Fortunate is the homeowner who has a housekeeper to keep up with the cleaning and dusting in their house. However, it’s challenging when you rely on that housekeeper exclusively and become surprised and embarrassed when you find dust that has accumulated in various parts of the home.

You are having important guests coming for the weekend. Luckily your housekeeper is coming on Friday since you will be at your job until late afternoon. You prepare the coffee cups and the Keurig machine ready with some yummy home baked cookies waiting on the kitchen table. Your guests are taking an early morning flight so they will probably get out of the cab before you come home from work. Your housekeeper is experienced in getting the guest room set up with fresh towels and linens. You’re proud of yourself that you have your act together even though you can’t be at home to greet your guests.

The weekend flows beautifully and all have a great time. After you bid good-bye to your guests you decide to get a head start on the cleaning and go into the guest room to remove the linen and towels to get them into the washer and dryer. As you are stripping the beds you notice some black particles on the windowsill in the guest room. As you swipe your windowsills you decide to check on the furniture. To your dismay and embarrassment there is a disturbing layer of dust. The question is, how long has it been there? Could it be that between Friday and Sunday there could be such a big accumulation of dust particles? Or was your housekeeper negligent in her routine cleaning?

It’s not pleasant to get a “dusting” of humility at some point but when we become too complacent and confident it’s bound to happen. It could be with a recipe that you are so proud and sure of but you forgot the salt or a guest room that was not properly in order. There was no going back to Friday to check out the details and cleanliness of the guest room only to go forward in the future to make sure to tell your housekeeper to dust thoroughly.

Truthfully, if the guests did notice the dust, it probably in some way made them feel more comfortable that you were not the perfect housekeeper since neither are they. Accidents are bound to happen, and a few extra particles of dust are a small price to pay. Those extra dust particles are certainly an improvement over a stuffed toilet or flooded bathroom.

The question remains, why all the dust? Some folks still believe in airing out the home on a regular basis by opening the windows to let the fresh air in. But we all are aware that although the outdoor air is healthy the outdoor air quality in most cities leaves much to be desired. A homeowner who insists on this method of freshening up the indoor air by bringing in outdoor air must be prepared for additional dust from different contaminates from the outside. It could be a construction spot near the house, simple pollen, or soot from something burning which is what the above hostess must have experienced.

Outdoor air dust makes sense if the homeowner tends to keep the windows open. Yes, stale air will leave the house, but contaminated air will enter. A knowledgeable homeowner is aware of this and will compensate by using an air purifier or having their HVAC ducts cleaned regularly.

What is more puzzling is why a home that is almost hermetically sealed should have such an abundance of dust. In the summer, the central air keeps the home cool by not opening windows and in the winter, the heat is on so no one is interested in opening the windows especially in very cold climates. In modern day homes it is unusual to get most of the dust from the outside; so, what is causing indoor dust and inferior indoor air quality?

Surprisingly dust is often personal and here are some examples of what this means:

1: Hair – Have you ever found a hair in your food? This is proof that no matter how thick and luxurious your hair is it sheds regularly. Just because you comb and brush it often and remove the hair from the shower regularly doesn’t mean that you don’t unknowingly shed hair at other places in the home. When a loose piece of hair comes off your head without you knowing about it it breaks down into small pieces and those particles become smaller and smaller until they become one of the ingredients of simple household dust. Smaller hairs from eyelashes and eyebrows become dust faster since they take less time to shrink. Add hair mousse or gels and you will get clumps of dust held together.

2: Skin Flaking – Like snakes who shed their skin a few times a year, humans shed their skin. But we shed our skin every single day and after about a month all our skin is replaced by new skin so lots of skin flakes will be accumulating around the house. Where do these skin flakes go? They go onto our pillows and linen first but when these are shaken or moved around the skin flakes can land right on the furniture to be combined with other dust particles already there.

3: Fabric Softeners – We have written in the past how fabric softeners can be harmful to your clothes dryer and even more than that those fabric softeners actually put a coating on fabric fibers which is only temporary. When the fabric softener eventually falls off the fabric it turns into simple dust.

4: Pets – Anyone who has a furry pet, a dog or cat for example, believes that they are being quite thorough in making sure to remove any pet hair that they see accumulating. Pets innately know how to self-groom but when they clean themselves their saliva sticks to their fur. When the saliva dries it becomes dust uniting with all the various types of specks around it. Cats particularly have very sticky saliva and if a cat owner only visits your home they are bound to leave some cat dander in your home. A trip to the vet regularly can reduce the pollen and dust your pet brings in from the outdoors. Even if you are not a pet owner but have acquaintances who are there is a pretty good chance that pet dander will be added to your dust’s contents.

Even if your home is hermetically sealed when you take your dog for a walk his fur will catch mold spores and pollen from outdoors.

Let’s go on to the less personal and more commonly known causes and solutions to dust in the home.

1: Clogged air ducts – Poor airflow from your HVAC system causes both dust and dust mites to locate long term in various areas of the home. Consider installing ceiling fans to keep air circulating. Other solutions are changing the filters more frequently and calling in a HVAC specialist to check your system.

2: Carpets – Folks enjoy rugs in their home for physical warmth and a homey feeling as well. Today, many folks are removing their carpets and opting for a variety of practical flooring such as wood or vinyl. Allergens love snuggling in the carpet fibers in your home. If you are a renter, you will most likely not be able to remove the wall to wall carpeting that is presently decorating your home. The best option is to call in a carpet cleaner regularly and to vacuum often.

3: Beds, pillows and upholstered couches are havens for dust mites – Any fabric in couches and curtains are hideouts for dust bugs. A good idea is to buy a special mattress, and pillow covers that have been treated against dust mites. If looking to purchase a new couch, leather or vinyl is the way to go. It may not be as soothing as fabric, but you will live a healthier life and breathe much easier.

4: Vacuum and Dust Often – As the story at the start of this article showed, it is important to dust regularly to prevent dust buildup and dust mites from mixing into the dust particles. Practical carpeting does not always show what’s going on regarding dust, so it is imperative to vacuum thoroughly and often. Standard vacuums are not always able to get under beds and couches. Unless you move the beds and couches to get under them the dust will accumulate. A great idea is to purchase a robot vacuum cleaner especially if you have pets.

A robot vacuum gets to the edges of the carpet where a standard vacuum will not fit. Also, it easily goes under beds and couches as long as they are high enough for the robot vacuum to fit. If you find the robot cleaner getting stuck under your bed or couch a simple solution is to purchase inexpensive discs that add a bit of height to the object. Sometimes all the robot vacuum needs is a half an inch and that could be the difference between a robot vacuum getting stuck and being free to clean thoroughly under the beds and couches.

Final Words

There is nothing as pleasant as a dust free home. This seems like an impossible undertaking yet with the right tools you can come close. Dust mites cause allergies and there are various ways to limit the amount of dust in the home. We hope the above suggestions will help homeowners keep their home healthy and clean. The air quality of the home is the most important part of the upkeep of the home. Of course, you should always have a reliable professional come regularly to check on the airflow of your HVAC system and change the filters often especially if you have pets.