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Dusting a Popcorn Ceiling

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This was a frustrating solution to figure out. I'm sharing it in hopes it will help someone. About a year ago we bought an older home that had popcorn ceilings throughout. I didn't notice until after moving in that there was dust stuck to every one of those stupid ridges; dust and years of what appeared to be cobwebs.

I first tried a regular duster. I didn't get much off there but I did get a mouthful of popcorn and a heck of a mess on the floor I do not recommend trying that method.

Second, I used duct tape to secure a swifter duster to a broom stick, again big mess in the floor, little (if any) dust removed from ceiling and little pieces of swifter duster stuck to the ridges in addition to the dust.

Ok, so this was beginning to drive me crazy. Over several months, I tried loads of different methods, failing each time until I decided I'd try one last thing before breaking down and scraping it smooth and painting.

So the solution is: Duct tape wrapped around a paint roller (wrong side out obviously). This worked like a charm!

It's easy, cheap and effective. I highly recommend trying it. You'll be happy knowing you finally cleaned the ceiling.

By Dana from Katy, Texas

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By
08/16/2012

Great idea- gonna try it. By the way, I'm from Sealy, TX.

By
08/13/2012

Really good idea, Dana! As another poster mentioned please wear goggles/glasses and also keep in mind that asbestos (can cause lung cancer) is in all popcorn ceilings prior to 1978 and many, many, many that were installed prior to 1990 so be sure to wear a mask too!

By
08/13/2012

Word of caution when cleaning popcorn ceilings wear protective glasses. We lived in a house for 25 years with popcorn ceilings. When first cleaning them I ended up at the doctor's with a speck of "popcorn" in my eye. It couldn't be seen without the doctor's equipment, but hurt like heck!

By
08/13/2012

This was exactly the kind of info I was looking for! I made a mess in my kitchen on the ceiling with a broom trying to get a cobweb down out of one corner with my broom. What a mess! Thank you so much for this great idea! ;-) Thumbs up!

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