How to Clean a Ceiling Before Painting: 3 Steps

by Mike Pelletier funnel edge marketing

Keeping your home in tip-top shape requires time, patience, energy, and maintenance. One of these tasks involves re-painting the walls and ceilings. Ceilings are more troublesome since they are harder to reach, but anyone can do it.

You should never paint over the ceiling without preparing the area. If you want to learn how to clean a ceiling before painting, keep reading.

1. Prepare the Area

Preparation is the most important aspect. The first thing you should do is test the water solubility. In general, ceilings that never had a prior paint job are often water-soluble.

The best way to test this by spraying a scant amount of water in the area. If it begins to feel soft, you will know the area has never been painted. This will let you know to coat the ceiling first before you begin painting the ceiling.

Since you'll be working high up, water will likely drop due to gravity so you should cover the floor. It's best to protect the flooring with a drop cloth before you begin. The plastic material is great, but it's better to get canvas drop cloths if you can.

You can cover your furniture with them so you don't have to worry about moving anything, but don't forget your floor either.

2. Gear Up

You should have the right equipment as well so you don't risk injuring yourself. More often than not, some level of debris will fall, and you don't want it anywhere near your eyes, nose, or mouth.

Purchase a few dust masks for the job and get yourself safety goggles or glasses. Getting a hat is also a good idea and putting on any old clothes you don't mind getting messed up. Be sure to use a good ladder so you reduce the chances of falling.

3. Gentle Cleaning

Ceilings have more texture compared to walls because of the "popcorn-like" appearance it has. You must have gentle hands and use a gentle solution when in order to have a clean surface.

You can either make a gentle solution by creating baking soda paste by adding equal parts water and baking soda or you can use sugar soap.

Sugar soap solutions are amazing for deep cleaning walls or you may use trisodium phosphate (TSP) as an alternative. Both can remove dirt and oil. Only use a moist rag or cloth when cleaning; it shouldn't be sopping wet as this can damage the ceiling.

Learning How to Clean a Ceiling Before Painting It

Many homeowners find doing certain jobs on their own helps them reduce the cost of paint jobs. Prepping the area and painting it on your own is helpful and cost-effective only if it is done right. You can better achieve this when you know how to clean a ceiling before painting.

If you're not up to doing the task on your own, you can hire professional Oakville painters to do the paint job for you if you live in the Ontario area. If you want a seamless paint finish in your home, contact us by requesting a quote today. We offer a free consultation for our clients.