My neighbor called me out on using the wrong drywall mud

I was mudding my basement ceiling last summer and my neighbor Mike came over to borrow a shovel. He looked at my bucket and said "you're using all-purpose for that ceiling? good luck sanding." I was like whatever, how different can it be. After 3 hours of sanding that ceiling I wanted to throw the whole house away. All-purpose is fine for small patches but for a whole room you gotta use topping compound. Has anyone else found a mud that sands easier without making a dust cloud that covers your whole garage?

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morgan.nancy2mo ago

Colorado springs here, I actually disagree with you a little. I've been mudding for about 15 years and I always use all-purpose for ceilings. The sanding is a pain but I feel like topping compound just chips off too easy and you end up with a bumpy finish. I mixed in a little water and a drop of dish soap to my last bucket of all-purpose and it sanded way smoother than I expected. Still made a dust cloud though, no getting around that.

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vera_sanchez2mo ago

Yo I've done that dish soap trick too! It's game changer for real. I swear by all-purpose for everything because topping compound just doesn't hold up long term. Couple tips from my experience - try misting the surface with a spray bottle right before you sand. Keeps the dust down way better than any fancy vacuum setup I've tried. Just don't oversoak it or you're back to square one. The soap trick with a damp sanding sponge works magic too, just sayin.

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