Did you know that you create dust? It’s true! Humans contribute about 1/3 of an ounce of dead skin weekly, along with other materials that make up dust: pollen, particles, hair, pet dander, and so forth.
Especially for those of us here in the beautiful Sonoran desert, dust is a common household problem – one that many people would love to eliminate permanently. However, most people, when tackling dust during the cleaning session, are doing it wrong.
If you want to know how to get rid of dust and keep your home looking fresh, keep reading!
Why Dust Is Harmful
You might think that dust simply looks bad. It might cover your bookcases, tables, under your bed, and so on, appearing very unsightly and unkempt.
However, dust can be very harmful to the people living in the home or space. For people who have allergies, this is especially true. Dust can trigger allergic reactions like coughing, hay fever, itchy eyes, and even, in rare cases, contribute to a serious asthma attack.
How to Get Rid of Dust
You don’t have to be a professional cleaner to learn to dust well! When dusting, most likely many people take the same route: using a duster or a rag, they wipe the surface ‘clean’ and that’s all. But in reality, the only thing that’s doing is spreading the dust around.
Here are some ways to start keeping the dust at bay.
1. Right Kind of Dusters
Dusting with the right products makes all the difference in the world. Here are a few products that are perfect for dusting.
Microfiber cloths are the jewel of cleaning. They can pick up dust and other particles – and keep it contained in the cloth, not to mention that they’re environmentally-friendly and ideal to use for electronics. For the most part, no other product is needed, just vacuum the microfiber cloth between dustings to clear it out.
If you have an area with heavy dust, and you want to keep it as dust-repellent as possible, you can lightly mist your microfiber cloth with a cleaner or even water, to better collect dust. Be sure that the surface is cleaner- or water-friendly before applying any additional cleaners.
To reach high places, consider using a duster (with a microfiber attachment) that has an extendable or adjustable pole. This will make dusting a breeze and avoid using ladders or chairs to clean unreachable places.
While vacuuming does a great job of sucking up the dust, having a dry mop around to sweep up the dust is necessary, too. A dry mop with a textured microfiber pad is perfect for sweeping up the dust before doing a thorough vacuum.
2. More Than Dusting
To keep dust to a minimum, you’ll need to do more than run a cloth over a surface now and then. It takes a bit more work, but the results are worth it.
First, keep the clutter contained. Clutter can be a large source of dust, which means more for you to clean. Clear the clutter as often as possible.
Wash your linens, clothes, curtains, blankets, and more regularly.
Aim to vacuum as frequently as possible. For homes with much traffic, this could mean daily, for others, probably not so much, but weekly. Vacuuming is great for dust because it eliminates it instead of spreading.
Don’t forget to vacuum your furniture as well because it might be harboring a lot of dust. Use the appropriate furniture attachments.
3. Vents
You might easily notice dust on your tables, electronics, and bookcases, but there’s also dust lurking in unseen places.
Your vents, for example, likely hold large amounts of dust. Cleaning out these vents by vacuuming can help keep the dust from piling up quickly. Go a step further and remove the vent covers by cleaning them with warm soapy water and wipe down the insides to diminish even more dust.
Also make sure to check that your doors and windows are properly sealed! The wind here in Tucson will find every unsealed crack under any door, making dust an nearly inexhaustible nemesis unless your house is properly sealed (or regularly cleaned).
4. Look Up, Behind And Under
Don’t forget to dust behind appliances, TV consoles, furniture, beds, and more. Crumbs and other waste gathers here and if it’s not addressed, you could have larger problems – like bugs!
Your ceiling corners might be housing cobwebs or other clumps of dust. Don’t forget to give this some attention! Ceiling fans are notorious dust collectors, so use your dusting extension pole to clean these tough-to-reach areas.
Under the bed, couches, bookcases, and other furniture pieces that are off the ground are probably hiding some dust underneath. This is a great opportunity to use your dry mop and scoop all the dust from underneath.
5. Mop
Mopping might seem like an extra step, especially since you spend all the time dusting and vacuuming the floor. But mopping plays a vital role when it comes to dusting.
After you’ve vacuumed or dry mopped your space, wet-mopping the floor is the next step. This is because wet-mopping will pick up any remaining dust you might have missed. Also, mopping with the floor with a cleaner is excellent at repelling future dust.
6. Don’t Forget The Small Spaces
Dusting large surfaces is a given, but smaller spaces often get overlooked. Don’t ignore places like blinds, window sills, lampshades, picture frames, bed frames, small electronics, books, and so on.
Let’s Get Dusting!
It’s important to remember that dust will not go away entirely. As long as people are living in the home especially, dust will be a common occurrence. But if you’re wondering how to get rid of dust, taking these steps is important for the health of everyone. Don’t have time to dust? Leave it to the pros! Contact us today for a free quote so we can help your home stay lovely and tidy!