House Dusting: Trials and Errors of Cleaning

In my few years of actually getting a little irked at dusting, and dust in general, I've fought with what has worked and what hasn't worked at all. Well, I shouldn't say hasn't worked at all because then I'd be fibbing. All ways of dusting work but there are some that just work better than others. For instance, leaving the dust to sit there on its own and hoping that little cleaning fairies would come to sweep it up to turn it into fairy dust won't happen. I'm sorry friends, but it doesn't work that way; even though it would be nice.

Anyway, before we go into dusting we should see what dust really is and what it's made of. You may find it gross but the truth is most of the dust we find around our home is left over from us and our pets. Yes people, dust is the dead skin we lose everyday. Don't freak though, dust is natural. Always has been here and will continue far after we're gone. And don't worry; old skin doesn't make up all of dust, just parts of it. We have specks of real dirt mixed in with the stuff we and our pets shed.

There is one thing to worry about dust though. Dust can carry dust mites. Dust mites are itty bitty little buggies that feed off the dead skin we drop everyday. They can be hidden in carpets, lay on any surface, or even hang in the air. Again, don't worry. Dust mites are basically harmless. They may irritate someone's allergies but other than that they don't do much.

And dust bunnies? What are dust bunnies? Well, they are in no way related to live bunnies and in cleaning those up you are doing no harm. No, dust bunnies are collections of hair and fuzz that trap the dust in the surrounding area. Depending on the area of where you live dust bunnies can range from greys to a rainbow of colors. Not that you care, you just want to get rid of them.

Anyway, dusting can reduce the population of these little beasties though, along with an air purifier. But don't rely on just the air purifier. You have to battle your way to cleanliness by doing a little hard work. The hard work though has been cut down drastically by the man made inventions of today used for cleaning.

Now, let's start with the ways of dusting that doesn't work so well; dusting with an old cloth for instance. It's an old favorite of our mothers and their mothers, but it's just not practical enough for today's world. These cloths just push the dust around the surface you're trying to clean. It doesn't pick up the dust and trap it so it can't be dispersed back into the air again only to settle back onto the surface you just cleaned.

The next deals with the faithful rag plus a dusting/polishing agent, like Pledge or something to that effect. These cleaners are great and combined with the plain old rag is just a tiny step up from just the rag. The cleaners help trap the dust while leaving a beautiful finish to the surface you cleaned. And no, I'm not trying to promote the product. This way may be better but it's still not the best way to dust because if you build up too much cleaner on the rag it won't pick up the dust as it did with the first swipe.

Another way of cleaning that doesn't work well is the feather duster. A great concept and they can seem elegant but what you don't know is that these may cause more dust than they get rid off. The feather dusters of old were made of feathers, hence the name. And just like human hair and skin, feathers shed, leaving behind little pieces of them behind. Not only do they shed they only push the dust around, just like the dust rag. Yes, stay away from feather dusters or anything related to it.

A few years ago we came up with the wonderful concept of a dust mop. The concept was good but the use of one is as good as having a child slide across the floor on their bottom. Then stand up only to dust themselves off. They may trap a good amount of dust, but one good shake is all that takes to send the dust flying again and falling right back onto the floor. Let's post this method with the dust rag.

Now, in just recent years our society has come out with little dusting wands that trap the dust within their fibers. These are amazing tools for dusting. They're small and soft enough to sweep through a collection of figurines and not harm a one. They do trap the dust with deadly ruthlessness that should be shown to dust. Combine these little tools with a cleaner and its power doubles. And a good thing about these tools is that once your done with the fiberous part of the wand, you can throw that part away easily. No chance of putting the dust back on the surface! This way of dusting is high on the list of good ways to dust.

Another good way to dust is with a microfiber cloth. Now I know that I said before dust cloths/rags aren't very good but a microfiber cloth actually traps the dust. Get the cloth a little damp with water and watch the dust disappear as you wipe it away. Unfortunately yes, you have to clean it sometime but that's easy if you wash it and wring it out. It's good to be used again! And here's a tip with the microfiber cloths. If you dampen it just a little and wipe at cat or dog hair on your clothes or furniture, the hair just rolls off. It becomes something close to a dust bunny, but these you can be rid of swiftly. So these cloths are versatile and useful. If you look hard enough they are really cheep to get too!

I may have left a few dusting methods out but these are the top ones that many know of. A list of methods that work not so well, to methods that do work well. I've tried each personally and can say, if you follow the advice about each, your dusting time will be cut down and your home will be a lot healthier. I hope that I have helped out, though against the battle of dusting. For dusting is only half the battle.