Day 3. Ceilings and Light Fixtures

Day 3 of “A 30 Day Guide to Spring Cleaning“.

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How often should ceilings be cleaned? Ceilings don’t typically get regular use (and if yours do, please share!).

If you have flat painted ceilings, you may not notice much of a difference in cleaning them even once a year, with the exception of areas such as your kitchen, where grease and particles from cooking food can create a film on surfaces over time.

If you have popcorn ceilings, which were very popular for an extended period of time, you would want to clean these once a year, if not a little more depending on how prone your environment is to dust.

Light fixtures should be cleaned yearly, or when they appear dirty.

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What to clean:

• Ceilings
• Light fixtures

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Prep for Cleaning

To prepare for cleaning ceilings/light fixtures:

Flat painted ceilings:

• Get your cleaning supplies ready
• Determine your plan of attack

Popcorn ceilings:

• Get your cleaning supplies ready
• Determine your plan of attack
• DO NOT VACUUM UNTIL AFTER
• Cover your furniture unless you want to clean it off after (blankets or drop cloths work great)

Cleaning supplies:

• Flat painted ceilings:
  • Telescoping cleaner, Recommended: Norwex Mop System and water
  • Soap and water and some type of flat telescoping mop (don’t use chemicals besides soap)
  • Telescoping Mop ‘Paid Link’

• Popcorn ceilings:
  • Telescoping cleaner, Recommended: Norwex Mop System plus Enirowand
  • Alternative: Telescoping Duster Telescoping Duster ‘Paid Link’
  • For stains: Enviro cloth and water or paint roller and handle, bleach and water
  • Eye protection

• Light Fixtures:
  • Recommended: Envirocloth and water
  • Alternative: microfiber cloth and soapy water

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Cleaning Ceilings

Flat painted ceilings

For flat painted ceilings, this is the easy part, especially if using the Norwex mop system. All you need to do is get your mop pad wet with water, attach it to your telescoping handle, and swipe back and forth in large movements to clean the area. You should try to do this in patterns to be sure you don’t miss an area.

For spots found during the cleaning process you can apply more pressure as needed, or used a light all purpose cleaner and cloth to work the spot off.

Popcorn ceilings

Do not vacuum or clean your floors prior to cleaning popcorn ceilings as particles WILL knock down and get everywhere! Cover your furniture, or anything you don’t want these particles dropping on. Be sure to use eye protection when cleaning popcorn ceilings to avoid particles getting in your eyes and causing injury.

Once you are ready to start cleaning the ceilings, get your Norwex mop and envirowand, and place the head of the envirowand on the telescoping handle. Bend the envirowand head to two 90 degree angles to allow cleaning on the ceiling and corners, see the image for an example. If using a telescoping duster make sure you have the appropriate attachments or clean dusters applied.

DO NOT USE WATER ON POPCORN CEILINGS!!

Using the dry envirowand or duster begin cleaning the wall by placing this a ways in front of you, and pulling back towards you while moving backwards. Use this motion to avoid particles falling on you or in your eyes.

If you have vents in your ceiling, like my basement does, the long finger like fibers in the envirowand will allow easy cleaning of these vents at the same time as cleaning your ceilings! Dust also builds up signicantly faster around ceiling vents on popcorn ceilings. See the befores and afters below!

If spots are found during the cleaning process you can use a very lightly dampened cloth, like the envirocloth, and dab at the spot to remove it. Be careful not to apply pressure or use too much water. Don’t use any cleaners for this process.

WATER WILL DISINTEGRATE POPCORN CEILINGS!

If your ceilings are stained from grease or smoke buildup, it may be best to repaint popcorn ceilings. If this is not an option, you can use bleach diluted in water and a paint roller.

Pour 1 cup water and 1 cup bleach in a paint pan. Lightly dampen the paint roller (as little cleaning solution as possible) and use this roller on a handle to slowly roll over the stained areas, and then allow to dry. Slow movements are key, as moving too quickly can cause bleach water to land on surrounding objects and bleach stain them.

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Cleaning Light Fixtures

There are so many different types of light fixtures, that I cannot provide a one tip fits all solution on the best way to clean your fixtures. I have given a few different examples below that can apply to a variety of different fixtures.

Angled light fixtures

For light fixtures that have a different parts and pieces, or angles, you can use your telescoping duster or envirowand to easily dry dust on top and in between all the different components of the fixture. I suggest dry dusting inless these are kitchen fixtures that have grease buildup. Using water can cause the dust to clump and stick to the fixture.

Recessed light fixtures

Make sure your duster or envirowand are straightened out as seen in the picture. This will allow it to easily slide into the “buckets” around the lights easily to allow for cleaning. Don’t use water, as you don’t want to risk getting around the light sockets wet. I have recessed lighting in my kitchen, above my stove. These can get a greasy build up on them, so wetting down the envirowand and folding it over to allow for cleaning the edges where there’s buildup is a great way to get these clean!

Globe/dome light fixtures

These light fixtures can be kind of a pain to clean. Some dome lights are open, and easily wipeable on the inside, while others are closed, or if they are open the dome is too close to the bulb to clean well. The skinnier dusters and envirowand should be able to get in between these small spaces, but with the closed domes or globe lights, I find it easier to just remove the cover and clean it separately. My dome light is also in my kitchen/dining area and gets a greasy buildup on it. You can simply just loosen the thumb screws on the sides holding the dome/globe on in order to allow the cover to drop down. I just washed this with dish soap in the sink and allowed it to dry before returning to the fixture.

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If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I would be happy to get back with you.

Check out Day 2. Walls and Baseboards here.

Check out Day 4. Wiping shelves and surfaces here.

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