How to Wash a Kitchen Ceiling the Easy Way

If your kitchen has high ceilings like mine, washing the kitchen ceiling can be a difficult task. Not only is reaching overhead hard on the neck and shoulder muscles, getting up and down the ladder a zillion times while scrubbing and rinsing can wear a person out. It's no big wonder then why so many of us postpone washing the ceiling until it shows visible signs of grime and food spatters.

The thing about kitchen ceilings is that even though we all have vent fans above the stove, the ceiling still is prone to picking up grease particulates which turn yellow over time. Regular washings will prevent the ceiling from yellowing and make spot cleaning easier.

Here is how I wash the high kitchen ceilings in my home the easy way. This method only works for old fashioned plaster ceilings that don't have a raised or heavily textured surface.

Supplies 

The best kitchen grease cutter around is sudsy ammonia. This along with two mop buckets and a newer sponge mop (the kind with a built-in wringer) are all you need to wash the ceiling. If your kitchen ceilings are more than 9 feet high, you may need a small step ladder as well.

Mixing up the solutions 

In one bucket, mix up two gallons of warm water with one-half cup of ammonia. If the ceiling has a heavy grease buildup, you may have to add an additional half-cup ammonia to the water. In the second bucket, fill with warm water only since this will be the rinse water.

Washing the ceiling 

Yes, you've guessed it - instead of climbing on a ladder to wash my kitchen ceilings, I mop my ceilings instead. This is done by dipping the mop in the ammonia solution, wringing out as much of the liquid as possible, and then applying the mop head to the ceiling and scrubbing in a back and forth motion. For stubborn food spatters (such as spaghetti sauce) I merely let the ammonia solution soak into the spatters for several minutes before wiping away with the mop head. The cleaned 4' x 6' area is then rinsed with clear water before moving on to the next section of ceiling.

This super easy way of cleaning the kitchen ceiling cuts through all of the grease and most of the food in no time at all. For the few areas of stubborn food spills that won't come off, wiping away with a damp cloth is often enough to finish the job.