Dust is made up of tiny particles of lint, dander, pollen, textile fibers, paper particles, and ash. Every building has a unique mixture of dust contents, and while that might be interesting, too much dust can be a real problem. No one is fascinated when the dust layers everything, or hangs in the air causing breathing problems. If your home or office are unreasonably dusty, the good news is that this problem is easy to fix.

With a few routine maintenance tasks, you can significantly reduce the amount of dust floating around in your air and settling onto your items. All it takes is some thoughtful planning and dedication to a dust-defeating cleaning routine. Here’s how to reduce dust in the home and at the office:

Change the Air Filters

First and foremost, make sure your air filters are clean and correct. Air filters, particularly those used by your HVAC system, are the building’s primary way to pull dust out of the air. Filters are placed at the air intake to prevent dust from getting into the AC or furnace, so when air is pulled into the intake, dust is removed before it comes through the air ducts. But if your filters are not changed regularly, they become clogged and can’t filter out any more dust. So the dust remains.

Use the correct air filters for your HVAC system, and consider upgrading your filter quality to remove even more dust per filter. Then be sure to change out your air filters on schedule.

Clean the Air Ducts

If dusty air appears to be coming out of your air ducts, this is bad news for the ducts. It means that too much dust has already gotten into your HVAC system. Dust has built up inside the vents and is re-added to the air when it blows by. This often happens when an HVAC filter is left in too long (or removed and not replaced) so that dust gets into the system.

If your ducts are dusty, you’ll need to hire an air duct cleaning service. Fortunately, this is the kind of service only needed once, and only in situations where ducts have been allowed to get dusty.

Dust from Top to Bottom

When you clean the home or office, dust surfaces from top to bottom, then vacuum. This is a gravity-efficient way to clean that prevents dust from re-settling on your already clean surfaces. Dust top shelves first, then eye-level and shoulder-height shelves, then desks and counters, then everything below waist-level. This way, the dust will fall down from a clean surface onto surfaces you’ll clean next. When you’re done, there will be dust in the air (that the HVAC will deal with) and clean surfaces from top to bottom.

Vacuum Regularly

Hoovering is essential for dust control, even on hard floors. Vacuums pull dust out of carpets and upholstery, and they pick up dust off hard surfaces without throwing it around the way a broom does. As time passes, dust settles onto surfaces and can be vacuumed up to remove it from the home or office before it can puff back into the air.

The best way to hoover for dust removal is regularly and methodically. Hoover at least once a week, covering every inch of carpet and upholstery. Then use an attachment to edge, sucking up gutters of dust near the baseboards all the way around each room and in the crevices of soft furniture where dust tends to hide.

Wash Window Treatments

Window treatments, both cloth curtains and plastic/wood blinds, collect a lot of dust. A. Lot. In fact, window treatments are one of the premier places where dust hides and re-enters the air when the curtains or blinds are disturbed. If you want to remove dust from the home or office, it’s absolutely necessary to wash the window treatments.

For curtains, you can hoover them like upholstery (best for heavy curtains) or you can launder them. For plastic or wood curtains, hoover first with an attachment, then wipe down with a damp cloth to get packed-on dust. Do this once a month for dust-reduction and twice a year for dust-control.

Place Air Purifiers

Finally, for really getting rid of dust, place a few air purifiers. Air purifiers are air filters that you can place at various points in the building. They will work faster and more locally than your HVAC, which only filters air that cycles through the intake point. Air purifiers will filter air where the dust is at its worst, removing that dust from circulation. Air purifiers are great for removing dust quickly, especially after a cleaning wave that has released a lot of once-hidden dust into the air.

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When cleaning up dust from a dusty building, remember that it gets briefly worse before it gets better. When cleaning, dust is released into the air by disturbing the dusty curtains, furniture, and carpets where dust settles and hides. It will take a few weeks of all the right measures to completely transform your home or office from a dusty place into a place with clear air and clean surfaces. For more helpful cleaning insights, contact us today!