The dust, dear god the dust!

[TheFantasticMrsFox]

My house is dusty. Not a bit dusty, super dusty and it's really starting to bug me.
It's only really downstairs, where I have three dogs, a log burner which is going 24 hours a day ATM, wooden floors and poorly fitting windows that face the road (so in excess of twenty tractors a day roaring by, more at harvest)

I have tried hoovering, dusting, mopping and all manner of combinations of the above. I think it's also compounded by being a rather small open plan living space so gets a lot of general wear and tear.

Is there any magical trick I should be performing in order to rid my life of the infernal dust? As an example, I dusted the tv and DVD player on Wednesday, today I can write my name in the dust

I have similar problems, though not as bad, from a log burner, two cats, and city pollution (makes you wonder what you're breathing in, doesn't it?!)

The only thing I've found that really works is little and often. Each morning, I use a brush and dustpan to get up the worst of the log burner and cat litter mess, and then I mop all the floors. I realise that this sounds really time-consuming, but I have a Leifheit mop with microfibre pads, and it only takes about 10-15 minutes to go round all of them. I gather the dust together, then get rid of it with a separate cloth in each room.

I also wipe down the bathroom and kitchen every day, which I prefer to doing an absolutely massive clean because it's filthy once or twice a week.

It hasn't got rid of the problem, but it has helped a whole lot because I'm actively taking a lot of the dust outside every day, leaving less to be transferred around. I find I can dust twice a week now and the place looks spick and span.

Watching with interest to see if anyone has better suggestions!

Try low lighting.
Works for me.

Oh dear shove, I was really aiming for something that didn't involve daily housework :o

Great idea bloody :o

Daily damp dusting, and vacuuming/sweeping/mopping at least every third is the only way to go for me I'm afraid. I actually achieved that last week and the house felt lovely and fresh. This week it didn't get done from Sunday until today. I would so be a lazy moo about it more often if it wasn't for an asthmatic, dust mite allergic son.

Argh, I was thinking more along the lines of a quick squirt with the mythical white vinegar or lemon juice, NOT even more arsing dusting :(

I have concluded that it is mostly from the log burner as if we go out for the day, there is no fusty "dust" smell when we come in. Also there is no way that three people can shed that many skin cells and still be able to walk and talk and dust I know I wouldn't change my dusty little cottage for the world, but occasionally I do hanker for a minimalist apartment with central heating and no dogs :o

Does your logburner have doors, and do you shut them? Open fires are terrible for ash dust.

Is your vac fairly modern? To avoid blowing dust out of the back, you need a machine with about three filters (I prefer ones that you can swap for washed ones each time you empty it) and IMO preferably with bags. The new fleecy bags, white or silver, are much better at capturing dust without clogging, than the old brown paper bags.

Piglet, the doors are shut, yes. However it's only a small burner and our only form of heating so we end up opening them numerous times a day while it's so cold.

Our Hoover is a new Henry, always used with bags in the house. It looks like I simply need to be more dedicated to my housework