Household paint question

It is time to paint the inside of the house again. One of my most favorite jobs in the whole world. Yup, just love it.

The kitchen ceiling.
This house has a really stupid design, there is a skylight that is pretty much just about over the stove.
The range hood fan is pretty much useless, so as I ladder up into the skylight I notice that there is a light greasy film on the paint. Left over from the last 10 years of cooking I imagine.

My first though was to use some KILZ primer on it, the old school stuff that will chase you out of the house with its wonderful smell. Have used it in the past to cover up things like stains on the walls, writing from the kids when they were little that sort of thing. But I have never tried it on a greasy (for lack of a better word) ceiling.

Other then trying to get up there and give it a scrub not really sure what else one could do. It is a textured ceiling, I'm not sure how it would react to a scrubbing.

The rest of the ceiling is not bad, just the skylight.

Any sage words of advice from others who have encounter the same issues?

I can't say I remember anything as bad as grease on a textured ceiling. I'd at least wipe it off, this is where real TSP and dawn dish soap are needed. Like a small bucket of the hottest water you can stand with TSP and dawn, wring a sponge mostly dry, wipe a small area until you establish how much you can scrub without removing texture, then repeat until done, let dry completely, use the kilz like you said, and don't look back, or don't look up in this case.

That kilz is shellac based so it's probably got an alcohol solvent, so not as bad as it seems.

I'm going to also vote for trying to cut that grease somehow. I can't see anything sticking to it very well. Even if you remove most of it, the paint/primer should stick a whole lot better.

What about using a spray can of engine degreaser?

John Canfield said:

What about using a spray can of engine degreaser?

Click to expand...

Well that might be interesting hahaha. Not sure what the wife would make of that.

It's not that bad, not like a greasy spoon restaurant kitchen.

I think Delmer's idea probably has the most Merritt.

Brake clean....

TSP?

Sorry, Tri Sodium Phosphate is the standard degreaser for painting and other uses. It's not as widely available anymore, "TSP substitute, no phosphate" is not the same. You can order TSP online from lots of places, it might be available somewhere, not in my state in big box or retail.

We can still buy the good stuff here, takes a bit to find it.
I might still have some in the garage, somewhere.
Garage clean up is on the list too.

Fun Fact.
TSP is also found in breakfast cereals

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triso...e (TSP) is the,, stain remover, and degreaser.

Next time you are having a bowl of cheerio's, have a quick read of the ingredients

Well, I reckon I probably get a bunch of grease in me, while I am getting it on me; maybe I should eat more Cheerios.

amazon.com/Savogran-10622-Trisodium-Phosphate-4-5lbs/dp/B000AXE7CY

Claims to be the orginal