How to Dust: 5 Tips for a Dust-Free Home
Leave dust in the dust with these smart cleaning and prevention tips.
Jason Donnelly
Dusting is a household chore that's often overlooked or skipped in favor of cleaning high-touch or high-traffic areas, like kitchens, bathrooms, and floors. But leaving dust unaddressed can lead to health problems and discomfort, as airborne dust can trigger allergies, asthma attacks, and other respiratory issues. Plus, there's the fact that household dust is unsightly and downright gross. Primarily composed of human skin, dust also features a mix of dust mites, dust mite droppings, pet dander, mold, bacteria, and viruses. Ahead, you'll find the best tips, tricks, and products for dusting just about every place and item in your home.
1. Dust from the Top Down
As is true of many cleaning jobs, when dusting, start at the highest point and work your way down. As you dust, particles will fall, so if you dust lower shelves before upper shelves, for example, you will probably find yourself having to go over those lower shelves again. Dust first, then vacuum, sweep, or mop the floor around the area.
Related: Why Is My House So Dusty? 4 Common Causes of Dust
2. Know Your Dust Magnets
There are certain items in the home that attract dust, and knowing what they are—and how best to keep them dust-free— can help greatly when it comes to controlling and eliminating household dust. Here are a few common dust magnets to be aware of, along with tips and tricks for keeping them dust-free.
Electronics
Because of static electricity, electronics like TVs, computers, and stereo equipment attract a lot of dust. Use a microfiber cloth for all-over dusting, and a clean paintbrush to get into crevices where dust can build up. Or reach for a common household item you probably already have—a coffee filter—and use that to dust electronics.
Walls, Door Frames, Ceilings, and Baseboards
Flat surfaces, even vertical ones like walls, are places where dust commonly gathers, and because they typically fall outside of sightline, they are easy to overlook. Microfiber dusters are the best tool for cleaning these surfaces; telescoping and flexible dusting tools make it a cinch to clean these hard-to-reach places.
Books and Knickknacks
Books and other paper goods attract dust, making bookshelves, especially ones that feature knickknacks, dust hotspots. But all those small items can be a burden to clean. Luckily, a feather duster makes quick work of this dreaded chore.
Generally, feather dusters aren't the best tool for dusting, as they can displace, rather than pick up, dust, merely spreading it around rather than eliminating it. However, when it comes to cleaning knickknack-laden shelves, they're just the thing for the job.
To deep clean shelves, remove the contents and vacuum them using a brush attachment, starting at the top and working down. If it's a freestanding unit, pull the shelves away from the wall and vacuum the area around it.
Household Appliances
Major household appliances like refrigerators, ovens, washers, and dryers attract a lot of dust. Dust buildup on these items can be eliminated with a vacuum; simply use a dusting attachment to vacuum the exterior of household appliances. Be sure to pull them out from the wall, so that you can vacuum the backside and the space around them.
Upholstered Furniture and Window Treatments
When dust gathers on fabric, it can go unseen. But upholstered furniture and window treatments like curtains or blinds retain a tremendous amount of dust—and those dreaded dust mites—if they aren't cleaned regularly. To keep upholstered furniture and window treatments dust-free, vacuum them regularly using an upholstery attachment.
Mattresses and Headboards
The same thing goes for mattresses and headboards, especially upholstered models. To keep beds dust-free, vacuum the mattress regularly using an upholstery attachment.
Related: Vacuuming Your Mattress Is the Crucial Bedroom Cleaning Step You Shouldn't Skip
3. Prevent Dust from Accumulating
There are a number of ways to reduce dust and allergens in the home. If you find yourself frequently frustrated by the amount of dusting you have to do, consider adding these to your home improvement checklist.
Seal Windows and Doors
Open doors and windows let in a lot of external dust, so keeping them closed is the first step to reducing household dust. But improperly sealed windows, doors, and other dust entryways, like cracks and crevices in flooring, can also let in dust. Check, repair, and/or replace seals to reduce external dust.
Clean Vents Regularly
Your home's HVAC system is an important part of overall dust management; it captures dust particles through the vents and removes them using air filters. Keeping vents clean and unobstructed, therefore, will ensure the HVAC system is working at peak performance.
For routine cleaning, wipe the covers with a microfiber cloth and, if necessary, use the crevice attachment on your vacuum to remove debris. For a deeper clean, unscrew the vent covers and scrub them with soap and warm water before letting them soak. While they're soaking, use a vacuum fitted with the hose attachment to clean inside the vents. Then, dry the covers thoroughly and reinstall them.
Keep Filters Clean
Just as with vents, keeping filters clean and replacing them regularly is a critical part of household dust management. When purchasing a product with an air filter, check the manufacturer's recommendations for the frequency with which to change the filter. Typically, fiberglass air filters need to be changed monthly, while pleated air filters should be replaced every three to six months.
Use Entrance Mats
Doormats can help prevent dust and other external pollutants from entering your home. In addition to using entryway mats, consider making your home a no-shoe zone; creating a spot to remove shoes in the entryway can reduce allergens from being tracked inside.
Pamper Your Pets
Regularly grooming your pets, and keeping their bedding and other belongings like toys or clothes clean, will make a marked difference in the air quality and dust levels in your home. Routine brushing and bathing help eradicate dander at its source. And because pet beds are a hot spot for dust mites, launder removable covers in hot water or use a vacuum fitted with an upholstery attachment to eliminate dust mites and dander.
4. Try a Few Dusting Hacks
Dusting most household surfaces is a straightforward job for either a microfiber cloth or a vacuum. But there are some items and spaces in the home that can be challenging to keep dust-free. These dusting hacks can help.
Line hard-to-reach places like the tops of cabinets with newspaper, contact paper, or any other type of easy-to-remove liner. Then, instead of deep cleaning those places to remove dust and debris, simply pick up and dispose of the liner, and set down a new one.
Use an old pillowcase to clean ceiling fan blades. Slide the open end of the pillowcase over the blade, clamp your hands down around the opening, and slide it back towards you. The dust will collect inside the pillowcase, rather than showering down on the area below the fan.
Dust with dryer sheets, which pick up dust and hair and leave behind a thin layer of anti-static residue that will help repel dust, keeping places like baseboards, window frames, and vent openings cleaner for longer.
Use a paintbrush to dust small, intricate, and/or delicate items. A paintbrush is the perfect dusting tool for everything from intricately carved furniture to electronics.
5. Know Your Dusting Tools
There are a lot of dusting tools on the market, and it can be overwhelming to sort through which ones you actually need. In general, microfiber cloths and dusting tools are the best choice for the job. And if you're only going to buy one duster, make it microfiber. However, there are other dusters worth knowing about.
Telescoping dusters, which have extendable handles, make dusting hard-to-reach places like window casings, baseboards, and the tops of cabinets easier.
A vacuum, fitted with the right attachments, is also a powerful tool in the fight against household dust.
Paintbrushes, dusting gloves, and other small specialty tools can be useful for dusting electronics, as well as delicate or intricate items.
Tape and sticky rollers pick dust up off of hard-to-clean fabric goods like lampshades.
Canned air and electronic dusters help dislodge dust from places other tools can't go.
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