Touching up paint/stains on wall

[IIOY]

We have a few spots on our walls where my kids' grubby little mitts dirtied things up. In googling, it looks like spot touch-ups are not recommended, and instead we should paint the entire wall. Is this your experience? I'm struggling to imagine repainting a two-story foyer wall just to clean up a couple feet of hand streaks along the stairs.

[TBM]

I've touched up paint with no problems. Some paints don't handle touch ups well and it shows, and sometimes it is just the technique that makes it show. When we need touch ups I try to have DH do it, because he has a lighter hand than I do and he is really good at feathering so that it blends well.

Have you tried using a Mr Clean Magic sponge to clean? Sometimes those work well enough that you won't need to repaint. At the very least, it will get the wall clean, since paint doesn't adhere well to grime.

[Deleted]

I think the flatter the paint finish, the easier it is to touch up. That's part of the reason I use a flat finish on all my walls except the bathroom and kitchen.

ETA: Also, fading can be an issue.  When we moved in, there were dark spots where the PO's pictures were on the walls because of all the fading.  There's no way we could have touched up with the same color.

[emoflamingo]

I think I had more fading issue than finish issue.

[Deleted]

I just did touch-ups all over my house. Dozens of spots and they are not noticeable at all. Our walls were last painted 5.5 years ago. 

[TBM]

I was going to mention the fading issue, but forgot after all of the other stuff.lol

Honestly, since I have been using the pricey paints I haven't had fading issues. It probably helps that this house is oriented in a way that the rooms we use the most don't have really strong light, but we've even touched up on the exterior (color, not super light)and haven't had fading.