dust

How often do you think about dust?  I can tell you, I don't think about it often enough...as evidenced by the writing that appears on surfaces in my home every once in a while, done by children who giggle with delight when I discover it.  I have always hated dusting, because, frankly, it feels like an exercise in futility. 

I've always hated feather dusters, because I feel like they just swirl the dust around...brush it into the air, which, we both know means it's just going to settle right back down on that same surface.  (Supposedly ostrich feather dusters grab the dust better, but I remain unimpressed with them.)  I've always preferred the furniture spray and an old t-shirt method myself, but don't really have (or take) the time to do that every few days or week.  So, where does that leave me?  Well, I thought I had found the answer a few years ago, and then found myself plumb out of luck when I lost it.  My wool duster that is.

My mom had given me a wool duster several years ago, and I didn't even know what it was.  But once she told me and I gave it a whirl, I loved it.  I don't know how I lost it, but I didn't seem to see them around stores anywhere to buy a replacement.  Last night I happened to be in Walmart's cleaning supply aisle and lo-and-behold, there they hung!!  And for less than 5 bucks at that!  So, even though we are in a 'spending freeze' at our house right now, I figured this one was justifiable, and I didn't want to chance not finding another one for a while.  So I snagged it.  I love that it also has an extra-long handle, so I can now dust my walls all the way to the ceiling and grab those cobwebs as well!  It's great for a once over of my surfaces on the fly every couple of days, and I think that now I'll just try to hit everything once a month with the spray and wipe down approach. 
In case you are interested, the reason the lamb's wool duster works is because of the lanolin that is naturally in the wool.  (This is good to know, for people like my friend Ang, who is allergic to lanolin and her her hands would probably break out in a big, swelling, red rash if she used one.  So Ang, DO NOT USE A WOOL DUSTER!!)  :)  But if you are in the clear on the lanolin factor, you'll find this lovely little cleaning tool grabs the dust well, won't scratch your surfaces, shakes out after each use, and if you did some serious dusting, you can just rinse it with water to clean the duster. 

A final dusting reminder...always dust from the top down (walls, fans, light fixtures, then surfaces, etc.) so the dust settles to the floor.  Then grab that vacuum!!  (Or to some of us Pennsylvanians, a "sweeper"...I never knew that was a PA thing til a friend of mine who lived here and then moved out of the area told me...)

Wow...a whole post just about dust.  Well, them's just the boring but necessary facts of life!