Dust is a pain—it appears out of nowhere, gets absolutely everywhere and makes everything dirty, and it makes you sneeze like crazy. What you might not know, though, is that dust is dangerous for you and your family, too. In fact, one study found that dust contains 45 chemicals, including phthalates, phenols, RFRs, and PFSAs. The study also found “that many chemicals in dust share hazard traits such as reproductive and endocrine toxicity.” That’s a lot of toxicity in your home, and the worst part is that dust can be hiding in many places you wouldn’t expect. So, how do you find and get rid of it? Here's where you can find dust hiding and how to eliminate it!
- Surprise, surprise, dust can be hiding in your dryer! Clothes are made of materials and fibers, and those things create dust as they’re dried (not just the lint that can cause fires). This dust is typically expelled via your dryer vent or caught in the lint trapped, but not all the time. So, it’s vital to wipe down your dryer inside and out every once in a while.
- If you have ceiling fans, but keep them running, you might not have realized that dust can build up on them. It seems counterintuitive; after all, the spinning of the blades should make any dust fly off, right? Wrong! Ceiling fans are a huge source of hidden dust in the home, and you don’t want to leave them too long. Cleaning them off once a month will prevent dust build-up from occurring (and make cleaning easier next time). But how do you clean a ceiling fan without getting dust all over the rest of your home? Easy! Spray a pillowcase on the inside with dusting spray (like Pledge), then place it over each fan blade (like you’re bagging the blade up), and wipe away the dust. Ideally, dust will collect in the pillowcase, but sweep or vacuum underneath your fan anyway, just in case.
- You probably don’t think about your curtains often. They’re there and they block the sun when needed, so what more is there to think about? Dust, for one. Curtains can hide a ton of dust, and it’s difficult to see because the dust is hidden inside the fabric. If you take a ruler and give your curtains a good whack, though, you’ll likely see a dust cloud. But this is a simple fix; just toss the curtains in the wash!
- Do you have a lot of family photos or artwork hanging on the walls? Then, you probably have dust hiding behind them. Particularly if a photo has been hanging on the wall in the same place for a long while, dust will build-up. That means you should keep this in mind whenever you regularly dust your home, so you remember to dust there, too.
- Finally, dust can hide out in your baseboards. They may look nice and clean, but they’re dirtier and dustier than you imagine. (And if you don’t believe us, take a dust rag to the top of one to see how clean it comes away!) Cleaning baseboards is easy, though; whenever you vacuum, just use one of your vacuum attachments to tackle that dust.
It can be frightening learning there’s a hidden danger in your home (and one that can be absolutely everywhere), but if you remember to do the above regularly (and wipe down surfaces, too), you and your family will breathe much easier!
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