Holi 2025: How To Gulal-Proof Your Home

Last Updated:March 10, 2025, 18:23 IST

Prepare your house for Holi to avoid stains: use anti-stain varnish or plastic sheets on walls, clean doors and windows with soapy water, cover floors with newspapers, and use a bucket for bathing

Holi is almost here, and many people have started preparing for it. Kids, thrilled about Holi, have already begun stocking up on gulal or have already started with the celebrations.

Playing Holi is fun, but after the party, along with our colourfully decorated faces, our houses often end up looking quite colourful too. This is especially true when there are children in the house.

Colour stains are visible on doors, windows, furniture, and walls, which don’t look appealing. While natural colours are easy to clean, stains from synthetic colours are much harder to remove. Therefore, it’s best to prepare your house in advance to protect it from colour stains this Holi.

To protect your house from getting stained with colours during Holi, follow these tips, and you will save yourself a lot of effort later.

1. Walls: No matter how hard you try, it’s almost impossible to completely protect your walls from colour on Holi. It’s very common for colours to end up on the walls, either accidentally or during playful smears. It’s a good idea to apply a coat of anti-stain varnish on the walls or cover them with thin plastic sheets or cling film for protection. Keep furniture close to the walls to minimise exposure. If colour does get on the walls, you can clean it with a solution of mild bleach and water. However, keep in mind that using too much bleach can remove the paint from the wall.
2. Doors And Windows: People often throw colour-filled balloons at windows and doors, making it difficult to remove the colour, especially from wooden surfaces. However, if your doors and windows are made of UPVC, aluminium, or hybrid polymer, cleaning the colour is relatively easier. First, wipe them with soapy water and then with a dry cloth. The stain should come out easily. After that, regular dusting will gradually reduce any remaining marks.
3. Floor: It’s best to avoid playing Holi inside the house. If you must play indoors, spread newspapers or an old carpet on the floor beforehand. Cover the floors of main areas like the living room, kitchen, washroom, and balcony with newspapers. You can clean dry gulal with a dry vacuum cleaner. For wet colour, make a paste of baking soda and water and apply it to the stain. Leave the paste on for some time, and then wipe it off with a wet cloth.
4. Bathroom: Colour often ends up on the bathroom walls and floor while washing off after playing Holi. Removing this colour can be very difficult, so instead of showering, use a bucket or tub to bathe after playing Holi. This will help protect your bathroom walls from colour stains.

By taking these simple measures, you can protect your house from colour stains this Holi.