I, Mark Roemer Oakland, believe that it is crucial to dust your house regularly, or at least every week to maintain good air quality inside your home and prevent sickness and allergies. Dust is a combination of dirt, dead skin cells, human hair, pollen, pet dander, and more. If you don’t clean and dust your house regularly, it can cause sneezing, eye irritation, coughing, and even hay fever and asthma in extreme cases. Not to mention, the accumulation of dust on furniture, accessories, and other objects ruin the beauty of your home.
Tips & Tricks
Unfortunately, dusting is a frustrating process, especially since it accumulates within a week at most even after you perform a thorough cleaning of your house. Still, it is important to maintain a dusting routine and follow the best dusting practices to make the job more effective. Here are a few tips you can follow to dust your home effectively:
1. Wear a mask or protective face gear – It is important to wear a face mask or protective face gear such as goggles before you start the dusting process, especially if you suffer from allergies or have a sensitive nose and eyes. Wearing a face mask and goggles will prevent you from inhaling dust particles that can irritate your nasal lining, and eyes, and trigger the symptoms of allergies.
2. Always clear the clutter before dusting – It is important to clear all the clutter in a room before you begin the dusting process since it prevents the accumulation of dust and makes your job easier. You can start with a single room and move on to other rooms after you have cleaned it thoroughly.
Remember to take fabrics in the room such as cushions, pillows, rugs, and lines outside, and shake them thoroughly to remove loose dust particles trapped on their surfaces. In fact, you try hitting the pillows and even vacuum them to dislodge deeply embedded dust.
3. Start by cleaning the ceilings and walls – Always ensure you dust the rooms from top to bottom since the dust will fall down and accumulate on the surfaces of other objects. You can use a long-handled broom or a large brush attachment on your vacuum to reach the ceiling.
Use long, smooth strokes and work from one end of the room to another. You can use a step ladder or a sturdy step stool if your ceiling is too high. However, don’t try to climb on furniture since it can be risky.
4. Clean the ceiling fans, light fixtures, and vents – Use a clean, damp microfiber cloth or microfiber duster to wipe the surfaces of air vents, ceiling fan blades, lights, and more. Avoid using feather dusters since these just tend to move the dust around. You can vacuum the surfaces before wiping them with the microfiber cloth if they are too dirty.
5. Remember to wipe the wall, doors, and windows – Use a vacuum with a brush attachment or a damp cloth to wipe down the walls, and dust all the way around door frames. Ensure you clean the front, sides, and back surfaces as well as the corners and crevices, crown molding, and trim.
Clean the windowsill, screens, blinds, and shutter using a clean duster or damp cloth. Use a large, dry paintbrush to dust your window screens easily. And wipe down the blinds using horizontal strokes. Use a window cleaner and squeegee to clean the window glass.
6. Wipe the surfaces of large furniture, countertops, appliances, and tables – Clean the surfaces of the appliance such as refrigerators and large furniture such as bookcases using a damp microfiber cloth or duster.
When cleaning the surfaces of tables and countertops, ensure you remove all the items and accessories on top of them to clean them completely. Dusting around the objects won’t remove the dust thoroughly and will take longer.
7. Clean individual items and objects – Clean small items such as ceramic vases, delicate objects, leather items, and books, using a dry cloth. Use compressed air and vacuum with a brush attachment to get the dust out of electronics such as keyboards. Also, ensure you unplug any electronic items such as television before cleaning them.
You can use a paintbrush to sweep the dust from small objects and items such as elaborate carvings, moldings, and more.
8. Vacuum upholstered furniture – Use the brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner to remove dust from couches, plush chairs, mattresses, and other upholstered furniture. Ensure you dust underneath the cushions as well. You can wash linens and tumble-dry them too.
9. Move furniture in the room to clean underneath them – Remove large furniture and appliances to vacuum and sweep underneath them. Wipe down the baseboards to clean the dust that has accumulated with a damp microfiber cloth. You can use an all-purpose cleaner to wipe really dirty sections. To remove scuff marks from baseboards, you can use a melamine foam magic eraser.
10. Clean the carpets, rugs, and floor – If you have carpets and rugs in the room, it is also important to clean them thoroughly using a vacuum cleaner. Take the carpets and rugs outside and shake them vigorously to remove the dust embedded deep in the fibers.
Finally, use a broom to sweep the floors and mop the floors to trap left-behind dust. Once you have cleaned the floors of the room, you have to return everything back to its proper place. That means you have to lay down the rugs, bring back the furniture to its proper place, replace the linens, and place all the small objects or accessories back in their original location.
Conclusion
I, Mark Roemer Oakland, suggest you replace the filter of your vacuum cleaner before starting the dusting process to trap more dust. It is also a good idea to change the filter of your air conditioner to trap new airborne dust particles. If you don’t have an air purifier at home, you can invest in an air purifier with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter to reduce dust in your home.