We all have areas in the home to clean every day or as part of our weekly checklist, and it’s safe to say that dusting should be one of those tasks that’s completed every week. Though dusting is needed to keep our tables and shelves fresh, there’s a lot of health benefits that come into play with this cleaning chore you may be overlooking.
Why Dusting Is Important
“Dusting is vitally important for every home,” says Amanda, a cleaning professional at Molly Maids in North Carolina. “Not only does it control the dust build up in the home, but it helps those who may have asthma, allergies, or COPD and other health concerns. Not to mention, it affects your HVAC system.”
Amanda is home cleaning professional with Molly Maids in Lewisville, North Carolina.
Since we don’t want to think about replacing an HVAC unit or breathing in harmful air, we asked Amanda for her professional tips on how often we should dust the home, and the proper way to do it.
How Often To Dust Your Home
“Ideally, you should try to dust at least once every week,” says Amanda. “For me personally, it’s something that I try to do every week, but I’ve found that if you can dust your home once every other week at best, you’ll keep your home maintained.”
Though Amanda says dusting every week or every other week is the general rule of thumb, she cautions that your dusting schedule really depends on your home’s lifestyle and who all lives inside. For homes that have shedding dogs or animals, Amanda says you might need to dust once a week or more to clean up the pet hair and dandruff.
On top of dusting every week for homes that do have pets in the house, Amanda informs us that homeowners should be switching out your air vents frequently as they correlate to the amount of dust build up your home will see. “Dust can definitely affect your HVAC system, so you should constantly change out your filter at least once every month if you have pets, or every three months.”
Tips For Properly Dusting Your Home
- Use the right cleaners. If you thought dusting was a simple swipe to the left and right on your end tables and coffee tables, think again. When we asked Amanda what her best tips were for proper dusting, emphasized the importance of starting with the right cleaners. “I would not recommend dusting spray. There are sprays that aren’t environmentally friendly, plus, you have some polish products with a lot of oil that will leave marks and residue on your furniture. It can also leave the floor slippery and cause you to fall.”
Instead of going with a dusting spray, Amanda recommends Windex or a damp rag to wipe the areas first before going back over with a dry rag. We recommend using microfiber cloths for their soft properties that won’t scratch or leave lint behind and for their absorbent properties that easily collect dust.
What Areas You Should Dust
- Main living areas: When it comes to exact areas you should dust in your home, Amanda emphasizes the importance of finding a system that works for you, your schedule, and the areas that collect dust the most (including houseplants). “You want to start with your top surfaces and work down, going left to right. Do your main area tables, nightstands, and entertainment centers once every two weeks in your bedrooms and living rooms.”
- Baseboards: Apart from your tables, entertainment centers, shelves, and decorative accents, another area Amanda says should be dusted is your baseboards. “I’ll alternate between dusting my baseboards one week and then my tops and surfaces the next.” The baseboards is often an overlooked area of the home that aren’t dusted frequently but play a major role in improving the air quality in your home.