How To Dust & Vacuum A Room

Believe it or not, there is a proper way to dust and vacuum a room. Let's start with dusting. What exactly is dust? Dust is made up of soil particles, volcanic ash, dead skin cells, hair, pet hair, dander, clothing fibers, dust mites, bacteria, and dead insect particulate. Mmmmmm! When you read that, it's a wonder we don't live in plastic suits and refuse to open windows. Dust is just a fact of life and something we all have to deal with, and even if you don't open windows, don't have pets, or own an expensive filtration HVAC system, there will still be dust.

Now not opening windows, not having pets, getting rid of carpet and rugs from rooms, and having a filtration system on your HVAC will help to limit the amount of dust you bring into your home, but at the end of the day, it still shows up. Dusting and vacuuming are great ways to get rid of this elusive intruder and there are several ways to go about it. Let's talk about three ways you can choose to dust your home:

1. Dry Dusting: Usually done with a duster (think Swiffer duster) or cloth, this method lifts dust off surfaces, but can put many of those particles back in the air upon contact, thus resettling over time what you just cleaned away. The Swiffer helps to trap dust particles better than an old-school feather dusters and can be thrown away when soiled. If you use a cloth to dust, use a microfiber one to minimize adding cloth fibers to your surfaces. Just be sure to wash microfiber cloths separately and to manufacturer's instructions for best care results.

2. Damp Dusting: Instead of using a dry cloth when you dust, the cloth is dampened with water (ring the water out as much as possible before you start using the cloth) or a product to help trap the dust upon collection. Products used for damp dusting would be something like a furniture spray, such as Pledge. Cleaning products for damp dusting may also contain elements such as mild detergents, degreasers, citrus or other oils, so be sure to read the labels to make sure they are safe for all the surfaces you are dusting. It's not a bad idea to at least damp dust quarterly in addition to the weekly or monthly dusting you do in your home.

3. Vacuum Dusting: if you are fortunate enough to have a vacuum with multiple attachments or a small, portable canister vacuum, you may consider using it to suck up the dust in your home, effectively trapping it inside the collection chamber or bag. This is a great method for not redistributing dust but be mindful if your machine has an exhaust hole where you can feel air being blown out of it, as you can disturb settled dust and put it back into the air as you move around.

Now that you have chosen how you are going to dust your room, let's go through the proper steps to do so.

1. Start at the top: If you are literally going to dust your room from top to bottom, start with the ceiling and ceiling corners (dusting these areas are most likely overkill on a week-to-week basis, so strive to do this at least quarterly). There are lots of extendable dusters out there to reach high and tight corners. Remember dust falls down as it settles, so eventually anything in the air will land on furniture surfaces and the floor. If you're not dusting the ceilings today, you'll start with the tallest thing in the room.

2. Work your way around the room: Start in one ceiling corner and work your way around the room until you come back to your starting point, or start on one wall (or the tallest thing in the room) and work your way around. Then continue working inwards, like a spiral, to the center of the room.

3. Dust on and under objects: That's right, don't be lazy and dust around the vase on the shelf, dust the vase, then pick it up and dust underneath it. "But Carrie," you say, "there will not be dust under the vase." But there will be dust on the vase and all around its edges that you are not able to fully remove unless you pick it up and wipe it off. Dusting is a pain in the butt and if dusting properly under items is a "no" for you, this is a great time to take inventory of what you have and consider getting rid of things you don't need that just take up space. Living in a minimalist design aesthetic sure helps to make light of cleaning and housework!

4. Let the dust settle: When you have finished dusting a room, walk away from it and let any dust you have put back in the air have a chance to settle on the floor so you can successfully vacuum more of it up 24 hours later. Always dust first, then vacuum afterwards in your cleaning schedule.

Now simmer down and get to cleaning! xx