How to Get Rid of Dust at Home 

Regular dusting is essential to both prolong the life of your furniture and to remove allergens. Your home will also look more appealing without a thick layer of dust coating your surfaces. Plus, your indoor air quality will be greatly improved.

What is the best thing to use for dusting?

First things first, let’s look into dusting tools:

• You want a cloth with fuzz or nap because dust adheres best to these. 
• A clean, washable cloth of soft cotton, like a well-worn dish towel, a piece of flannel, cheesecloth, or chamois are all excellent choices for dusting. 
• Microfiber is also a good choice. 

No matter what you choose, make sure the cloth contains nothing to abrade or scratch furniture surfaces such as buttons, zippers, snaps, thick seams, thick buttonholes, or in the case of microfiber, nothing embedded in the fibers from a previous job. 

It’s best to keep cloths explicitly dedicated to dusting and not used for anything else. Don’t use materials that lint. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when dusting lacquered furniture as lacquered wood scratches easily.

Should you dust with a damp cloth?

We at Castle Keepers find dusting with a plain, slightly damp microfiber cloth the best way to remove dust from the home, much superior to dusting with oils or sprays. “Damp dusting” is also much easier than dry dusting and more effective because it catches more dust. 

Dampen your choice of cloth lightly with water. Ring it tightly until almost dry. Never get wood wet. The cloth should only be slightly damp, just enough to pick up the dust and keep it in the cloth but not wet enough to leave streaks of dissolved dirt. If the furniture you want to clean has a rough surface, old paint, or splinters, try brushing with a soft artist’s brush to avoid any danger that a dusting cloth will snag. Do not use a stiff-bristled brush.

Should you use a dusting aid?

If you prefer to use a dusting aid, a little goes a long way. Use just a drop of lemon oil or mineral oil on a dust cloth. Because oils leave a film, do not use oilcloths on the glass, china, etc., that may be dulled or smeared. Never use a treated or oiled cloth on paintings or other works of art or their frames. If you overdo it, oily films can also attract dust and hold it on furniture surfaces. Pick a dusting aid and stick with it – using a dusting oil over a silicone-based spray, or vice versa can leave streaks that take forever to buff out.

What is the best way to clean dust?

This is the best damp dusting procedure:

• Use gentle, oval motions along the grain of the wood, with slight downward pressure to wipe off the dust. 
• Turn or fold the cloth over as soon as the used portion of its surface shows an accumulation of dirt. 
• Keep an ample supply of cloths on hand to change as soon as you no longer have a clean part of the cloth to use. 
• Use only a fresh cloth to dust especially valuable, cherished, or antique items. 
• Lift, do not slide objects such as lamps and knickknacks to dust under and around them.
• Avoid soiling upholstered surfaces adjoining wood furniture. 
• Use a soft brush to get the dust off clawed furniture, and out of grooves, curlicues, scrolling, carvings, and cracks. 
• Wash soiled dust cloths or other washable dusting tools after each use.

Some people swear by real ostrich feather dusters, but we haven’t had much luck with them. Damp dusting with a soft cloth or microfiber is much more efficient. Also, if a feather should break while you are dusting the sharp edge of the quill might scratch wood surfaces.

Never use a damp cloth on gilding or gold leaf on picture frames or furniture. These items should only be cleaned by a professional.

If you’d like to learn more pro cleaning advice, check out how to use vodka in your cleaning routine and what you can sanitize with rubbing alcohol. 

Why leave your cleaning to Castle Keepers 

Castle Keepers House Cleaning is independently owned, not a franchise, with branches in Atlanta, GA, Charleston, SC, Greenville, SC. Whether you need trained specialists to remove cat urine odors from your house, expertly scrub your hard floors, or eliminate staining from your toilet bowl, we’ll be there. To schedule your cleaning service, contact us today via phone or request a free estimate online. Let us do the cleaning – you do the relaxing!

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