How To: Clean Wallpaper of Fingerprints With...Bread?

Did you know you can clean wallpaper of dirt or fingerprints using plain old slices of bread? Neither did we, since we almost always finish any bread sitting around the house...and we don't happen to have wallpaper to worry about. But this tip caught out eye for the sheer comedy of imagining dabbing our walls with our favourite carbohydrate...

But the tip is one of the most amusing cleaning tips we've read from the list of Victorian era recommendations on Victorianpassage.com:

The bread still being employed in the art of wall paper cleaning here in 1839: The very best method is to sweep off lightly all the dust with clean cloths, bound over a long handled broom, then rub the paper with stale bread--cut the crust off very thick, and wipe straight down from the top, then begin at the top again, and so on. - The Good Housekeeper; 1839

We're suddenly hungry.

Comments (12)

It's the mushy white bread that works "best." We learned this in art classes.

posted by ebrown on January 29th 2009 at 9:11pm
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Sandwich bread - and plain old white bread in particular - is also great for getting up tiny particles of shattered glass from a floor. Simply mash the bread over the area where the glass has shattered.

posted by tailfin on January 29th 2009 at 10:16pm
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It's good to know mushy white bread is good for something.

posted by Tar and Violets on January 29th 2009 at 10:18pm
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Doesn't it crumble?

posted by Clap on January 30th 2009 at 4:42am
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Anyone know what wallpaper that is?

posted by gonorth on January 30th 2009 at 9:46am
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Ooookay. I think a sponge would work better.

posted by jooly on January 30th 2009 at 9:53am
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No, really. The gluten sticks to the grunge on the wall and picks it up.

posted by whytephoenix on January 30th 2009 at 10:12am
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This also work great on removing dirt from old thrift store paintings

posted by Lauren Schreiber on January 30th 2009 at 10:56am
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Any starch or gluten left on the wallpaper or whatever you clean with the bread will attract bugs. Just so you know. Try an Absorene sponge.

posted by HillE on January 30th 2009 at 12:07pm
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That photo is kinda priceless.

posted by gryt on January 30th 2009 at 12:27pm
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Interesting but I think I'll stick with my Mr. Clean Eraser.

posted by domino*lust on January 30th 2009 at 11:24pm
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Well, I suppose if one has the dough for this kind of thing.

~OH! This is too rich! "DOUGH"! OH!

crickets

posted by btoddster on January 31st 2009 at 5:20am
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