5 Home Cleaning Mistakes That Make You Dust More Often

Nobody likes cleaning. So you definitely don’t want to clean more than you have to, right?

Then you’ll want to avoid these 5 cleaning mistakes...

“It’s just dusting,” you may be thinking, “Why do I need a plan?” Well, if you don’t attack dusting systematically, you may actually end up ruining the work you just did.

For example, let’s say you dust an entire room and then realize you missed the ceiling fan. When you dust the fan you’ll likely drop dust on all your freshly cleaned furniture!

To avoid those types of problems, follow these 2 guidelines when dusting:

This helps you work with gravity instead of against it. A typical order for dusting a room might be:

1. Dust the ceiling fan and light fixtures
2. Remove cobwebs from the corners of the room
3. Dust/vacuum the AC vents
4. Vacuum/clean the blinds and drapes
5. Clean anything on the wall: picture frames, light switches, etc.
6. Clean the doors and the casing around the door
7. Vacuum upholstered furniture and sofas
8. Dust remaining furniture like coffee tables, side tables, dressers, etc.
9. Clean baseboards/trim
10. Vacuum the carpets/clean the floor

Pick a direction—either clockwise or counter-clockwise—and stick with it. This will help you remember what you’ve already dusted.

Vacuums without a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter release dust back into your air through their exhaust. The dust can then settle on all of the furniture you just dusted!

A (HEPA) filter is more efficient because it catches more of the dust than a traditional filter. This helps make sure the dust you vacuum up stays in the vacuum itself and off your clean furniture.

Dry rags and feather dusters just move dust around.

When you dust, the goal is to actually pick up the dust and remove it from your home. That’s why it’s necessary to use something the dust sticks to. Slightly damp cloths and dusters specifically treated to attract dust work best.

Your couches and drapes hold lots of dust. And if they’re not cleaned, they release dust back into the air every time they’re used. The dust then lands on your other furniture, making them look dirty even after you’ve just cleaned.

Use the furniture attachments on your vacuum and make vacuuming your upholstery part of your regular cleaning routine.

You might be tempted to skip cleaning places people won’t see, like behind the TV and under your furniture. But a slight breeze in your home can then send that hidden dust into your home’s air, landing on your otherwise clean furniture.

If you’re a super cleaner and never make these mistakes yet are still noticing an excessive amount of dust in your home, you might have leaky air ducts. Ducts with leaks and holes let in dirt, dust and other debris from your attic. You need to seal them to keep the dust out.