If you can tear your eyes from the computer screen right now and look up and see what looks like tiny white pebbles or popcorn bits stuck to the ceiling, you may have noticed that this texture provides perfect little snags for dusty gray spider webs. A sprayed acoustic ceiling also tends to accumulate particles from the air that can eventually leave it looking dingy.

 

article continues below ↓

But a word of warning before you get energized to make a difference in this particular surface of your home. Some popcorn-style ceilings contain asbestos — a relatively creepy, fibrous mineral that you really don’t want floating down into your lungs — or kicking back up into the air when you vacuum later.

Although use of asbestos slowed down after the early 1970s, according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency some asbestos-containing materials were installed during building construction even into the 1980s. If your sprayed acoustic ceiling is of suspect age, you may want to have it tested by a professional — especially if your home sees the occasional pillow fight, the cobwebs are getting too thick to ignore, or there is any other reason bits of ceiling may come down from time to time.

Cleaning

If the coast is clear regarding asbestos, here are some guidelines for cleaning this type of ceiling:

Use a vacuum extension wand or cobweb catcher to catch loose sections of any webs and pull down on them gently. Don’t push up or sweep straight across. These sticky strings will easily grind into the surface with no hope of removal.

Attempting to dust the ceiling itself is not recommended. Even if there is no asbestos involved, you’ll want to keep the popcorn on the ceiling, where you don’t have to dust it off of furniture or vacuum it up from the floor.

To brighten darkening acoustic ceilings, one can spray the entire surface with a bleaching chemical available at commercial janitorial stores. You can imagine the challenges of protecting your furniture and carpets — and yourself — during this project. So unless you are the avidly adventurous type, do it the easy way and hire a qualified ceiling-cleaning company.

Prevention

The popcorn ceiling is one more good reason not to smoke. Nicotine builds up on or soaks into virtually every surface of a home, ceilings included.

Use your stove’s fan while cooking to help contain greasy particles floating in the air.

Reducing your spider population is a good idea if you have sprayed acoustic ceilings. Short of introducing chemicals inside your home for this task, you can thoroughly vacuum high, low, inside closets, under furniture, etc. Seal open gaps to the outdoors, checking window frames and screens for holes.

Trim some distance between bushes and windows or doors. And remove any boards or other junk from up against the side of the house. (This is good for fire safety as well.) Regularly sweep and/or spray down outdoor entrance areas, including awnings, with a water hose. Check any attached garage for infestation. And naturally, while you work keep one eye open for poisonous varieties.

Some lawn chemical companies and exterminators can apply spider barriers around the outsides of your entrances and windows.