We took ours down. I'd get a good garden sprayer (about a 3 or 5 gallon jug of water or so that can sit on the ladder) and use that verses the windex bottle. (Your hands will get worn out very quickly, which is why that poster said for "small" jobs!). If your ceiling hasn't been painted, it won't take much water to get it down. Don't soak it. Experiment with a few sprays, let it soak in a min or two, then scrape. Have lots of bags ready, the tool gets heavy quickly. If the popcorn has been painted once, it might be more diffucult..if it's been painted several times, what you're doing won't work. That calls for sanding, and the horrible mess people picture. We did the whole 1100 sq ft condo in 3 evenings of work, including clean up. And by "we" I mean I did other stuff and occasionally said "good boy, nice work" to my DH :)

My thoughts on the order of attack are: 1. Use putty knife to get in behind it to the plaster in a small inconspicuous area just to get a better grip on what I'm working with. 2. Water/Fabric Softener out of a pump sprayer. If it soaks in, let it sit for a while and see if it comes off with a putty knife or scraper. 3. Try this product from Amazon (link at bottom) - EcoSolve Home Strip X-Tex Textured Coatings Remover 4. I'm going to be renting a steamer for all of the wallpaper in the home and will maybe give that a go as well. 5. If none of the above works, I will try to sand. If this works, I will likely rent a power sander/vacuum combo. 6. If all else fails, I will skim coat with joint compound. Does this sound reasonable? Here is a link that might be useful: EcoSolve Home Strip X-Tex Textured Coatings Remover

We had stamped ceilings with crown molding. A drywall company removed it for us and then skim coated the ceiling. I taped off the crown with blue tape attached to plastic sheeting to protect the molding during the process. We also had the carpet and hardwood replaced so it was done when there was no flooring. In certain spots there were gaps where the crown did not meet the ceiling so I used paintable caulk to fill the gaps and then painted. It was a pain but so worth it to have smooth ceilings in the LR, DR and hall.

And I thought we were the only ones that considered covering up popcorn instead of removing it. We thought about covering it with wood for a stained wood ceiling in the bathroom or sheetrock and a very light sprayed on texture. Instead my brother sprayed with warm water, waited 10 minutes and did it again. It was the cleanest popcorn removal I've ever seen. It was a just a 5x7 bathroom tho. I think covering it up would have been messier.