Like any urban space, the Twin Cities metro area is prone to its share of pollutants, including dust. By taking steps to reduce household dust, you can rest easier knowing fewer irritants are getting into your lungs.
Don’t Help Dust Hide
Textiles in your closets, such as clothes, towels and bedding, provide the perfect hiding spot for dust if not kept clean and organized. To keep the dust down in your clothes and linen closets, store lint-prone items in drawers or plastic boxes. Bulky items that shed can be covered with garment bags. Keep your closet floors clear so you’re not tempted to avoid vacuuming them.
Change your bedding, including your duvet cover, weekly so dust doesn’t have a chance to build up. Blankets can go a little longer between washes, but they should still be taken outdoors and shaken vigorously once a week to prevent dust accumulation.
If you’re managing allergies, consider setting up a portable air purifier in your bedroom to enjoy cleaner air while you sleep. To reduce household dust and other air contaminants in all your rooms, a whole-house air purifier is a better option.
Optimize Your Cleaning Routine
Use microfiber dust cloths and mops to pick up dust rather than just spread it around. To effectively remove dust from your carpets, use a vacuum with a round bristle brush. When vacuuming hardwood floors and similar surfaces, use an attachment without a brush. Ideally, choose a vacuum with a HEPA filter. Rugs should be professionally cleaned or taken outdoors and cleaned with a rug beater.
While you’re cleaning, set your heating and cooling system’s thermostat to “fan only.” This circulates your home’s air through your system’s air filter to trap the dust kicked up during cleaning. For more reliable dust removal, skip the cheap thin fiberglass filters and choose pleated air filters with a MERV between 5 and 11. These effectively trap the tiny dust particles that can cause irritation.
For more tips on how to reduce household dust, contact us at Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning wherever you are in the Twin Cities metro area.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about reducing household dust and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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