topic Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From? in Home

Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

CrazyKittyLvr2 — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:30:49 GMT

I am so tired of dusting!! It is a losing battle. DH changes the filters on the furnance 2x a year. The windows have not been open much so far this year. I do have a cat but even she can't generate that much dust. I am going to buy stock in Swiffer and Pledge.

The worst is cleaning the blades on the ceiling fans. I have one of those long handled dust things but I want them clean and prefer to dust and then wipe them with a damp cloth. An adventure when neither of us old duffers have perfect balance, step stools are not our friends now. I will have to get DS to stop in and do the blades for us from now on.

Dusting, don't mind or hate it?

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

Eileen in Virginia — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:41:14 GMT

Dusting is a thankless task. I might dust once a month if I’m in a good mood. All of our friends, and most of our family, know I’ll never win an award for housekeeping. The food prep surfaces are clean. If we’re expecting guests, we go into red alert mode. If someone surprises us and comments on the dust, I’ll hand them the Swiffer.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

country gal — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:41:20 GMT

Absolutely HATE it. Joan Rivers line to explain her distain for dusting was "You dust, and 6 months later you have to do it again".

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

CrazyKittyLvr2 — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:46:53 GMT

I need a transfusion from my DH's niece, she loves to dust and to clean in general. Of all the things I love cleaning is not one of them. I love a clean house just not the process of getting one.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

SilleeMee — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:47:49 GMT

Most of my dust problems went away after I got a different vacuum cleaner. After each vacuuming, usually once weekly, I change out the foam filter and replace it with a clean one. The dirty one goes in the wash. I have 4 of those foam filters so I wash them all at once at the end of the month. I also wash the HEPA filter quarterly instead of yearly like they recommend....not soon enough imo.

I change my furnace filter quarterly with a dust/allergen reducing filter. That helps quite a bit during the winter months.

If you are using an ultrasonic humidifier, then you might see white dust accumulating on things in the room. So you might want to change to using distilled water instead of using water from your tap.

Also, be sure and check your clothes dryer exhaust hose and look for leaks coming into the house. That will cause a dusty house for sure.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

hayseed00 — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:53:47 GMT

@CrazyKittyLvr2 I think I have a magical dust fairy making all the dust at my house. I even switched to dust free cat litter, and we have hot water heat which is to make less dust(ha! ha!). I haven't been able to open the windows much yet because of the weather here, but I'm sure when I do more dust will blow in from outside, it just never ends. I vacuum every day because we have three cats, but the dust on my end tables and pretty much everything just keeps reproducing. I use Pledge and the dusting mitt from QVC, and they sure get a work out.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

hayseed00 — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:55:13 GMT

@country gal Love Joan's saying, glad you posted it !!!!

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

SilleeMee — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:56:37 GMT

If you live close to a construction zone...you might as well just get use to all of the dust and give in to dusting more often. That's just the way it is and it's been my experience in that kind of situation, unfortunately.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

Sweetbay magnolia — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:58:41 GMT

I got a Campanelli kit, with "special" dusters and the puppy fur towels. That would be the answer, I thought (I'm not fond of dusting).

It was, until the novelty wore off. I use them, and I dust, but only when it suits me or company is coming. So it's dusty. It just is.

I wash my furnace filters every month and try to keep the vac filters clean. That does help.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

shaggygirl — Wed, 01 May 2019 16:59:28 GMT

I change my furnace filter every six weeks with a 10 FPR rating filter and I could still dust every other day. I LOVE the Supercloth's (the European Cleaning Secret, so they claim) I got them from QVC originally but think I got the latest 3 pack from Amazon. Wet them, ring them out good and wipe away. Amazing what they pick up and they last a very long time. They feel quite like a shammy.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

bikerbabe — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:14:36 GMT

I live next to a large open field and I’m in Santa Ana wind country. Dust and it’s all back the next day. I no longer bother more than once a week.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

CrazyKittyLvr2 — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:21:44 GMT

I grew up with a Mother who kept a very clean house. However, my paternal grandmother was way beyond clean. You could do surgery on her dining room table and not worry about infection. The woman had Pledge in her veins. Very wood surface was polished to within an inch of it's life. I never saw even a tiny streak or smudge on any window or mirror. She had glass tops on her coffee table and end tables. Nada. You could bounce a quarter off her beds when she made them. I don't know what she did raising 3 kids, 2 of which were boys. Kids can be messy, she must have slept with a dust rag in her hand.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

Deb665 — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:32:09 GMT

I too hate dusting, and up until recently the furniture needed to be dusted DAILY! I’m not saying I dusted it daily, just that it needed to be!

