Dusting or Vacuuming - Which Goes First?

So… Should you dust or vacuum first when it comes to cleaning your home? The answer is short and simple, you should always dust first and vacuum after.

Just for the simple reason that when you dust, you’ll find that even though some if not most is wiped away when using your cloth or duster, you’ll never be able to wipe up every spec of dust. This means that many particles that you try to wipe down will end up going into the air and then settling again, and very likely on something like your floors, sofa, beds and other surfaces similar. So if you do vacuum first and dust later, you’ll always find that you miss a lot of dust in your home and make the job less effective and not last as long until the need for another big clean.

So, lets get a bit more in depth… What exactly is dust?

Dust is a combination of small particles that collect in various environments, particularly indoors. They are made up of a range of things which include hair, paper or material fibres and even skin cells and can be found in all sorts of places. Not only does dust generally make your house feel and look untidy, it can actually have an impact on your health!

Which brings us on how to keep on top of dust with a few easy tips.

This one is fairly obvious but, please DUST YOUR HOME REGULARLY! We all know that dusting and general cleaning can be boring, but if you want to keep on top of your home and keep it fresh and tidy this is unfortunately a chore that can’t be skipped. If you don’t keep regularly dust particularly in the hard to reach areas you can’t expect your house to look its best, especially when every time you open a door or window the wind will blow the dust into more noticeable areas of your house.

Use a Microfibre Cloth - Buying the right cleaning product is vital for the cleanliness of your home, and we’re not just saying that because we’re a cleaning product company! There are many many different products on the market, including obviously ours so sometimes it can be a bit daunting to choose what’s the right fit for you. When it comes to microfibre cloths though, these are a game changer and are fantastic to have around the house, especially for dusting.

Start at the top! The best way to dust is to remember this rule of thumb, start dusting from the top and end at the bottom. Again, may sound obvious but is on of the biggest time wasting mistakes people make…

Now you’ve dusted, it’s time to vacuum so of course we had to share a couple of tips for this too just to make the dust cleaning extra efficient!

BEWARE OF PET HAIR! Do you have a pet? If you’re an animal lover you need to take the little bit of extra care when it comes to vacuuming your home. Pet hair can get caught in the end of the vacuum cleaner and even clog up the pipe which means that your cleaning efforts won’t be as effective as you want them to be. As a easy golden rule, once you finished vacuuming make sure to regularly remove any hair blockages and your hoover will work like a dream…

Clean your Vacuum Filter Regularly - Most vacuum cleaners comes with a filer inside or in other cases a bag. How you clean these will depend heavily on what brand you have. So it goes without saying, PLEASE read the manual for more details, just doing this will add years of life expectancy to your vacuum!

Vacuuming method - When you’re vacuuming is there an approach which helps optimise the process? Yes there is! Many people make the mistake of simply moving the machine around the floor in random patterns (this actually ends up leading to missing out entire areas of the floor sometimes!) The easiest and best way to hoover is to start at one end of the carpet or floor and vacuum in a straight line, make a 90 degree turn and repeat, repeat, repeat! Also… whilst you’re there, don’t forget to vacuum those skirting boards too!