Fall Cleaning Week: Dust

I believe one of the most important tasks when it comes to Fall Cleaning is dusting.  This is the time I like to give the entire house a thorough dusting. This includes the tops of cabinets and large furniture, light fixtures, blinds, and all the fans - floor and ceiling - that have been working hard for us all summer long and collecting a metric ton of dust in the process.  Basically all things that don't get included in the normal weekly dusting.  

To talk more in depth about dusting, I am so excited have a terrific Guest Blogger today for you all.  My friend and business leader, Jennifer Mead of Blissfully Ever After, is sharing her fabulous post on removing dust from your home. I read this during my Spring cleaning spree last Spring and I have permanently incorporated her advice into my deep cleaning regimen.  

So without further adieu, take it away Jenn! 

Hey everyone!

It's Jennifer from Blissfully Ever After!

I want to thank Alli so much for having me guest post today.  Alli is such an amazing wife, mom, blogger, and friend and I am honored to have met her and to have the opportunity to spend some time with her a few weeks ago in Las Vegas! We had a blast!!

Today, I am going to share with you the 5 Best Ways to Remove Dust from your home that I featured in my Spring Cleaning Challenge earlier this year....

It is that time of year again...cool crisp air, changing of colors, pumpkins and mums make their appearance, and having a pumpkin spiced latte just seems fitting. I love this time of year! During the Fall, we love to give our home a good cleaning to get ready for spending lots of time indoors. One of the ways we do this is by removing dust.  Removing the dust from our homes will help you create a cleaner, fresher home and will actually help improve the indoor air quality as well.

1. Clean Air Vents

This is such a simple task that can be done rather quickly and makes a HUGE improvement on not only the air quality going through your home but can also freshen up the look of your air vents and save you a trip the home improvement store to purchase new ones.

This is what you do….

Remove the air vents. If yours are in the ceiling, there are usually two screws holding them up, so unscrew them and carefully remove the vent. If yours are in the floor they should easily be able to pull them up.

I fill my sink {you could also use your {clean} bath tub to soak more at once} with hot water and Basic H {1/2 teaspoon-1 teaspoon} and let the vents soak for about an hour. We have white ones in our home, so the Basic H helps to remove any dust, paint, gunk, etc. from the vents. They come out looking brand new! But, if yours still need some freshening up you can paint them with white spray paint. Easy peasy!

You can also purchase filters that fit the smaller vents from the home improvement store, which will really help reduce the dust, pollen, and other pollutants that can circulate through your home.

2. Freshen-up Window Treatments

If you have window treatments that cannot be washed {a lot of mine are just fabrics I’ve made into “mistreatments”} you can throw them into the dryer on a freshen-up cycle or light cycle depending on your model or brand along with a dryer sheet for about 20-30 minutes. This will remove dust, help remove any wrinkles, and freshen up their appearance and smell without having to run them through the wash. 

 3. Dust Light Fixtures and Fans

This is HUGE! Have you ever seen how thick dust can get on these? Well, I guess if you dust more often than I do, you may never see a lot of dust, but around here….it has been pretty bad before. Maybe 1/4 inch bad? Yikes! I use my Swiffer dusting wand to remove the initial dust and then go back over the fixtures using a microfiber cloth and Basic H. I just fill a bucket full of hot water and 1 tablespoon of Basic H and go around cleaning them all. It is very easy and our fixtures look sparkling clean afterwards. 

4. Clean Window Blinds

This is another HUGE spot that traps dust. Again, I use my Swiffer dusting wand to remove initial dust and then come back with my microfiber cloth and Basic H to really give them a good clean. The best part I love is that we have 2” wood slat blinds and Basic H will not harm, discolor, or warp them. 

5. Turn Off the House Fan

{Source}

If your home has a house fan that runs in your attic {I think this is where they typically are}, this helps circulate new air into your home but if you live in a dusty area {like me} it can actually do more harm them good. We were keeping ours on throughout the year and realized it was bringing in a ton of dirt from outside and since we’ve turned it off our home has a lot less dust circulating through the air. House fans are great to use if you cook a meal like fish or burn something in the oven or just want to circulate some fresh air on a nice day, but it doesn’t have to be used all the time.

I hope these tips help you in achieving a sparkling, dust free home!

Happy cleaning!

 

Thank you so much for this great advice Jenn! Jennifer is an amazing lady.  She is an incredible mom, wife, business leader, blogger, and leader! I am so blessed to know her and call her my friend.  Make sure to check out her beautiful blog for more cleaning tips and the best darn DIY projects you will ever see. :) 

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