Then I had a company come out and clean all the duct work, sanitize the air vents, and all the tiny holes and openings in the vent work were sealed. I had the drier vent cleaned while they were at it. This has made all the difference in the world! I can go a week to ten days before I start noticing the dust collect on the furniture. And my allergies have gotten better!

From what I’ve been told, even new houses can benefit from the vent cleaning. Our house is about 22 years old and to my knowledge had never had this done. We are very happy,

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

NickNack — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:32:58 GMT

I don't like to dust either. I do change the furnace filters every three months. I buy the Filtrete filters that recommend changing every three months. I think that would help you some. I can tell a difference when I change it.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

redwingsgal — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:38:23 GMT

Erma Bombeck once said, "light a candle, dust glistens in candlelight"

I live by that saying!!

I dust about once a month, and live with it until then. Otherwise one would go crazy!!

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

aroc3435 — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:40:35 GMT

@CrazyKittyLvr2 Frustrating, isnt it? When I was a teen I loved dusting and polishing furniture and silverplate. So I used to do that for my mom who worked outide the house full time.

Hated vacuuming but did it--learnng the hard way to dust and clean each room from the top down and then vacuum.

Fast forward to today. The home I rent now is all electric with central air on a residential, but fairly busy street. Dear significant other changes the air filter every three months, but often it has scarcely been dirty enough, but we change anyway because that is what the landlord requests.

This is the second time I've lived in a total electric home and there is much less dust to contend with. Also, there is no basement or attic.

The worst for producing dust was a city apartment (first floor of a two family) with forced hot air with a gas furnace in a dirt floored cellar where the heat came up from floor vents.

In that place I needed to dust daily or at least every other day to keep on top of it. I was working full time so I confess that I often neglected doing that taking a blind eye to the dust kitties.

In my current residence I try to dust once a week. But I've let it go longer than that and hardly have any junk clinging to the cloth so that thrills me and what dust there is is a very fine, powdery white dust, instead of gritty black or brown soot.

Unlike my dear daughter house cleaning is not "therapeutic" for me, just a necessity. I have to have a clean kitchen and bathroom and my mirrors and glass items, like framed photos and pictures, have to sparkle, so those I do frequently. And I dust the light bulbs, except the ceiling "pot lights" that can't be reached without a ladder.

I do the inside of the windows, on both floors, but haven't touched the outside, except for the first floor picture window and front and back door glass panels because I can reach them.

And I agree with you, have your dear son come over and do the ceiling fans when he has time. I'm certain he'd prefer to do that when he gets around to it rather than visiting you or your husband in the hospital with any bad injury such as--worst case--a broken hip or leg.

When you reach your sixties, as I have, it is time to use the hard won common sense we have and not risk getting hurt badly and instead enlisting help for things like this.

It is a never ending battle and the dust will outlive our "return" to it. Enjoy life fully and safely is my mantra.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

PINKdogWOOD — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:41:40 GMT

I HATE house work. I hate cleaning, been doing it (my & my 2 sibs) since we were, I don't even know, 7-8 years old. I'm of the gen who's mothers stayed at home, kept the house et al. When we girls could begin with making our beds, it's downhill from there! LOL Seriously though it's just the beginning of MANY YEARS worth.

Don't get me wrong, I do it because I like the clean results afterwrds.

I still hate it though. And yes I dust today, it's back tomorrw. Now with windows open more blows in. Oh well...

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

Twins Mom — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:44:29 GMT

Not fond of dusting and need to do more often. Filter changed routinely but I think much must come from carpeting and padding.
Microfiber cloths are fabulous.
I wonder if airduct cleaning would help. I hesitate because I don’t want more harm than good done.
I did notice after I wiped hall clock with orange cleaner a few weeks ago, dust not so quick to return. Maybe partially an issue of drier vs moisturized wood.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

JYWilliams — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:47:18 GMT

I always wondered the same thing. I can dust my glass tables and the next day they have dust again.

Re: Where In The Heck Does All Dust Come From?

Bri369 — Wed, 01 May 2019 17:49:15 GMT

I loathe dusting. I hate seeing dust, so I dust.

That's the #1 reason why I do not like little objects all over the place - it's because of the dusting. I dust rooms as they need them. It might be a couple of times a week.