How To Clean Dried Mucus From Walls

On the wall by each child's bed is a carefully crafted masterpiece of dried mucus, The Booger Mural. The wall is their canvas. And it's disgusting.

Fun fact: Napoleon and Frederick of Prussia had this same problem of tending to people who wiped boogers in the wrong place. Both leaders were so disgusted at their troops' behavior of wiping their noses on their sleeves that they fashioned brass buttons onto the sleeve to discourage nose wiping. Or so the legend goes.

Later, Napoleon made the French cuff (extra long sleeve) so his troops could wipe their noses then fold the cuff back to hide the snot.

Didn't know that buttons on the sleeves of blazers and the french cuff were from nose wiping did you? Pretty neat.

So Napoleon solved his problem of bad-nose-wiping and influenced the future fashion. Good for him. But parents today still have a battle of dried mucus on the walls of almost every home.

Luckily, there's an easy way to get boogers off the wall. But there's actually an even better solution to stop boogers from going on the wall in the first place. And no, it doesn't involved super gluing your kids nostrils shut before bed. That's a terrible idea. Don't ever do that.

How to get dried boogers off the wall … without removing paint:

Get a few squares of regular toilet paper wet.
Cover the dried booger with a piece of wet toilet paper so it sticks to the wall around the booger.
Wait 10-20 minutes (bigger boogers may need more time)
Wipe away the toilet paper with a paper towel, booger should come with it.

Now the fun part!

How do we get our children to STOP wiping boogers on the wall?

Some might raise their voice and shake their finger at their child and say something ridiculous like, "Stop picking your nose!" or "Wipe your nose in a tissue from now on!" That's not helpful. What child is going to get out of a warm bed with a booger on their finger, go find a tissue, put the booger in the tissue, put the tissue in the garbage, then go back to bed? It's ridiculous!

Another parent might think ahead and put a box of tissues by the child's bed. But that doesn't work well either. It's the same problem. No kid is going to remember when they're sleepy to get out of a warm bed, get a tissue, wipe their booger in it, then throw the tissue away.

Here's what you need to do to get rid of the problem forever.

It's simple.

Create a Booger Board!

For my 6 year old, this was a simple race track printed on a piece of paper and taped to the wall next to his bed. Check out the "speed bumps" on these things!

Truth is, our body creates boogers as a defense mechanism to protect us from viruses. Boogers are actually good for our health[2]. Some research claims the cringe-worthy habit of eating boogers is actually good for your immune system. [3] But I don't encourage doing that…

Rather than saying "Stop picking your nose" – which is not realistic and makes you lose a ton of credibility with your child – solve the real problem. Give them a place to wipe their boogers. Now, those late night nose cleaning sessions have a proper place. And it's in the same place they'd be wiping them anyway!

Here are a few booger board ideas for boys and girls that can be fun.

Race tracks – perfect for boys
Or this race track
Put "bricks" on the castle – cute idea for girls

Boogers on a wall might just seem like a nuisance but now it's an opportunity, a chance to bring a smile to your kids face all while making your life more booger-free …right away.

Now excuse me while I go dig for some gold.