Cleaning a Popcorn Ceiling

Using a Broom

By

Anonymous

Use a broom with a soft cloth secured over the bristles and gently brush the debris away. If you don't know the age of the popcorn ceiling be sure to wear a mask because the popcorn ceilings installed prior to the 1980's more than likely contain asbestos. Also be sure to clean up all droppings right after wiping the ceiling that might have fallen and wash the cloth used.

Styrofoam or Asbestos?

By

pjean

I don't know about other countries, but asbestos was banned in the USA in 1977. Popcorn ceilings continued to be popular in home building, however, bits of styrofoam instead of asbestos were used. So you needn't worry about asbestos unless your home was built prior to 1977.

We bought a home built in 1992 that has popcorn ceilings throughout. They are a terrible pain to clean and seem to collect every bit of dust in the air.
I use one of those fluffy long-handled dusters to do iit but still manage to knock down "popcorn bits" every time.

Painting With a Skim Coat

By

lah34a

If you want to get rid of the popcorn ceiling altogether, find a person who knows how to skim coat and they'll make it disappear. We did that in my daughter's bathroom and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. For now, though, I'll have to continue vacuuming the ceiling in my room.

Swiffer Duster

By

redhatterb

I bought one of the new Swiffer dusters, the one with the handle that can be made longer. That works real well for cleaning my popcorn ceiling that gets dirty from ceiling fan. The handle isn't as long as I would like, but this duster goes over it so lightly it doesn't make the wonderful popcorn break off, and it gets rid of the dust. My ceiling was really bad and I had to use two of fluffy duster things to get the job done, but I am satisfied.

Use a Vacuum

By

notwrong

I would lightly vacuum with the extension pole and re-paint with ceiling paint. They make a ceiling paint that goes on light blue and dries to white. It is easier to see where you have painted. Just don't wet it with water, you could have your ceiling coming down around your ears!

Beware of Asbestos

By

mulberry204

Most popcorn ceilings contain asbestos. Anything containing asbestos should not be moved around - washed, removed, whatever. As you were washing your ceiling you might not notice tiny airborne pieces of asbestos flaking off, but if you inhaled any of it - you might be setting up a problem for your lungs. My husband has mesotheilioma - essentially lung cancer - from asbestos exposure. Please read about popcorn ceiling by googling for info. The recommendation is to have some of your ceilings' material tested for asbestos. Some of the popcorn ceilings do not contain asbestos (but very few). I hope you are lucky & yours is safe.

Hello, I use a webster. It is a dust stick you can buy at Lome depot/Lowes. Not all popcorn ceilings contain asbestos (we had ours tested for $60.00) so you might want to consider having that done.

It shouldn't be disturbed at all because most popcorn ceilings contain asbestos and asbestos is a known carcinogenic.

I keep a broom special for that purpose and sweep the area that is dusty.