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Post by notsomessyshell on Aug 5, 2010 12:13:37 GMT -5
The kitchen here has these honeycomb like ceiling tiles. I think the holes are 1/4 inch square. I took a pic and am trying to get it uploaded. Anyway they are disgusting. Covered in greasy dust. Gross. Today I am trying to get them clean.  I tried Fantastic, Dawn, elbow grease, still the squares are gross. Aha moment: A bottle brush! I am now 1/2 way done with one. Letting it soak in tub with some dawn to loosen the greasy gook. Then cleaning one square at a time with the bottle brush. Tedious, but successful. Amazing what things can be repurposed for. |
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Post by notsomessyshell on Aug 5, 2010 13:41:32 GMT -5
I have hit the "it's good enough" stage. I cannot get it all off. I think they are stained. I have to let it be this way. So much better, but not perfect. I may wind up painting them white this weekend. For now they will have to do. Looks so much better.
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Post by messymimi on Aug 5, 2010 14:07:14 GMT -5
It sounds like the grease has soaked in and become a permanent part of the tile, so I agree that good enough is good enough.
If you do paint them, you might need a primer coat.
Great job figuring out how to get this done!
messymimi
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Post by notsomessyshell on Aug 5, 2010 19:05:25 GMT -5
This was truly a gross job. All the honeycomb tiles plus the textured ones over the lights. Those were white. Who knew?! I am trying to get the pics uploaded. It is amazing the difference. I really thought they were cream. Or beige. Oldest has helped a bit on them.
My arms and hands are soooo sore.
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Post by bigtimetroubles on Aug 6, 2010 19:49:11 GMT -5
years ago in my mom and dad's house we had ceiling tiles in the porch area where we call the living room....my dad smoked and I smoked all these years and I noticed when we stopped smoking that the ceiling tiles had become covered with tar and nicotine staining them yellowish brown....so for Christmas one year I bought new ceiling tiles for Mom and Dad...we installed them with no problems as we had a drop down ceiling and the tiles in it just popped out and we installed the new fibreglass ones into the same spots...they were made for the framing in the cleiling.....it kept me feeling I had done something good for my mom....she did not have a dirty looking ceiling any more....so you are doing good notsomessyshell......really good....I would paint them white myself since I have a feeling they are harder type than what ours were/are and they would be able to hold paint well....go girl go
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Post by puppybox on Aug 6, 2010 20:44:24 GMT -5
i have the same greasy gook on the walls behind the oven. the only thing that gets it off is products that I am allergic to/ make me ill. and a lot of scrubbing. the wall was orange when I moved in and after 6 solid hours (not countng breaks) 3/4 of it was 70% better. (only yellow). then it took a week of just lieing in bed for my lungs to work again.
4 years later its orange again. how do you soak a wall?
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Post by notsomessyshell on Aug 6, 2010 21:06:59 GMT -5
I still have a few left to do. They are the furthest from the stove so not as bad. Just ran out of steam. Sunday is my next day off, so maybe will finish them all then.
BTT the residue from smoking is yucky. Have helped with clean up in homes of smokers. It covers everything. What a great thing to do for the folks! Yes I think I can paint the honeycomb ones for sure.
Oh man Puppy that is awful. The best stuff we tried when we moved from the old place and had some gross yellow stuff on the floor and wall in kitchen is some industrial stuff from Hubby's work. It was awesome. Spray on and wipe off. Literally WIPED IT OFF. Didn't have a lot of fumes, but it is industrial so I bet it would bother you. Can you have someone else do it or does the residual fumes bother you, too? Wish I had some for this project....
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hopehope
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,815 
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Post by hopehope on Aug 9, 2010 20:52:55 GMT -5
pb -- citra-solv is basically orange oil -- not an allergen -- if you let it rest on there for a couple of minutes, it should come off pretty well. or at least somewhat.
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Post by puppybox on Aug 11, 2010 11:28:24 GMT -5
i was feelng pretty sorry for myself last week.
stupid wall rarely bothers me.
I might tackle it soon, if not it doesn't really matter.
citra-solve... sounds good. thanks hopehope, I will try to get it.
not so messy shelby- congratulations on a really good effort, it doesn't matter if they look perfect. It has gotta be healthier not to have that sticky grease there.
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Post by messymarie on Aug 12, 2010 14:15:39 GMT -5
Vinegar and hot water actually works really well on that greasy gook.
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