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Bob asked: How do I remove chalk from brick? My 9-year-old likes to chalk up the side of the house with chalk. We do not know how to remove it easily.
Drawing with chalk can be a great past time for children, especially when they see the textured markings from the rough surface of a brick wall. Removing the chalk is easy, but may take a little time. Make it into a fun cleaning project and include the whole family.
You Will Need:
- Mild soap or detergent
- Water
- Bucket
- Scrubbing brushes
- Hose
Steps to Remove the Chalk:
- Begin by spraying the wall with the hose. If the nozzle can be adjusted, do so to add pressure to the water. If you don’t have a hose, you can wait until after a rain or wet it by hand with a bucket of water and sponge.
- Start at the top and work your way down. As the chalk becomes wet, it will wash away. The water pressure will add additional cleaning power.
- Next, fill a bucket with warm water.
- Add a mild soap or detergent and mix until suds begin to form.
- Dip the scrub brush in the water.
- Scrub the remaining chalk off of the wall.
- Rinse thoroughly with the hose.
- Repeat until all of the chalk is removed.
Additional Tips and Advice
- Do not allow the moistened chalk to dry on the surface, or it will be more difficult to remove. Rinse frequently to keep this from happening.
- Pressure washers are also great for cleaning brick walls. They can be rented from home improvement stores. However, for the removal of chalk, a good garden hose nozzle is sufficient.
- As a last resort, chemicals can be applied to remove the chalk, but this is typically not necessary. If you are unable to remove the chalk with simple cleaning methods, visit your hardware or home improvement store for stronger cleaning products. Use caution and keep these products away from children.
This was great advise. 🙂 Seriously appreciate it.
Works well. 😀
Does not work. Chalk gets into brick and is not easily removed. A more powerful cleaner is needed.
The last time I used a high pressure nozzle on my garden hose. It hardly fazed it! I was going to use my high pressure cleaner, but it had rotted out O-rings! I’ll try it again after replacing them! I would recommend this as the best approach, since the chalk does get into the pores in the bricks and becomes embedded there! Every time I ask the girls NOT to use it on our walls, they do it anyway! Sidewalk chalk is, by definition, meant to be used on the SIDE WALK! They insist on making our home look like a crackhouse!
OMG I allowed my grandson to play with his colored chalk on my apt. brick walls and patio. It has rained and it’s still on there after 2 months, so I decided to put bleach and laundry soap in a bucket and scub it off – too hard to do. OMG it looks like graffiti. Please tell me the easiest and cheapest way to get it off.
Valery,
You could try using a graffiti remover for brick and other porous surfaces. There are many available at most major hardware stores. Wipe Out Porous Surface Graffiti Remover might be a good choice. Others like Krud Kutter Graffiti Remover are safe for porous surfaces, but may require some extra scrubbing.
To cut down on scrubbing, you can try using a pressure washer – borrowing one from a friend or renting one would be the cheapest way to do that – or you could try using the Turbo Jet Power Washer product that attaches to a hose (which can usually be attached to a sink if you remove the little aerator on the end of the faucet). Good luck!