20 Tips for Dealing with Dust for People Who Hate Dusting

I don’t know about you but I hate to dust. In fact, I don’t do it nearly as often as I probably should which I’m a little bit ashamed to admit but it’s true nonetheless. Luckily, I’ve learned quite a few tricks over the years for minimizing dust, hiding dust and dealing with dust efficiently. Hopefully some of these tips will help you out with your dust problems, too.

1.     Be smart with your vacuum. If you use a vacuum then invest in a good one. Replace the bag when it’s one-half to three-quarters full. This keeps the vacuum efficient so that it’s sucking up dust instead of spewing it out.

2.     Brush your hair in the bathroom. Have you ever noticed how much of the dirt in your house is actually human hair? By washing it regularly and doing all of your brushing of it in the bathroom, you can confine a lot of that dust to one room where it’s easy to sweep it up.

3.     Change your air filters. This chore is one that a lot of us skip but if you do then you’re making more work for yourself. A good air filter in your heater and air conditioner will take care of dust for you so that you don’t have to. You may even want to invest in fancier air filters, like HEPA air filters, to really get the job done well.

4.     Consider leather for your furniture. It’s not only stylish but it’s also a lot less likely to attract dust and it’s going to be a lot easier to clean when it does get dusty. This is a particularly good choice in rooms you don’t use a lot; why frequently clean furniture that rarely gets used? Modern materials that are designed to be dust-free (like some types of microfiber) are another option for furniture.

5.     Get rid of your carpet. Yes it feels nice but it’s the biggest collector of dust in your house. Trade it out for something that’s easier to free of dust, like tile. You can always lay down small rugs that can be thrown in the wash to get the dust off of them, allowing you to still have that warm feeling in your home without all of that dust to go along with it.

6.     Get rid of your collections. If you have a ton of STUFF in your house then what you have is a bunch of areas to collect dust. You have to wash the individual items free of dust on a regular basis. Give up those collections and you’ll get rid of a lot of dust. If you must keep collections, put them in glass-enclosed cabinets so you can still see them but only have to dust the cabinet regularly rather than the whole collection.

7.     Hire professional cleaners once or twice a year. Have them do the things that you never want to do like dusting the windowsills or moving the furniture to dust underneath it. It costs a little bit of money but it’s better than putting off this chore forever.

8.     Keep live plants in your house. Many different types of plants actually help to keep the air in your home clean. Ask at your local nursery to find the right plants for your home. And make sure that they’re living; fake plants are dust collectors.

9.     Keep pets clean. It’s tough to keep your pets clean but it’s going to reduce a lot of indoor dust if you do. Put a mat outside the door so the dirt gets sucked off of their paws before they come into the house. Go to the groomer regularly. Brush your pets.

10.Keep the windows shut. It’s nice to have the windows open to let fresh air into your home. Unfortunately, it also means that dust comes into the house through your windows. Keep the windows shut and less dust will come in. Pay attention to the level of pollutants in the air using an online weather checker; on gross days you want to keep the windows closed.

11. Know what you’re burning. Anything that you burn in your home is going to create some dust. If you love candles, incense or your fireplace then you’re going to have to deal with some dust. However, there are some tips that make it less dusty – like using clean-burning hardwoods in the fireplace and snuffing out candles instead of blowing them out.

12.Landscape your yard. If you have a bunch of dirt in your yard then that dirt is inevitably going to get tracked into your home. Grass and plants will keep that dirt in the yard where it’s supposed to be!

13.Look at what’s near your vents. Heating and air conditioning vents blow air out around them. If anything is near the vent that’s dusty (like a cat’s litter box or a bookcase you never get around to dusting often enough) then it’s all going to get blown into the rest of your home.

14.Make a regular schedule for dusting. If you know that you’re going to do it for five minutes each morning or for half a day once a month then you’ll just do it and it won’t be this big chore always lingering over you.

15.Quit smoking. And don’t let anyone else smoke in or around your house either. Smoke particles gather up in your home and create dust that just doesn’t need to be there.

16.Try out different products until you find what works for you. There are many different products on the market, including gadgets and cleaning solutions, that you can use to keep dust away. Try them until you find what works best for you.

17.Use curtains instead of blinds and keep them simple. You can take simple curtains down, throw them in the wash and be done with their dust.

18.Use matte paints instead of glossy paints. They’re more dust friendly. And choose smart colors; using grey and cream colors will let the dust that is there blend in better so you notice it less.

19.Use weather stripping. A surprising amount of dust comes in through your doors and windows. Caulk them and weather strip them and less dust will come in. This also means less heating and air escape so you’ll get the benefit of lower electricity bills too.

20.Wax the wood in your home. It’s a lot easier to clean dust off of wooden surfaces if they are properly buffed and waxed. You only need to do this a couple of times each year and it makes a whole lot easier to clean up dust all year long.