Where does dust in your home come from? About 60% of household dust comes from outside your home. Other dust sources include tiny particles of skin, food debris, your fireplace, and through carpet fibers and upholstery. Although it’s difficult to think about, dust mites can develop naturally in your home and hide in your bedding, carpet, and curtains. The more dust you have, the more dust mites live in your home.
Dust is one of the major underlying causes of allergies. Have you sneezed lately? Dust allergies exist all year around, so it is essential to do as much as possible to help reduce the dust in your home.
Consistent cleaning is essential if you want to rid your home of dust and mites. But who really has time for that? Here are some pointers for keeping dust out and reducing dust in your home.
Rugs
Having heaving duty rugs or doormats placed at each doorway in your home helps keep dirt and dust outside. When used properly, a good rug will remove a lot of the debris from the bottom of your shoes before it ends up in your home! If you really have an issue with mud, a good boot scrubber or boot brush will remove both large and small chunks of dirt. A synthetic rug can be your best bet against allergens. Polypropylene rugs are engineered to repel dust mites and contaminants. They’re low and tightly woven and can even be used outdoors.
Groom your pets
Pets (especially dogs) carry in dust and shed a large amount of dirty hair into your home. Regularly grooming your pets outside of your home helps reduce the amount of dust inside the home. I recommend trying different styles of brushes until you find one that works best with the coat on your pet. Training your pet to stay in a certain area of your home or off the carpet can also be helpful. As an owner of two golden retrievers, I can personally attest to pets bringing in a significant amount of dust into the home, as well as other creatures.
Change your furnace filter
Changing your furnace filter on a regular basis catches airborne particles that are floating through the air and your HVAC system. At Kura Home, we recommend using between a MERV 9 and 11 filter; changing it no more than every three months. Your air filter serves as the first line of defense against dust buildup; trapping dust and other allergens before they have a chance to circulate elsewhere inside your home. Changing your furnace filter helps improve air quality by catching dust and microscopic particles.
Keep windows shut
Even though we all love to open the windows on a beautiful, breezy day, doing so allows dust and dirt to come into your home. If you are having an issue with dust in your home, keep your windows shut as much as possible. They serve as a solid preventative measure to minimize dust in your home and should make cleaning a great deal easier. If you really want to have your windows open, consider having them open on calm days or after rain when there isn’t as much dust floating through the air.
Use a HEPA vacuum
Spending a little more on a high-quality vacuum is a must to reduce dust. Make sure that your vacuum has a HEPA filter. If not, you are creating a larger problem for yourself as the vacuum will take the dirt and dust it collects and send it back into the air.
Get an air purifier
Simply having an air purifier in your home can remove 99.99% of harmful pollutants down to .1 micron in size. We highly recommend the air purifiers from Summit Air Industries. https://summitairfq.com/
Clean your air ducts
Dust that is floating through your home ends up floating directly into your HVAC system and can’t escape without a proper cleaning. Having your air ducts professionally cleaned is essential to reduce the dust in your home. Make sure you are working with a company that cleans the supply and return vents along with the supply and return trunk lines – this is critical. Cleaning your entire duct system is important and can help reduce and eliminate dust in your home.
Declutter
This might be a hard pill to swallow for some but removing the knick knacks and clutter from your home will help eliminate collected dust in your home. If you really want them out on display, consider having an enclosed display case.
Clean your sheets
Your bed is a common place to find dead skin flakes and dust mites. Regularly wash your bed sheets! Additionally, you should consider cleaning your pillows and mattress as well. Using a mattress and/or duvet cover are also helpful in keeping your bedding and mattress clean.
Keeping dust out of your home helps in many ways. Overall cleanliness of your home frees up your time to spend on other activities other than cleaning, and most importantly, it is a health benefit and improves overall air quality in your home. Even though it would be almost impossible to remove all the dust in your home, doing these routine home maintenance chores – changing your furnace filter regularly, purchasing an air purifier and getting your air ducts professionally cleaned will immensely help.
