What's the easiest way to clean the ceiling?

Question

I'm in a rental house with a HUGE loungeroom that also has a woodheater. The ceiling has a layer of grime on it - what's the best way to clean it? I started with a chair, a cloth and my upraised arm - but that's going to take forever!

Answer 1

Hire someone. (you asked for the easiest!)

Answer 2

I found that using a broom is really quick and efficient, be mindful that out door brooms (the hay looking ones) tend to scratch the ceiling, if that is the only one you have try wrapping a cloth around it, also I've tried a vacuum cleaner and sure enough they do the job too.  

Answer 3

It takes a few steps and you can't "clean it" in the conventional way.  My parent's had a wood stove that did the same thing.

First,a cotton long-threaded mop does the best job, at least it did for me.  It has natural gentle cotton fibers that gently remove dust, smoke debris and cob webs, and is on a long rod.  Make sure to wear safety glasses and a 3M mask, stuff will fall.

Second, after you wipe down the ceiling you will need to use a water-base multi-purpose sealer/primer/stainblocker, Like KILZ 2 that can be topcoated with latex or oil-base paint.

Third, follow-up with a good quality ceiling paint that you can find in any hardware or paint shop.

MORE INFO - You can use a soot removing sponge, but have no personal experience with it.  Read about it here: http://www.parish-supply.com/dry_cleanin...

Personally, I would make the landlord clean this up.  That's gross.

Answer 4

I work as a cleaner and I found the easiest way of cleaning a ceiling is to use a squeeze mop as there is less stain on your arms , it works better when you use a ladder as well. But dont climb up the ladder too

high as you still have to hold the mop.

Answer 5

Get a flat broom, and tie a towel or thick rag over it. Then saturate the broom with Sugar Soap (Used to wash down walls etc)

It's a difficult job, but once you start you can't leave out any of it or it really shows up

Answer 6

No really easy way to clean the ceiling but you could try using a mop as it will clean a larger area.

Answer 7

get a old broom wrap a wet cloth on it or tie it on and do it that way

Answer 8

ask the landlord how he/she used to deal with it. then if their idea is good, use it!

if its not good then use a spray on cleaner, (tile cleaner or somthing) and use a sponge attatched to a wooden or plastic reed

.or just hire sum1 to do it properly & avoid using it in the future

Answer 9

Repaint the room in the good old "Mr. Bean" way

Answer 10

YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!!!!!! THAT IS THE FUNNIEST QUESTION I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE OF FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!! LOLS ALL AROUND!!!!!!!!

Answer 11

If you are painting the ceiling, you would have to do these steps.

(1) Roll on a Nicotine & Smoke remover (Dulux) (bleeding will occur if you don't do this step) Use a rubber squeegee & a very fine spray of water. Not too wet - Mop dry with sponge mop. Allow 24 hours to dry.

(2) Seal the ceiling with a oiled based primer. (To stop bleeding)

Allow 24 hours to dry.

(3) Apply a ceiling undercoat tinted to your colour - water based.

(4) Then apply your final interior Paint.

(NOTE:) The same application apply's in step one if your replastering the ceiling. And step two would be to apply cemstick  a polymer based product. Then apply your paints.

Answer 12

Have you tried turning the house upside down, I mean imagine cleaning it to "dancing on the ceiling"?

Whatever you choose, it needs the right music, or you just aint gonna hire the right staff, imagine, next time the pub has a beer promotion, this is Australia right? Bring on the dancing girls but give them scrubbing brushes and loads and loads of susdy water, say what budget do you have for this? Ten bucks struth buy a broom some napi san throw in mouth wash and use your broom yea cheap bsted!

Answer 13

Try a paint-roller on an extension pole.

Put warm water with detergent/bleach into a paint roller tray & hopefully that will work.

good luck.

Answer 14

the best way is to get a broom, also get a old hand towel and make a hole in the middle , then slid the hand towel down the broom handle on top of the broom with brittles facing down, then just turn broom the other way and go for it, note:  what ur neck give ur self a break when ur neck gets sore, also use mask for safety, you dont want any thing dripping down ur face,

use sugar soap or hot water with vinegar, both are very good for cleaning walls and celling.

i use straight vinegar to clean my walls in a spray bottle, its excellent,

good luck mate

Answer 15

Well, if you try to clean a ceiling with a chair, i think you'll find that a most foolish approach. I would try using a cloth and some cleaning spray. An arm? I have never heard of anyone trying to clean something with just an arm. That is preposterous. And you are an imbecile.

