- Cleaning
Shifrah Combiths
Shifrah Combiths
With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town life in Tallahassee, Florida, which she now calls home. She's been writing professionally for twenty years and she loves lifestyle photography, memory keeping, gardening, reading, and going to the beach with her husband and children.
published Oct 24, 2021
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Dust is relentless. No matter how many times we wipe it away, it comes back, coating everything in a thin veneer. Keeping up with all of the surfaces that are dust magnets (which is to say, all of the surfaces) is pretty overwhelming. Whether it’s the open shelving in the kitchen or the tiny baseboard ledges around the dining room, dusty surfaces surround us!
Now, quick question: Do you dust regularly or do you put it off until you simply can’t take it any longer? (Or maybe you’re somewhere in between those two options?) You don’t have to tell us. Just be honest with yourself. Got it? No matter how you’ve answered, we’re guessing anything that makes this never-ending chore better will be a welcome relief.
And so we present you with 15 smart tips and brilliant products that make dusting so much less tedious. Here goes!
1. Roll out the vacuum cleaner.
Use your vacuum cleaner, fitted with a soft brush attachment, to dust anything you can. This method keeps dust from flying around in the air and is fast and convenient.
2. And use an empty toilet paper tube as a makeshift attachment.
If your windowsills are dusty (and/or dirty!), you can use an empty paper towel tube as a makeshift attachment to get into those crevices.
Read more: The Last Thing You Should Do with a Paper Towel Tube Before You Recycle It
3. Start at the top and work your way down.
Don’t undo hard cleaning work by dusting ceiling light fixtures after you’ve wiped down countertops. Instead, start at the very top portion of the room and work your way down. This way, in the end, you’ll clean any dislodged dust that falls to lower levels.
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4. Invest in a dusting wand.
A dusting wand is long and bendy, perfect for reaching all those hard-to-get-to spots that are so often neglected —such as beneath the oven or the top of the fridge! Plus, the microfiber cloth is washable and reusable, so it’s eco-friendly!
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5. Go for a tried-and-true dusting cloth.
Ritz dusting cloths have been around for more than a century —and for good reason! They’re soft so they won’t scratch even the most delicate wood surfaces, plus they grab, lift, and cling to pesky dust.
Read more: This $9 Dusting Cloth Has Been a Cleaning Staple Since 1892
6. Grab an old pillowcase to dust ceiling fan blades.
Ceiling fans can get extra dusty. But leave them unclean and you may have a dust bunny or two fly off during movie night and land right on your popcorn (and surely, no one wants that!). Here’s what you do: Find a step stool and an old pillowcase (make sure the fan is turned off!). Climb up and carefully slide the pillowcase so that the blade is lying inside, and use the fabric to gently wipe off the dust as you pull the case off the blade. Repeat with each blade. The pillowcase will catch and contain all of the little particles.When you’re done, shake the pillowcase outside, and then launder as usual.
7. Dust baseboards with a dryer sheet.
Use a handy dryer sheet, known for its static-absorbing qualities, to pick up and repel dust easily. This trick works especially well along baseboards, blinds, crown molding, cabinets, and electronics.
Related: The Last Thing You Should Do with a Dryer Sheet Before You Toss It
8. Have fun with a paint brush to dust intricate objects.
All those little sentimental items on your bookshelf are a pain to dust — so you may hardly ever do it. A soft, small paint brush makes the job of reaching all those nooks and crannies doable and surprisingly meditative.
9. Or use a can of compressed air.
A few puffs of compressed air can clear shelves of dust in a pinch. Try this if you get wind of last-minute company that’s headed over.
Read more: 10 Reasons You Should Keep a Can of Compressed Air in Your Kitchen
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10. Test drive a Scrub Daddy Damp Duster to clean up sticky dust.
The worst kind of dust is dust that has settled stubbornly on sticky surfaces. It’s not just the obvious areas, like near the stove’s grease splatters, but on blinds, too. The new Scrub Daddy damp duster, which is pre-moistened, solves this problem by grabbing and trapping dust in one swipe. Rinse it under water, and the dust will come right off!
Read more: The New $4 Scrub Daddy Tool That Makes Dusting a Million Times Better
11. Put wax paper or newspaper on top of your cabinets and fridge.
Speaking of sticky dust, the dust that collects on the top of upper cabinets (if you have the kind that don’t go all the way up to the ceiling) and the fridge can be extra gross. (Thanks, grease!) To make cleanup easier, just line the tops with wax paper or newspaper. Then, you just have to toss the paper once in a while and put down new stuff.
Read more: The First Thing You Should Do with a New Box of Wax Paper
12. Use tongs to dust your blinds.
If you have blinds, you know how annoying they are to dust. But if you have tongs, two microfiber cloths, and some rubber bands, you have everything you need to hack together the most ideal cleaning tool. Use a rubber band to secure a wrapped microfiber cloth around each side of a pair of tongs. Then, just clamp the pieces on a single blind and swipe along the entire thing. You’ll have to open and re-clamp to work around the strings, but it’s still a pretty fast method.
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13. Don duster gloves over your hands.
You’ll be able to dust at turbo speed wearing microfiber dusting gloves! Swipe your hands around household items, including mirrors, picture frames, and ledges. Dust anything, really — with a touch of the hand!
14. Use a lint roller to dust lamp shades.
Lamp shades sure can be tricky to dust! Luckily, there’s a simple solution. Just run a lint roller along your shades to lift all that clingy debris.
15. Dust your TV with a coffee filter.
Coffee filters are lint-free and won’t scratch your screen, so they’re the perfect tool for cleaning your LCD TV screen.
How do you take care of dusting in your home? Tell us in the comments below.
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