trim around doors and windows. For some reason the high gloss paint needs extra scrubbing and other factors including how long the soot has been on your walls and how much has built up.
- Keep at It: Be patient, it will lift eventually 🙂
Tips
Here are some tips I found to be useful while cleaning that helped me get the job done more efficiently:
Use Half a Sponge at a Time: I had more control over the sponge while scrubbing the smaller patches of trim. Like the thin strip of molding where the wall meets the ceiling.
You Will Need More Sponges than Shaving Cream: This one was counter intuitive. My usual soap to sponge ratio is, I use more soap than I do sponge. But the magic erasers also magically disappear. They flatten and pill turning into small, rice sized pieces. The more pressure you apply the quicker they disintegrate. Especially around trim work if it isn’t smooth.
Rinse often: The more you rinse, both sponge and rag, the less likely you are to transfer the soot you’ve picked up and distribute it elsewhere in the form of streaks.
Use the Magic Eraser: I started out with an ordinary kitchen sponge. And it worked, kind of. I used exponentially more elbow grease and was not worth the extra effort. As Melba would say, “is no easy”. And it’s been said before but worth repeating, work smarter not harder.
Why It’s Important to Clean Your Walls
I used to live in an apartment where we watched a lot of movies. “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas” was one of them and there’s a scene in the movie where the hotel room that Thompson and his attorney stayed in was flooded with garbage and miscellaneous debris (again, not the Primus album) that was literally floating around the room in some questionable liquid. Our apartment began to resemble Thompson’s room and sure, life imitates art, but also no bueno.
Our apartment never got to that level of chaos thank God, but it illustrates the point that how your environment looks effects how you feel. About yourself, where you live… And living in a place that looks like the set of a horror film does not bode well for your soul. I’m a firm believer that the state of your physical surroundings reflects and influences your internal state. Something that my dad calls, “pride of place”. Because it stands to reason that if you’re neglecting your living space, filling it with garbage like I did in my 20’s, you’ll probably feel like garbage.
I used to say that the difference between trash and not trash is where you put it. If it’s in the trash, then it’s trash. But there’s an element of order to the “not trash” as well. If you treat your dwelling like a trash can, chaotic and disorganized, then that’s most likely how you’ll think and feel.
So cleaning my walls is a way to take care of myself by caring for my environment. Having a clean and well ordered space is important for me not to feel as though I’m steeped in chaos. I can relax with ease knowing that I’m not neglecting the corners of my life that need attention.
Love Spell Complete
A clean and cozy space wasn’t the only benefit from scrubbing my walls. It also brought me and my father closer together. We both had trouble building and maintaining close bonds with people at large, including each other. In our collaborating on cleaning the walls, something we both like to do, we learned to work together and trust one another just a little bit more.
Offering to help and showing up are two things my family and friends have historically had difficulty doing for one another. We ran from whoever was brave and vulnerable enough to try to build those connections. One of our defenses to keep people at bay was to viciously, verbally attack anyone showing us kindness or their vulnerability. This is because we used kindness to manipulate each other. And to make things worse we also confused kindness for weakness, adding to our distrust.
But staying with each other and collaborating, knowing that we could be abused but choosing not to, is how we build trust. We were cleaned old relational wounds like removing soot from the walls. We were learning that we could rely on one another. And I believe that’s an aspect of love. Knowing you can be hurt, but showing up and having faith that the other person won’t.
And forgiveness. Because it’s not a one shot and inevitably we will hurt each other again. But with patience, practicing, like scrubbing a tough spot on my wall, trust and forgiveness will help us find our way back to loving kindness. So in a way, the candle from my love spell I casted so long ago did work. Burning candles showed me that love is about showing up and being vulnerable. Taking the risk and asking for help. Especially when you’re scared. Even if it’s only showing up to scrub a wall 🙂
Cleaning Up
So friends, if you have to clean soot off your walls, I feel you. But know that you don’t have to go it alone. There are more than likely people in your life that are ready to help. Try reaching out. It isn’t easy being the first to take the leap if your trust has been abused. Whether it’s because you feel like a burden to others, or because you’ve been let down one too many times, what ever the reason know that there are good people out there willing to help. Even if you haven’t met them yet. And if you don’t have kind, reliable friends or family to lean on, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your relationships. I’ll leave you with the inspiration for the title of this post. Until next time, peace & thanks for reading 🏔️🌙💙💜
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