Dust is every homeowner’s sworn enemy. This little silent nemesis sneaks into your rooms despite how vigorously you clean them.
Besides being a nuisance and ruining your home’s aesthetics, it also causes respiratory issues and skin irritation and impacts air quality.
But don’t worry because we’ve gathered all the smart and effective strategies on how to prevent dust buildup and ensure a healthy home environment!
1. Begin with a cleaning routine
The best way how to prevent dust build-up in your rooms is to follow a regular cleaning schedule. Otherwise, the accumulated dust seeps deep into surface cracks, ridges, and fabric fibers. If you clean rarely, it becomes too difficult to clean and manage.
So here are a few tips on how to prevent dust in a house with regular cleaning:
- Dust shelves, tables, and electronic surfaces with a microfiber or electrostatic cloth. These fabrics trap dust more efficiently. Others move around dust particles and even cause minute scratches. Skip feather dusters as they spread dust into the air instead.
- Vacuum upholstery, carpets, and rugs weekly. If you have pets or there’s a lot of pollution in your locality, you must vacuum more often. Switch to a HEPA filter equipped with a vacuum cleaner to trap all fine dust particles and prevent them from redistributing.
- Thoroughly sweep hard floors, including wood, laminate, and tile, regularly. Then, use a damp mop to clean up the remaining dust on the floor.
- Your bed is a thriving ground for dust mites. They live on your dead skin cells, sweat, and sebum. Change and wash the bedding, including sheets, pillowcases, and blankets, in hot water.
2. Be alert about the humidity
High humidity levels are another major cause of dust sticking to your surfaces. On the other hand, low humidity keeps the dust particles dry, making them stay in the air for longer. To avoid either of these, it’s best to maintain 40-50% humidity levels at home.
If you’re unaware of how to prevent dust build-up in your home from humidity, here are all the tips:
- If your locality is arid, invest in a humidifier to adjust humidity levels. If the humidity is generally high, get a dehumidifier. However, if the humidity levels reach extremes based on the seasons, you must invest in both a humidifier and a dehumidifier.
- Certain high-moisture zones, such as kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms, need proper ventilation. Otherwise, the moisture impacts these rooms and seep into other rooms. Install exhaust fans and air vents to prevent moisture and dust buildup.
- Some houseplants, such as Boston ferns and peace lilies, lower home humidity levels easily. Their leaves trap dust particles as well. Statistics show that houseplants boost air moisture content and reduce dust by up to 10% and 20%, respectively.
3. Get quality air filters
HVAC systems play a crucial role in dust prevention. So, the next strategy to prevent dust buildup is to update air filters. Clogged air filters function inefficiently and circulate dust within your home.
So, if you’re concerned about how to prevent dust in the house due to dirty air filters, follow these tips:
- Install HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filters. They trap 99.97% of airborne particles, such as pet dander, dust, and pollen, and prevent them from recirculating in your home.
- Install air purifiers with HEPA filters in bedrooms, living rooms, and any other room in which you spend long hours. This ensures you stay in a dust-free environment.
- Dirty filters can’t trap dust properly, leading to releasing them back into your home environment. Change filters of HVAC systems, vacuum cleaners, and air purifiers once every few months.
4. Clean or replace vents and ducts
Air vents and ducts trap dust, pollen, pet dander, and even insects. If not cleaned, they redistribute these particles in your home. Some tricks on how to prevent dust build-up and keep your indoor environment clean are:
- Clean the air vents by wiping off the dust with a damp, soft cloth. If the dust is stuck deep, vacuum them thoroughly.
- To clean the ducts, appoint professional cleaning services from a reliable business. Make sure they offer only the top cleaning experts before scheduling the service. Professional cleaning will enhance air quality and minimize dust and the need to replace ducts.
5. Seal the doors and windows
Everyone loves to open the doors and windows to let in fresh air and sunlight. However, if the surrounding environment is full of dust, pollen, and dirt, it’s better to keep them closed. Of course, this isn’t easy, as you might feel stuffy.
Here are all the different ways to prevent dust buildup while also ensuring enough ventilation.
- Close doors and windows closed whenever the winds are speedy and the environment is dusty and full of pollen. Use air purifiers and filters instead.
- Seal all tiny gaps and cracks around doors and windows to prevent even minute amounts of dust from sneaking in. Apply caulking or weatherstripping for this.
- While opening windows, fit a tight and clean window screen to prevent the amount of dust entering your home.
6. Take proper care of upholstery and other fabrics
Fabrics, whether from furniture, bedding, or curtains, collect lots of dust. So, on your mission on how to prevent dust build-up on fabric articles, embrace these amazing ideas:
- Vacuum all sofas, cushions, and chairs using the upholstery attachment and get the junk off the deepest crevices.
- Wash through blankets and curtains once a few months to prevent dust from sticking deep into them.
- Use slipcovers on furniture and cushions, and buy machine-washable curtains.
7. Regularly groom pets
Your pets’ hair and dander are major dust buildup contributors. So, here’s how to prevent dust build-up from your pets.
- Regularly brush pets with long and thick coats outdoors to prevent shedding everywhere.
- Bathe them as regularly as recommended by vets with a gentle shampoo.
- Clean their toys, blankets, and beds with hot water and prevent buildup.
- Seek a professional eco-friendly cleaning service to ensure your and your pets’ safety.
8. Reduce clutter with simplified décor
Excess decorative items lead to clutter, and they add extra surfaces for dust gathering. This makes your cleaning routine much more redundant. So, here are different ideas on how to prevent dust build-up from clutter:
- Countertops and open shelves catch lots of dirt, so place limited items on them. This will minimize your dusting and wiping chores.
- Switch to closed storage and cabinets for books, magazines, trophies, and other dust magnets. This protects these items from repeated dust accumulation and cleaning, leading to wear and tear.
- Whenever you buy new furniture/décor, get easy-to-wipe and clean pieces. Avoid textured fabrics and intricate designs as they grab dust in between and are hard to clean.
Conclusion
Besides these tips, clean your doormats and entryway regularly and avoid wearing outdoor shoes indoors to prevent dust entry at home.
Remember that a little dust at home is inevitable, so don’t be too obsessed with keeping your home completely dust-free. Instead, undertake these cleaning methods frequently.
However, if you don’t have the time, energy, or equipment for effective cleaning and dust prevention, consider MaidforHaven’s professional housekeeping services.
We hire only the top 2% of veteran maids within the industry vetted with our screening process and ensure guaranteed satisfaction. So, contact us immediately and claim your free cleaning service today!
