Friday, January 21, 2011

Sleek Chalkboard Tip


When I was teaching, I hero-worshipped a (great!) teacher.  
She was welcoming, confident, and creative.  

And she had THE SLEEKest chalkboards!  
(No chalk dust lingering on the ledges in her room!  
(Remember when the "blackboards" were green and chalk was yellow?)

Forget content, curriculum, standards; I wanted her chalkboard cleaning secret! I'm quite sure she thought I was a bit off when I asked her 
"How DO you get your chalkboards so clean?"  

"Baby oil."  

So, (many) years later, I share her wisdom with you.  

A few months ago, I experimented with some chalkboard paint on one wall in my "office".  It's out of the way and meant to be used - but I KNEW it could look better!


1.  Clean the board with regular soap and water, removing as much chalk as possible.  

2.  After a good cleaning, grab some baby oil and an old sock.  (I am not a huge fan of the classic Baby Oil smell - so I chose this Aloe Vera version.)




3.  Rub on the surface,  "old-school" style: Back and forth; or "Wax on, Wax off".  
     Either way, apply good old-fashioned elbow-grease!

No flash here, just natural light beaming in and radiating off my shinier, cleaner chalkboard!
  

4.  Breathe deeply and know you're not far away from loving your chalkboard again!



A little (usually) goes a long way. You'll know if you use too much baby oil -
the chalk will start soaking up the oil and "disappear"!

If you've gotten too much on, just take a clean rag and rub down the entire surface again.  (A great repetitive activity for releasing tension!)




Ahh, better.  (I'm off to begin on that chair! :))



Enjoy Today!







3 comments:

  1. Great idea!!! Thanks for passing it on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for stopping by, Lisa! (Let me know if it works for you!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Woo Hoo! I'm now following you just b/c of this post. haha I asked on my blog how to clean a chalkboard and someone sent me your link. I love the blogging world! I'd be delighted to have you follow me back. I will reference you in my next post.
    Have a wonderful day!
    Tammy

    ReplyDelete

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