How to Clean a Chalk Board

My Pinspiration

If you are like me, you have curious children who asks (CONSTANTLY...) "What are we doing tomorrow????" So, I came up with the brilliant idea (or so I thought) of using up a humongously empty space in my kitchen and throwing up a chalkboard. The entire month would be laid out with important events (like school, sports, birthday parties) for all to see. And this, I thought, would end any questions about what was happening in the days to come. My kids could just look up at the kitchen table during meal times and find out for themselves what was going on.  The one thing I didn't think of when plotting my brilliant plan was that my kids were 2 and 4 and COULDN'T READ YET...Ugh. So, now, instead of "What are we doing tomorrow?", I get, "Mom, what does it say on 21? What does it say on 30? Why isn't there a number after 31? Blah, blah, blah..." WORST IDEA EVER.

But, OF COURSE, I'm too stinkin' lazy to take it down, AND it really does help let the adults of the household know what's on schedule for the days ahead...SO, on the wall it will remain.

At the end of every month, I'm in charge of wiping the chalkboard down and starting a new month fresh (you can probably imagine the dinnertime conversation on the first of the month...every day something brand new and it hasn't even been discussed four hundred and seventy three times yet! JOY JOY!!!!). At first the cleanup wasn't an issue. I just used my trusty chalkboard brush and away the words went... but as any school teacher could tell you (do teachers even use chalkboards any more? Am I showing my age???), after constant writing and erasing, the chalkboard just never seemed to get clean. It just looked like a dirty mess. Water wasn't cutting it, and I was worried that using a household cleaner would just dissolve the chalkboard paint entirely. I wasn't sure what I should do next...



Am I suppose to start a new month on this "blank" canvas? Yuck!



So I figured that Pinterest would be the best spot to find out HOW to get that chalkboard squeaky clean again. And I was right. The pin sent me to a blog that showed a beautifully black chalkboard. No streaks, no faint writings. Just a straight up blank canvas...like new! But as I perused the blog, the "how" seemed a little questionable: use a can of coke in a shallow bowl with a rag. Dip the rag into the coke and then wipe. What? The blogger did mention that she had also initially had the same reservations as me. How is it possible to use something as saccharine as COKE to clean a chalkboard? Logically it would leave a sticky film, right? Whatever. It was worth giving a try I suppose. I collected my materials...

...and got to work. Because I was so skeptical, though, I decided to do a side by side taste test of sorts...this time the competition wasn't Coke vs. Pepsi, but rather Coke vs. the age old, tried and true cleaner...Water...

So, I drew a line in the sand (so to speak) and cleaned.

In the left corner, hailing from some sketchy factory in Atlanta, Georgia and funded by dentists worldwide:  COKE!!! In the right corner, from the dawn of time and with famous parents hydrogen and oxygen, WATER!!!!!

 DING! DING! DING! Let's get it on!

So, I did just that. Cleaned one side with Coke (making sure not to saturate the board with the pop) and the other with water. Initially it looked like it was a fair match.

Seems Even-Steven to me, right?

But then, the liquids dried and the judges had finally made their verdict. The ref called both contestants to the middle of the ring and grabbed both their arms...which one was going to be victorious???

"And the winner is...."


wait for it....


...


..

.

COKE! (The crowd goes wild!)

Proof is in the pudding!

So, each month, I crack open a Coke, pour a bit in a dish and hand the rest of the can to my husband to polish off. (I can't drink that poison!). My chalkboard looks like I just painted it on the wall and as I write all of our events on the calendar...I hesitate for a second. Might I find some peace by leaving the calendar blank? Or am I just asking for extra problems????

YAY!

As for similar products... I have used both Coke and Diet Coke in my cleaning process. Both give me the same results. I haven't, however, tried out Pepsi or any PC brand of "Cola", but if you're willing to give it a try, I would love to know if I can save some cash by using the store brand rather than the pricey name brand! So drop me a line.

Shout out:

For this and other fun DIY ideas, check out The Creaking Floorboard