Aside from being an eyesore, dust can cause allergic responses1 like red, watery eyes; a runny nose; itchy throat; and sneezing as it piles up at home. If you’re not sure how much you should be dusting or are unclear about the best dusting protocol (feather dusters—yea or nay?), here’s what a toxicologist and a green cleaning expert had to say on the matter. There’s no universal guideline for how often you should be dusting to prevent dust mites; it depends on your home. Here are some factors that contribute to how prone your environment is to dust: Let’s say someone spends a lot of time at home, has carpeting (that they don’t regularly vacuum), lives with lots of furry pets, and loves to leave the windows open. That person will need to be much, much more vigilant about dusting than someone who lives alone, is barely home, has hardwood floors, and runs air filters constantly. “There’s no prescribed time frame,” reiterates green cleaning expert Melissa Maker. “Dust really is a visual thing—you’ll know when you have to dust because you’ll see it. Be attentive to the different areas in your home, and see when they start to get dusty.” Once you have your cloth ready, run it over your dusty surface using a firm, sweeping motion that Maker refers to as the “S pattern.” Simply move your cloth back and forth from the top corner to the bottom corner, without picking it up as you go. “Using that technique, you’re not actually picking anything up. You’re letting the cloth absorb all the dust,” she says. “The tool is doing the work for you.” Tools like feather dusters and hand brooms, on the other hand, just agitate dust and send it flying everywhere and should be avoided, according to Maker. It’s not a bad idea to follow up your dusting session with a quick vacuuming, just in case any dust from your surfaces did make its way to the floor. Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,000 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes. She’s spoken about the intersection of self-care and sustainability on podcasts and live events alongside environmental thought leaders like Marci Zaroff, Gay Browne, and Summer Rayne Oakes.
