I've made a bunch of repairs to plaster walls in a bedroom, taped, and mudded the repairs. What's the best way to clean/prep the walls for priming and painting to clean the walls of dust? Will a damp rag do the trick, or should I use a cleaning solution like TSP?

Thanks.

I use a damp cloth to remove dust before painting. If you use a cleaning solution like TSP it may interfere with the paint application. Keep it simple.

Hi, kbuchholtz!

It's true that you don't have to use any sort of fancy, chemical solution to clean the walls that may interfere with how the paint dries and also looks. Even just a light vacuuming should do the trick.

Thanks!

Be a little careful of the patched areas, The reason it will not suck the paint the same way as the rest of the wall. If its small patches say a couple of inches or a foot I use a spray can of kills and when I get to the edges of that patch I can 'flare" out the spray and go lighter to nothing. What this does is help make the transition of how the paint sucks up and drys out that produces tone/shade difference.
As everybody says above is good advice. I was just concerned about the paint absorbing diff on patches. I've learned the hard way on our customers rehabs
I didn't hear anything about any wall paper was there any borders on or the wall? Again if so vinegar takes of the old glue but miss one little spot that hard to even see bleeds through the coats of paint. That's why we play it safe and binz or kills the whole wall.

Signed 21 Boat

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Is this actual plaster or is it dry wall and what did you use to make your patch. A wet towel will dissolve drywall compound.

I primed the walls with Kilz all around. They are plaster walls and I used fiberglass tape and joint compound (left over from another project) to repair the walls. I used a damp cloth to wipe down the walls just to remove the dust from sanding. I didn't have any problems with spotty paint. The Kilz primer helped this out, I believe. Walls turned out nice.

Thanks to all who helped with advice.

You're welcome, and I'm glad that things turned out well for you!

Thanks!