Nobody enjoys having dust in their home. It gets everywhere, dirties your home up, and can make you sneeze like crazy. But what you might not know is that dust can be downright dangerous too. One study from George Washington University found a total of 45 toxic chemicals in particles of dust. These researchers estimated that approximately 90% of homes in the United States have at least ten of these chemicals in them. So, there’s a good chance that the dust hiding in your home is making your life more toxic. But what can you do?
Here’s a look at some places you might not think hide dust, but do.
Dryers. Yep, believe it or not, your dryer could contain not only lint but dust! This is because the process of drying clothes creates dust. The dust typically gets expelled via the dryer vent or trapped in the lint trap, but this isn’t always the case (especially if your vents and lint trap haven’t been cleaned out in a while!). Make sure you’re wiping down the outside and inside of your dryer every once in a while to get rid of dust and be sure to have your dryer professionally cleaned each year!
Pictures. Have a lot of family photos hanging on the wall? Then there’s probably dust hiding behind those. Take a picture off the wall, and you’ll see what we mean. If the photo has been hanging for a while, you’ll likely see a dusty rectangle behind it when you remove it. Dust behind photos (and other wall hangings!) when you do your regular dusting and the problem should be solved!
Curtains. Your curtains are another spot you might not expect dust to be, but the truth is they can get fairly dusty. Dust in curtains is difficult to see because the particles hide in the fabric. But if you were to hang your curtains up and hit them with a stick, you’d probably see clouds of the stuff flying around. Cleaning curtains is a breeze, though; just run them through the wash occasionally!
Ceiling Fans. How often do you look at your ceiling fan? It’s probably not too often. But if you happen to glance up on occasion, you might see a ton of dust hanging out on your fan. You wouldn’t think fans would attract that much dust (after all, when in use they’re constantly on the move), but ceiling fans are huge areas for dust to hide. How can you clean a fan, though? It’s easy! Spray the inside of a pillowcase with Pledge or something similar, then place the pillowcase over the blade of the fan, and wipe. This way dust goes inside the pillowcase and not all over your floors.
Baseboards. Baseboards are another area of the home you likely don’t examine all that often, but you should. No matter how clean they look, baseboards are often dustier than you could imagine. So, when vacuuming, remember to run the attachment over baseboards to collect stray dust and dirt!
Dust can be hiding in many places in your home, and all that dust is making your home more toxic. Keeping dust in check will help you breathe easier (and keeping dust out of your dryer will help prevent dryer fires!). So, be sure to clean everywhere when you do your regular cleaning, and remember to have your dryer vents cleaned professionally each year, so your house will be the healthiest and safest it can be!
We're the experts for professional Massapequa dryer vent cleaning and repair, after all! Give us a call at 516-780-0150 so Dryer Vent Wizard of Massapequa can help you save energy, time, and money. Some of the towns we service include Syosset NY, Woodbury NY, Jericho NY, Manhasset NY, Roslyn NY, Port Washington NY, and many others!
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