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Greetings!
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I can hardly believe that fall is already behind us and winter is blowing its way into our homes. As the temperatures drop, most of us are busy installing the storm
windows, and weatherizing our windows While your house may stay warmer without the
fresh breeze, it won't necessarily stay cleaner. In fact, according to
studies, the air quality inside our homes reaches an all-time low
during the winter months. One of the reasons for this low air-quality is the dust
build-up. But just what is so bad about dust? Other than being a
little unsightly, is dust really all that problematic? To learn
everything you always wanted to know (and probably a whole lot more)
about dust, be sure to read this month's feature article The Deal with Dust. Poll: Be sure to check in with our monthly poll
over at The Clean Team Blog. In our upcoming January newsletter, we
will discuss how to hire a cleaning company -- whether you are looking
for someone to clean your home on a regular basis, or just to do a
one-time, deep clean before a big party or family event. And
please don't forgot that I love to hear from you. Check in with me this
month about your dusting routine by sending me an email at
jeff@thecleanteam.com. Thanks and have a very happy holiday season! | |
The Deal With Dust
Why Dusting Really Is Important
Dusting
is one of the chores that is all too easy to relegate to the bottom of
the To Do list, especially if housecleaning isn't your forte. The
bathroom and kitchen get cleaned eventually because of the ick factor.
But for most of us, a thin layer (or a thick one) of dust is easy
enough to ignore, avoid or deny. And really, it is just dust. Right?
So, what's the big deal?
Well, believe it or not, there are some
real health reasons to dust. Household dust is made up of millions of
different components. The three most common ones are dead skin, hair
and nail cells; dried feces and corpses of dust mites (lovely), and
fibers shed from clothing, carpeting and furniture.
Also mixed
into your dust is pollen, mold, fungi, lichen, plant and vegetable
matter, insect parts, heavy hydrocarbon waste from your oil or gas
heater, food waste, paper fiber, pet dander and more. The list is
rather endless actually.
Some of the most worrisome components
in dust are tiny little particles of flame retardants. Your furniture,
mattresses, electronic equipment, foam-backed carpeting and computers
are all doused in flame retardants, to help slow the spread of fire in
event of a tragedy. That sounds like a good thing -- and for the most
part it is.
Unfortunately, the chemicals found in flame
retardants off-gas and form microscopic particles that show up in
alarming numbers in household dust. Many of these chemicals, including
polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs), are known or suspected
carcinogens and estrogen disrupters. And scientific studies have
revealed that these chemicals are present in the blood streams of most
animals and nearly all Americans (and Canadians, and Europeans ...) --
including newborns.
So, how do these flame retardants and
other concerning chemicals get inside our blood stream? One likely
answer is through our household dust. We breathe it in and some of us
(especially little kids who love to hang out on the floor and put stuff
in the mouths) ingest it directly.
It isn't just the chemicals
in dust that make that grayish layer on your nightstand a concern. Lead
paint flakes off into lead dust, so if you live in an older home, this
might be a concern. Asbestos products make dust with asbestos
particles in it.
If you are an allergy sufferer, you are
probably already well aware of how dust can trigger your allergies.
But you do not need an allergy to dust mites to have a good sneezing
fit from a dusty home. Mold spores and other allergens like fungi also
live in dust and trip up allergy sufferers.
So, yes, that
layer of dust sitting atop your bookshelves and embedding itself in
your carpets isn't just an aesthetic issue. There really are genuine
health reasons to dust frequently. By regularly removing the dust from
our homes, we decrease our exposure to the chemicals and allergens that
live within it. Experts (including us, of course!) recommend the
following:
- Damp dust all surfaces at least once a week
Damp dusting is important because it
helps to ensure that particles are truly removed and not just released
back into your home. A substitute for damp dusting is to use your
vacuum with a brush attachment. Even better is to rotate damp dusting,
which is particularly effective on hard, flat surfaces, and using the
brush attachment, which is particularly good on soft surfaces (fabric
furniture, carpets, etc. and on irregularly shaped items that are hard
to dust with a cloth. Examples are the keys of computers, ceramic
chatkahs, the tops of books, etc. In between these methods of dusting,
especially just before you plan on vacuuming, the use of a high quality
ostrich down feather duster, properly used, moves dust from higher places to the floor when it can be vacuumed away.
Dust doesn't just hang out on your
coffee table; it also gets trapped in your carpets. A HEPA-filter
vacuum goes a long way to ridding your flooring of the chemicals and
allergens present in your dust. It also removes larger bits of sand,
etc. that can cut carpet fibers and cause your carpet to have worn
spots.
- Mop your tiled, linoleum, wood or cork floors at least once a week (more if possible)
Like your carpets, dust also lays on
our floors. Thanks to the fact that we walk on the floor, that dust
actually gets spread around more frequently than the dust on our
furniture does. Frequent mopping -- AKA damp dusting of your floors --
helps to reduce the amount of that dust. Mopping your hard floors also
removes the dirt and debris that is caught between your shoes and the
floor and that is responsible for 99% of all the scratches inflicted
upon your expensive and beaufiful floors.
- Wash your babies' hands and toys frequently
Little ones spend a good portion of
their day on the floor -- and they love to pick up stuff off the floor
and put it into their mouths. If your baby or tot is still firmly in
the "oral" phase, be sure that you wash his or her hands frequently --
and especially before he or she eats. Not a bad idea for yourself
also.
While you don't have to be afraid of dust, it's a
good idea not to ignore it either. Once you know what's lurking behind
that failed white glove test, you will probably be a lot more motivated
to get out there and dust it, vacuum it or sweep it away.
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Answer Our New Poll
Who Cleans Your House?
Please head on over to our newest poll to tell us about who cleans your house.
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Thanks for reading us this month! Come visit us on the web at www.thecleanteam.com.
Sincerely,
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Jeff Campbell
The Clean Team Catalog |
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