I have an exceptionally dusty house - what can I do or use to reduce the dust? Any tips? A lightweight vacuum cleaner? A magic product?!

[HelenHywater]

My house seems to be excessively dusty - a combination (I think) of many pets, lots of children and it being old, leaky and creaky and in central London. I have a miele vacuum cleaner which is great, but a day later the dust is thick again. I have black painted wooden floors throughout which just magnify the dust, although it also reappears on surfaces within minutes of being hoovered or wiped away.

What can I do about it? Is there a magic spray which will minimise the dust? Is there a magic brush that will brush it all up with little effort on my part? Is there a magic dust extractor machine that will magically suck all the dust out of the air?

And finally is there a lightweight vacuum cleaner that I can use in between as I also have many many stairs and feel exhausted lugging the heavy vacuum cleaner up and down them?

Can't help with most of it but have just got a GTech Hylite and it's amazing. They periodically have offers eg 20% off everything or a free something too. It goes super flat under beds and furniture too

Only downside is a teeny tiny bag so needs replacing frequently but that does stop the "hoover" smell too where your hoover recycles dead air

Our main hoover is a Sebo, brilliant performance but weighs a ton and we have a lot of stairs

Air purifiers Will solve this problem

What dusting method are you using for your surfaces?

I use a very old lightweight Dyson City, with all their dusting brush attachments and soft extendable hose. It sucks it all up without moving it around & into the air as many other methods do - where of course it would then settle back on surfaces later.

Sadly Dyson have now gone 100% to stick & battery only vacuums. I’m sure they’re great for floors but useless for dusting! Their incredible dusting tools used to be one of their main selling points - and they did them SO well. I do wish they’d bring them back - the ones they sell now don’t do anywhere near as much as their predecessors can!

As far as I’m aware they still sell the tools, though they take some finding on the website. Last I tried you had to poke around the accessories sections of the older vacuums. You could phone maybe & order that way. Then an adapter to fit them to other vacuums and just buy a lightweight small cylinder vacuum of your choice to go with?? If going with this option, make sure it has a straight hose end, not curved, so you can attach the dusting tools. I believe the main one is called ‘soft dusting brush’ There’s also an extendable flat one with a blue zig-zag pattern which is brilliant for reaching under things and in crevices etc, also fab for walls, tops of wardrobes & cupboards etc.. The upholstery attachment is great for all the beds, sofas cushions and pillows. It’s amazing how much fluffs out of those when you plop down on them!

Failing that … though not as effective, and not possible on as many things - next best is wet dusting with a microfibre cloth very very well wrung out & a small bucket of water.

But whatever you do it will still need to be done quite frequently - London is dusty!

I am allergic to dust and also very lazy. I have a robot vacuum cleaner that goes around daily, and I love it more than dh (sorry dh).

Admittedly it can't do stairs and gets hopelessly tangled in cables.

We have several air purifiers and the air feels cleaner. I like to think we have less dust.

Purdy and Figg counter clean has changed my life! I don't know how and it's not advertised to be able to do this, but dust just doesn't settle on my dark wood furniture like it did. Weird but true. It is expensive but smells amazing and I love this weird side effect.

Following. My dust seems to be blue… like my clothes and towels.

Where do you buy air purifiers that people have mentioned?

When I lived in central London, I'd get a layer of black soot on the window sills every day! We bought an air purifier and I could smell the difference after an hour. If dust is your issue, which is mainly dead skin 😝then you need to clean the air, not just where its landed. Our machine is this one, but they do have other models. https://www.iqair.com/gb/products/air-purifiers/gc-multigas

Following as I have a dust allergy

Does an air purifier collect dust, where does it go?

It’s driving me mad too, but my shark is great for the carpets

Get an air purifier, but also, instead of daily hoovering, wipe the stairs with a damp micofibre mop. This is just as effective as hovering.

Air purifier but damp dust the wooden floors using a slightly damp mop. It keeps the dust down. I don’t do it very often myself but oddly enough did today. I use Fluffy Dusters on other surfaces.

They have filters that need to be changed and you need to clean out the insides of them usually.
I have a Daikin one which is fab but does need cleaning inside.
It does make the air a lot fresher though. A negative Ion one helps settle the dust to help stop it floating in the air. Then of course you clean it off the surfaces.

IKEA has an air purifier disguised as a very stylish coffee table- also reasonably priced

How many? What size? Sorry for the questions! I have a 3-bed/2reception room semi and it's ALWAYS dusty, despite the daily wet microfibre dusting and the Shark vacuuming... do you recommend a few air purifiers?

I hadn't thought of just using a microfibre mop on the dust. I might try that for a while.

Presumably a microfibre cloth on the dusty surfaces is also a good thing. (Will try the Purdy and Fig stuff too).

I have this problem too so will have to read the thread later to see all the solutions offered!