How Often Should You Dust?

How often should you dust? If your answer is "more often than I do," welcome to the club. Dusting may not rank high on the list of exciting events, but it's one of those house cleaning duties we all need to do in order to reduce allergens, mites and a thick layer of dust on picture frames, tabletops and lamps. Some surfaces and rooms in your home need to be dusted more often than others. Everyone's house is different, but you can use this guide as a staring point to make your own cleaning schedule.

Daily: Floors

Dust and dirt should be swept away and out of your life daily. Entryways and high traffic areas can be swept with a broom or use a long-handled cordless sweeper which can handle both bare floorboards and rugs.

Weekly: Most Surfaces

A weekly dusting will help tame the nearly 40 annual pounds of dust that creeps into your home each year. Tabletops in the living room, bedroom dressers and mirrors and shelves with all their knickknacks should be dusted weekly. Remove everything from the shelves then clean them.Wipe down each item before you put it back. Consider removing some objects to cut down on clutter. The stairs and all of your electronics including TVs, sound equipment and computers should also be swept weekly.

Biweekly: Easy to Forget

Since not everything can be dusted weekly, you can dust light fixtures and ceiling fans biweekly. Also wipe down the top of baseboard heating, cooling vents or wood trim.

Monthly: Look Up High

Some surfaces in your home can handle a monthly dusting. The top of the refrigerator should be cleaned monthly, because if you let it go any longer you'll never face it. While you're up there, dust off the tops of cabinets, too. Small window fans should also be cleaned at least monthly.

Every Three Months: Display Case

If you have ceramics, trophies or framed photos behind the glass doors of a display case, you may be able to get away with dusting them every two to three months.

Every Six Months: Mattresses

First, you should be washing bed sheets and pillows in hot water once a week. The mattress itself should be flipped over and vacuumed to remove dust every six months. People with severe allergies may want to clean their mattresses more frequently and use dust mite proof bed covers according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency .