Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert and advice columnist. She'll be here every week helping to answer your filthiest questions, and once a month she'll help Esquire staffers sort out their most vexing cleaning issues. Are you dirty? Email her. Are you still dirty? Subscribe to Ask a Clean Person: The Podcast on Acast, iTunes, or Stitcher, and like Ask a Clean Person on Facebook.
I would like to know the best ways to avoid a dusty apartment, other than regularly dusting. I think we've talked about this … — Ben Boskovich, Social Media Editor
Ben is absolutely right, we have talked about dust—it came up one day in the office, which I mention so that I can say this: Dust is not a particularly interesting subject, on its surface, when considered alongside the sexier topics, like vomit or green beer spills (or, I guess, green beer vomit) that I'm tasked with addressing in this column, and so I tend to set it aside in favor of more attention-grabbing queries. And yet! It's a thing that comes up over and over and over again in the questions I'm asked by my readers and my colleagues and friends. And so today we shall consider the matter of dust.
What Even Is Dust?
With apologies in advance to those of you who are a touch squeamish for the very gross way that I like to describe dust: You can think of it as dandruff for your home.
Told you it was gross.
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Dust originates from two primary sources, internal and external. Internally, you're creating dust all the time—your skin, your hair, the dander of your pets and children and houseguests, that's all dust. And from outside the house, all manner of grit and grime and foreign matter enters and makes a mess of things.
Reducing Dust in the Home
Truth be told, there's no way to avoid a dusty home completely, and the best way to manage the situation is regular cleaning. Wait, wait, stick with me! I know that many of you are going to be like, "Naw, lady, that's not gonna happen." No problem, I've got help for you too, just hang tight for a sec.
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Because the origin of dust is both external and internal, eradicating it completely can't happen unless you eliminate yourself, what with all your dander and suchlike, from your home. But we can address the external dust that makes its way into the home, by checking points of entry. Sealing windows and doors is a very good way to reduce the accumulation of dust; another entry point is through vent openings, which should be closed and/or sealed when not in use.
Another incredibly simple point-of-entry dust management technique is to put down bristle-y doormats, which will trap dirt and grit before you track it into the home. An air purifier can also help to trap airborne dust. Got pets? Keep them well-groomed to reduce the impact their hair and dander has on the interior of the home.
Dealing with Dust: Regular Cleaning vs. Seasonal Deep Cleaning
Most people will fall into one of two categories, vis-a-vis dust management: One group of people will see dust forming as it happens, and will be driven to distraction by the thin patina of particles. The other group doesn't view dust as that big of an issue, if they even view it at all. That is to say that some people see dust and others don't.
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I promised the not-dust-seeing people I had help for them, so let's start with it and get them out of here: If you're a person who isn't much fussed over the accumulation of dust, it's only going to be a thing you deal with once quite a bit of it has amassed. Which means your dusting will take the form of seasonal deep cleaning. If you're wondering if this column is being published at the beginning of April for a reason, it is—this is, essentially, our nod to Spring Cleaning. Here's what you're going to do:
A note on dusting sprays: Some people are devoted to dusting sprays like Pledge or Endust. That is fine! If the use of those products, and the resulting smell, feels like clean to you, keep on with them. Just know that Pledge, in particular, contains silicone that can leave build-up over time and that, in general, the use of dusting sprays isn't necessary.
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Okay, where are my vigilant dusters at? Ah there you are, my people. When it comes to regular dusting, I want to strongly recommend you get yourself a feather duster, which makes short work of keeping knickknack-laden surfaces—and the knickknacks themselves — dust-free. Depending on your setup, you may want to use a feather duster/dusting cloth combo; those clothes make it so ridiculously easy to give empty surfaces a going over to remove dust accumulation.
Now, at some point you'll still want to do a deep cleaning in which you remove all your things from the spot that you've been feather dusting and give everything a more thorough going over, but for weekly-ish cleaning? Feather dusters are the jam. Also? Delightfully retro and slightly ridiculous, which also makes them fun. Are you in need of a specialty duster? If you need to dust it, there's probably a specialty duster designed for exactly that purpose, and a brand called Casabella probably makes it.
If you are going to incorporate regular dusting into your cleaning routine, this rule is important enough to repeat: The nature of gravity being what it is, dust first, vacuum second.
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