Dust is inevitable in every house, but they are more common in closed living spaces such as apartments or condominiums. If you want to reduce the dust in your home, read on and find the best tips and tricks on how to reduce dust in an apartment.
Table of Contents
Why is My Apartment Dusty?
You might notice that apartments and condos are more prone to dust than a regular house. This is primarily because of the lack of airflow in these buildings that could have helped blow dust away.
The majority of house dust varies significantly from one home to the next. Dirt, skin cells, or garment fibers are the most common culprits, but it might be anything that dries and flakes off. Dust is a breeding ground for mold, bacteria, and dust mites.
Contrary to popular belief, dust is not made up of mostly dead skin. However, it does contribute to the accumulation of dust in your home. Dirt, pollen, smoke, pollution, and sand are the main culprit of dust that enters your household. Most of these materials stick to your shoes, clothes, or hair when you’re outside, which sometimes leads to your home becoming dustier.
Is Dust Bad?
Large particles of dust are of not too big concern to your health. Your nose can filter them out, and you can exhale them with ease. However, finer specks of dust can pose a health risk as they can enter your lungs. You might experience symptoms similar to asthma or an allergic reaction. You might also develop flu-like symptoms, which can be troublesome for people who live in dusty apartments.
Dust is also harmful to electronics because it can cause electrical leakage or a short. Speck of dust can accumulate on and beneath computers, televisions, and video game consoles. Anything that uses electricity should be dusted regularly. Dust can also make electronics overheat by blocking colling mechanisms and interrupting the airflow.
Does Air Purifier Work Against Dust?
Certainly, since air purifiers have an air filtration system, they can collect dust floating in the air. Find one with a HEPA filter as they’re the most efficient ones in combatting dust in your apartment. It’s a similar filtration system that powerful vacuums have, which is highly effective when collecting the dust in the apartment.
This is perhaps the only effective way of preventing dust from accumulating in your apartment. There are methods to reduce the amount of dust but having an air purifier is certainly one of the best decisions you can make when living in a building.
You need to put it strategically to avoid dust in your apartment. Put them in open spaces where you feel dust could accumulate. You can also add them to areas you like your home office and bedroom, or anywhere where you frequently stay at.
Air purifiers can also add a wonderful scent to your apartment. This can eliminate the odor of a place where dust quickly accumulates.
Tips to Reduce Dust at Home
While dust is inevitable, you can do certain things to reduce dust at your apartment. These are some of the best tips to reduce dust at your apartment.
Monthly General Cleaning
It’s essential to do a general cleaning of your apartment every month. Remember that dust settles on the first surface they encounter. That’s why furniture near windows or doors of your house accumulates the most dust. Pay attention to these areas when doing a general clean.
You might also get specks of dust on high places such as the light fixtures or at the top of your cabinets. Dust floats around and can quickly settle on these places. You have to use a ladder to reach all the high spots where dust might have settled.
Also, you should close the doors when cleaning to avoid dust from floating around towards the room you’ve just cleaned. This makes the process much more efficient.
Use Wet Cloths
For regular cleaning, a feather duster, or a more modern Swiffer can do the trick of getting rid of the dust in your apartment. A microfiber dust rag is also a good alternative. However, you can also use a wet cloths when doing a general clean to ensure that you’ve gotten all the dust in your furniture. Wet cloths can absorb dust and dirt faster than a feather duster. Plus, you don’t have to deal with dust swirling around when using a feather duster.
However, if you’re just doing a quick daily clean, you can certainly use a feather duster or a Swiffer on things with uneven surfaces. This includes vases, photo frames, or other displays. Then, use a wet cloth or microfiber rag on flat surfaces as they’re much faster to clean. For appliances, you should avoid wet cloths. Instead, use a microfiber rag that can collect dust efficiently.
Declutter
A messy apartment can quickly accumulate dust. Clutter is a prime gathering spot for dust. It’s also much more complicated to clean an apartment with a lot of trinkets than one with a minimalistic vibe. The fewer surfaces the dust can settle on, the easier it would be to clean your apartment.
If you really want to keep certain trinkets around, whether they hold an emotional value or simply because you like them, keep them in places where dust wouldn’t reach them. You can have glass cabinets installed so you can display them.
Remember to clean these trinkets even if they’re inside cabinets, as they are not immune from dust accumulation.
Use Appliance Covers
Having a fabric cover can help you clean the dust much easier for appliances that you seldom use. Instead of frequently wiping them off with a microfiber rag, you can just fold the cover and shake it off outside.
It can also protect your appliances and ensure that dust won’t get inside, which might lead to complications. But of course, only apply this to rooms you rarely use.
Avoid Using Blinds
Blinds are magnets for dust from the outside. While you can clean it up by wiping it off with a wet cloth, you’ll have to do it often. Since they’re also near the window, they accumulate much more dust than any other object in your apartment.
Curtains are better for your windows and can certainly block dust better. But make sure that you are washing your curtains regularly. You can mix light curtains framed by darker and heavier ones so you can adjust the lighting without the need to have blinds.
For Pet Owners: Groom Your Pets
Some dust accumulates in your apartment might be due to your pets. For people who own multiple pets or pets with long hair, make sure to regularly bring them to the groomer. This is one of the best methods of reducing dust in your apartment.
If you don’t want to bring them to the groomer often, you can clean them up at home. However, avoid doing so in busy places such as the bedroom or living area. You should also brush them in a room where it’s easier to clean up the dust. This means avoiding areas near rugs or somewhere with a lot of surfaces where dust can cling to.
Your pets might also accumulate dust from pollens or dirt after walking outside. Make sure to spend a few minutes brushing them right after their daily walk to the dog park.
Change Your Sheets Weekly
Like curtains, your bed sheets can accumulate dust since they have a larger surface area. Plus, your dead skin cells often cling to these sheets, contributing to the dust. You have to change your sheets as frequently as once a week since you don’t want dust to accumulate in places you sleep in. This also applies to your pillowcases, blankets, or duvet covers.
However, changing them twice a week should be enough if you don’t use these beds often. For example, it’s enough to change the duvet covers of the beds in your guest rooms, especially if nobody really uses them.
Get Area Rags Instead
An apartment with full carpeted floors can admittedly add a luxurious vibe to your place. However, they’re also known to be highly prone to dust which might be challenging to clean up. Opt for area rags instead, which you can easily roll up and brought outside to clean.
But if you really want to avoid dust, you should consider using home slippers instead. There are fluffy slippers that give the warm feeling of a rug without the need to install carpets or rags in your entire apartment.
Quick Daily Clean
The best way to avoid dust in your apartment is to simply clean as often as once a day. You don’t have to deep clean everything. Just make sure that dust is not accumulating anywhere in your apartment.
You can use a duster on surfaces, especially ones near windows and doors. Then, vacuum the floor paying close attention to your rugs. Every morning, also make a habit of shaking the dust off your bedsheet every morning after you wake up. You can also do this before getting to bed at night.
A robot vacuum cleaner can really help you with the daily cleaning. It does not do all the cleaning, but many models can be scheduled to vacuum the entire apartment every day.
Do You Vacuum or Dust First?
When cleaning, you should start from top to bottom. Since dust floats downwards, it will be easier to collect all dust this way. This means you have to dust first before vacuuming the floor. If you’re doing a general clean of your apartment, you might want to wipe or brush everything twice from top to bottom to ensure that dust does not reattach itself on another surface.
