Ceiling Cleaning Tools

Many ceiling dusters feature synthetic, dust-gathering fibers.duster image by Elena kouptsova-vasic from Fotolia.com

The oft neglected ceiling gathers clumps of cobwebs and a thin film of dust. The consequences of a dirty ceiling appear unsightly, irritate allergies and decrease interior air quality. Both general purpose and specialized ceiling cleaning tools are used to reach the nooks and crannies of elevated surfaces. Learn about the types of tools suitable for cleaning ceilings, and compile a set that suits your space.

Ceiling Duster

The ceiling duster places a collection of feathers or cloth swabs at the end of an extension pole. Like the traditional feather duster, this tool's soft head lightly wipes and loosens dust and catches and collects cobwebs. While the ceiling duster removes surface dirt and performs everyday maintenance, it lacks the abrasion and scrubbing power to remove marks and stains.

This ceiling cleaning tool removes acoustic, also called "popcorn," ceiling texture. Commonly installed in mid-century homes, popcorn ceiling texture's chunk appearance disagrees with many modern homeowners, and its removal is a common project. The acoustic ceiling removal tool is specially designed to not only scrape texture from elevated surfaces, but also to catch and contain the texture in an attached bag. The scrape and collect operation of this tool relieves the laborer of extensive preparation, including laying drop cloths and masking walls.

The acoustic ceiling removal machine takes popcorn ceiling removal a step further than the manually operated tool; this machine's scraping action is motor driven, reducing the time and effort required to scour a surface of popcorn texture. Like its manually operated counterpart, this tool catches waste in an attached bag, reducing project preparation and cleanup time.

A ladder complements ceiling cleaning projects that require close proximity to the ceiling's surface, such as manually scraping popcorn texture or applying cleaning compounds by cloth or sponge. Two basic types of ladders are used: the folding ladder and the extension ladder. The folding ladder's legs hinge to a fixed top step and fold into one another for storage and transport. When fully expanded, the folding ladder forms a sturdy triangle that will stand upon any flat surface. Unlike the folding ladder, the extension ladder features only one set of legs that the user must stabilize against a stationary surface, such as a wall. The distinguishing characteristic of an extension ladder is its segmented construction; portions of the ladder adjust and lock at varying heights, allowing a ceiling cleaner to alter the ladder's height from room to room.