Answer 16

If it doesnt budge with a dry broom,sugar soap is great and use a mop but one of the ones with a flat edge on it.. the fibre/string types will take too long as you can only get to small areas. The flat edge of the mop will do larger areas easier.  Use gloves and safety glasses and experiment a bit with the ratio of sugar soap to water.

Answer 17

Oh yeah, I've done this one before. I found it was easiest to use one of those long-handled floor mops with the squeezy-sponge head. You just have to make sure that you sqeeze most of the excess water and cleaning solution out of the head before you put it up onto the ceiling, otherwise it will drip down on you.

I looked pretty funny doing it wearing my sunglasses so nothing dripped into my eyes, but it worked!

You might find old fashioned sugar-soap would get the grime off well. That's what painters use to clean walls before they paint. You should be able to buy it from the cleaning section of any supermarket.

Answer 18

I know white vinegar cleans mould off ceilings not sure if it will clean grime but you can sure try it.

Answer 19

Burn the house down. Odds are, if you are renting through an agent, you won't get your bond back anyway. No house, No grime, EASY

Answer 20

  I would ask the landlord how do they normally clean it or how they would prefer it to be cleaned. You may need to ask the agent you rent the house through too. But I do agree with a squeezee mop and detergent but make sure you use a mask and goggles and lots of elbow grease.

Answer 21

A sponge mop and vinegar and bleach or vinegar and bi carbonate soda. The sponge mop will cut down the time next to nothing. Good Luck.

Answer 22

First use a vacume with a brush attachemnt on the end to vacume the majority of the soot. If it's a popcorn ceiling you are screwed. It will have to be primed and painted with a spray gun. If it's a regular ceiling then clean with a solution of TSP(paint dept) and water.

Answer 23

This is a problem for the land lord I think; approach them and see what they say.  Then HIRE someone.

Answer 24

i find if you turn the house upside down it's a lot easier but there are several things you need to be aware of. make sure all yr furniture is securely fastened to the floor, as are all other fixtures, and secondly, if u have a ceiling fan, make sure it's turned off. you can do yourself some damage if you walk into one of these while it's still spinning.

Answer 25

there is no easy way to clean a ceiling trust me ive had some pretty dirty jobs and have cleaned toilet roofs no small ones either and i did it all by the way you have already tried.ASk the landlord to sort it out or hire someone at the landlords expense

Answer 26

all you have to do is put a damp cloth on the end of a broom and whipe your secling and then do the same thing with a tea towle

Answer 27

You say you have a woodheater, do you mean log fire type heat. If it is a logfire heater check the chimney above the roof, most chimney's have a coverplate on top of chimney, make sure this plate is removed before lighting the fire, if you don't the smoke comes back down the chimney and escapes into the home,rising to the ceiling.

Was the grime there before you moved in, if so you should have put it down in your inspection sheet (landlords problem), if it became sooty after you moved in, possiblly your problem, ask the agent to come and have a look at it.

Use an extendable handle pole with a sponge, use sugar soap, use a cover sheet on floor, to protect from oversplashing, leave to dry, you may have to do this more than once, leave 48 hours, before undercoat and final coat.

Good Luck

Wear eye protection, cap, and plactic overalls, but all this at Bunnings.

Answer 28

Get an air conditioner instead of the stove, they clean the air as they heat ot cool... over time it will also clean the ceiling

Answer 29

try and find a softish broom or a mop that has a loooong handle or arm on it - and that has a kind of scourer texture, but not one that will scratch the ceiling. then spray on some exit mould or grime remover and follow the directions on the bottle. when its time to clean it off, use the mop or broom!! thats what we did and it worked really well!

its cheap and effective!!

Answer 30

With a sponge mop - extend the handle if necessary. If it is smoke grime, then diluted bleach will probably be needed as carbon really sticks and smudges. Several goes will be needed.

Make sure you wear close fitting goggles and don't stand directly below the mop.

Answer 31

throw some towels in the dryer, turn it on and wait half an hour until the room becomes a little dewey then use a towel on a broom to reach the cieling.

will be pretty easy you'll find