How to Clean a Troweled Textured Ceiling

Slow and steady is the way to go when cleaning a troweled-texture ceiling.

It is not difficult to clean a textured ceiling. The challenge arises in knowing whether or not to clean the ceiling. Contractors often trowel on the plaster or compound and leave it unpainted. If you have never painted the ceiling or if you think it has less than two coats of paint on it, don't get it wet or it will get brown and stained. A trowel-textured ceiling is not sealed unless it is wearing two coats of paint. Whether you clean first or paint first, a textured ceiling looks its best when it is clean as a whistle.

Things You'll Need

• Vacuum cleaner with long-handled attachments
• Long paint stick and fluffy roller
• Ladder
• 3-foot length of 1-by-2 lumber
• All-purpose cleanser
• Clean soft rags
• Sponges
• 2 half-gallon buckets

Instructions

1. Vacuum the ceiling using long-handled brush attachments. Smooth out rough edges of the texture with the board. Stand on the ladder and drag the board back and forth across the ceiling to knock off any pointy edges. When smooth, apply a fluffy paint roller to a long handle. Run it back and forth across the ceiling to dust the surface. This will remove any loose dirt. If the ceiling needs more cleaning and has been painted with two coats of satin enamel it can be wet washed. If not, paint the ceiling.

2. Take down the light fixture globes and wash them by hand or in the dishwasher. Dust the fixtures and bulbs. Dry the globes and replace them to their fixtures. Vacuum and dust recessed fixtures. Remove, dust and replace florescent bulbs. Clean non-removable light fixture globes or shades with window or kitchen cleaner and buff them shiny with a clean rag.

3. Place the ladder in the center of the room. Pour a 1-quart bottle of all-purpose liquid cleanser into a 1/2-gallon bucket. Carry this bucket, another empty bucket and two clean sponges to the top of the ladder.

4. Dip one sponge into the cleanser to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Apply the cleanser to the ceiling, covering about eight square inches at at time. Dab it on, but do not swirl it around. Be sure to work into the valleys and crevices of the textured ceiling.

5. Squeeze the sponge out into the second bucket. Use the second sponge to remove any remaining cleanser, dabbing at the section until the cleanser is removed. Squeeze that sponge into the second bucket. Repeat this process, cleaning one quadrant of the ceiling at at time in small sections.

References

• Is There Life After Housework?, Don Aslett, 2005 Your ..
• Cleaning and Stain Removal for Dummies, Gill Chilton, 2004