High ceilings seem like such a great idea until you're looking up at the massive cobwebs that've turned your house into an honorary haunted mansion. Cleaning high ceilings can be a pain, but it's a small price to pay for such a luxury. Keep your high ceilings just as clean as the rest of your house with this helpful guide.
How to Reach Your High Ceilings
If your ceilings are 12 feet or lower, you can use a simple wall mop with a telescoping pole and a duster with a telescoping pole.
If you have super high ceilings, you may need to purchase an articulating ladder or invest in scaffolding. You can wheel scaffolding around the house, jack it up to your designated height, and hold all the materials you need to clean your ceilings. You can lie flat, crisscross applesauce, or any other way that feels comfy to you. For you, the extra security scaffolding provides may be worth the higher price tag.
How to Clean Your High Ceilings
Unfortunately, Roombas don't quite have a wall-climbing setting yet, and breaking out your drone with a sponge attached will probably won't have the results you want. So, you've got to leave automation behind and manually clean your high ceilings.
Cover the Room in Tarps or Blankets
When you're cleaning off high ceilings, there's really only one direction all that gunk can go, and it's down. Instead of giving yourself more things to clean, make sure you lay out old blankets, tarps, towels, etc. to keep a barrier between your floor and furniture and the dust.
After the cleaning is over, you can vacuum up anything that falls down or pick up the tufts and toss them in the bin.
Use a Telescoping Pole to Get Rid of Cobwebs
Telescoping poles are a great way to dust high ceilings, fans, and light fixtures while staying firmly on the ground. These massive poles shouldn't run you more than $20 (though industrial ones can run upwards of $100), and they'll come in handy when you need to wipe down those cobwebs from the corners.
@cleanlikeapro This angled cobweb extension broom is great for cleaning high ceilings. #cobwebs #cobwebbroom #highdusting #springcleaning #bunnings Working - Katchafire
Deep Clean With a Distilled White Vinegar & Water Mixture
The easiest way to actually clean your ceiling (which you shouldn't need to do more than a few times a year) is to dip a microfiber attachment for your extending pole in the following mixture:
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 cup warm water
- 3-5 squirts of dish soap
Make sure you wring it out so it's only a bit damp. Then, using the pole and a steady pressure, wipe up and down the ceiling until you've covered the entire thing. Let it air dry and check back in a few hours to see if you need to clean it again.
Don't leave ceiling cleaning to night owl hours. You need as much light as possible to see where you need to clean and if you miss any spots, so stick with cleaning them in the middle of the day where you have as much natural light as possible.
Clean Ceiling Stains With Bleach
If you want to clear up water stains or other blemishes on your ceiling, you're going to have to get up there. For solution mixtures and instructions, check out this handy guide on cleaning ceiling stains.
If All Else Fails, Hire a Professional
There are professional cleaning services for a reason. They've got all the equipment and know-how to get the job done in a fraction of the time it'll take you to. So, if you've got the extra money in your budget to spend on a professional cleaner, letting them tackle your high ceilings isn't a bad idea.
How Often Should You Clean High Ceilings?
Ceilings aren't the dirtiest part of the house, but they don't stay pristine forever. We recommend that you dust the ceiling bi-weekly or once at a month at the latest. And about once or twice a year, you can actually wash down your ceilings for a deeper clean.
High Ceilings Deserve to Be Clean, Too
Admittedly, ceilings don't crack the top 30 things that come to mind when you plan your cleaning to-do list. And while they don't need to be cleaned every day, it's good to know you've got the tools on-hand for when you actually need to. Knowing how to clean your high ceilings can help you keep your fancy home looking showroom worthy every day of the week.
