You know the feeling. You look across the room and see that dust has accumulated yet again on your living room end tables, TV stand, mantle, etc. Didn’t you just take care of that? No one likes having a dusty home and it is true that it seems to settle and build up nearly as fast as you remove it. Grace Home Cleaning is happy to take care of the routine of regular dusting for you. In our line of work, we have found a few places in the home that seem to be virtual magnets for that annoying dust. We have also uncovered some tips that work best when trying to keep your home dust free.

Forget the lemon-fresh spray.

Although the wood and furniture dust solutions in a can smell great and may seem to help during the activity of dusting, the truth is they are just setting up a sticky residue where dust can accumulate all the faster next time. The best tools for dusting are a microfiber cloth and a little water to help attract the dust to the cloth.

Vacuums aren’t just for carpet cleaning.

You can invest a lot in products and tools designed to help you dust but few are more effective than your vacuum. Using your vacuum’s onboard tools, you can suction dust from couches and chair upholstery, reach above-head to remove cobwebs from ceilings or ceiling fans and access narrow places (like under your refrigerator or stove) to eliminate the dust that is naturally attracted to those hard-to-reach areas. While we are talking carpets, they can also attract more dust than you can imagine and should be the focus of weekly vacuuming to rid your home of dust that settles, then becomes kicked up again as people or pets walk across it. A recurring cleaning service, like that offered by Grace Home Cleaning, can help keep dust at bay by simply giving carpets regular attention. Smaller throw rugs that can’t be shaken and washed in a machine should be taken outside, hung on a fence or clothesline and beaten to remove dust hiding within the fibers. Many homes with allergy-prone members opt to remove wall-to-wall carpeting altogether in favor of hardwood or laminate flooring. Dust is the culprit and one of its favorite hiding places to hide is the carpet.

Knickknacks and clutter.

If you are a collector of things, you are also a collector of dust. If you aren’t fond of dust, try to eliminate as much “stuff” and clutter from your home as possible. Not only does it make the job of dusting much quicker, it also doesn’t provide the surfaces where dust can become trapped in the first place. If you do have collections, like glass figurines or cases full of books, weekly dusting around those items is still needed, while more extensive dusting (as in removing items, hand-washing or wiping each of them down and replacing them to the shelf) can be done once or twice per year.

Pets in the home will equal more dust.

Our furry companions are the culprit for more than the average amount of dust that impacts our living spaces. But, this can easily be managed with routine weekly cleaning and extra attention to those areas where fur and dust like to hide. Baseboards accumulate an incredible amount of dust especially when there are pets around and you might be surprised to see how much dog or cat hair rests on these areas in your home. A regular vacuuming of all baseboards is a good way to keep this under control. For more extensive baseboard cleaning, warm, soapy water and a soft brush are excellent tools to achieve a deep clean. Don’t forget the top of your refrigerator. Pets or not, dust loves to hide there.

Air vents and ducts.

Remember when we said that dust seems to just reappear almost as quickly as you removed it? This is almost always the result of the dust within your home accumulating in your air vents. You can do regular maintenance by removing the air vent covers, vacuuming inside of the areas where you can reach, then using a soft cloth and soapy water to wipe down the vents themselves. Long-term, investing in professional duct cleaning for your home could be the best solution to eliminating dust that recirculates from within your home heating or air conditioning system. The best way to keep dust at bay is to keep a regular cleaning schedule. We know that not everyone has the time to spend giving home surfaces this kind of attention. You don’t have to settle for living in a dusty environment! Let Grace Home Cleaning help keep your home clean and dust-free with a regularly scheduled cleaning appointment. And, if it has gotten out of hand, we also offer deep cleaning services. Call us at 402-769-0774.