You're not sure why, but your entire house
looks a little... dreary. It's not the weather, and it's not the décor,
but you can't put your finger on the source. Well, take that finger and
run it over your banister, because chances are, you've got a dust
problem. Where do you start, you ask? Well, there are some basic rules
to dusting that most homeowners don't know. Let's run through them
quickly so you can get straight to brightening up your home.
- Wash your stuff. Any throw pillows, blankets, stuffed animals and curtains that you have out, toss them in the dryer on the "air fluff" cycle for 15 minutes. This banishes dust. If you're worried about dust mites, then wash and dry these things on heat with the water set to at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Toss the feather duster. While it's cute and probably still sold in hardware stores everywhere, feather dusters are more like dust movers. Rather than picking anything up, feather dusters just spread everything around, doing little to no cleaning and only stirring up grime for you to breathe in later.
- Use what you have. Before you go buying any new tools just for dusting, look at what you have at home. A clean white sock, for example (whose mate you may have lost somewhere between the dryer and your dresser) is perfect for wiping closed mini blinds. Rubber gloves can sweep up pet hair from upholstery when wet, saving you a lot of vacuum time. A clean paintbrush will effortlessly dust pleated lampshades, wooden chairs, railings and picture frames. For books, knickknacks and plants, a blow dryer on its "cool" setting will do the trick, too.
- Get it wet. While your grandmother may disagree, damp cloths will always do a better job at dusting than dry ones will. A slightly moist cloth attracts and traps dust, while a dry one simply pushes it around. In fact, because dust particles are abrasive, the dry rubbing can actually scratch furniture over time. You can use water on anything, even wood, with the sole exception of electronics.
- Spray the cloth. Never directly spray your furniture with polishing product; always stick to the cloth. If you spritz directly onto a surface, then you're likely to overuse it, requiring extra buffing and extra money to buy more polish. In fact, if you fail to remove all the product from your furniture, then the smeary residue can attract even more dust.
- Dust first. Old-fashioned vacuums kicked up grit and dust particles, so people thought that they should vacuum before dusting. Today's technology, however, allows us to do otherwise. Dust obeys gravity like everything else, so start by wiping the highest surfaces in a room. Let the dust settle, and slowly work your way downward. Once the dusting is complete, go ahead and vacuum the floor.
- Uphold your upholstery. Furniture, particularly couches and lounge chairs, are huge breeding grounds for dust mites. To help prevent this problem, use your vacuum's fabric attachment to clean all sides of all cushions, as well as the platforms underneath them. To keep most dust away - potentially 60 percent of it, in fact - tell everyone to leave their footwear in the entryway. Most of those dust particles are tracked in from outside.