You’ve got your bathroom cleaning routine down, but why is it still so dusty?
Cleaning the bathroom and keeping it dust-free can be a real challenge. This is especially so because dust tends to be incredibly noticeable against light-colored surfaces in the bathroom such as the corners of your white bathroom tiles or the porcelain sink. Dust will stand out in your dark-colored bathroom trimmings too.
So, what can you do to reduce dust in your bathroom?
You need to figure out why your bathroom is so dusty and solve the problem at the root. It can be that you need to change how you clean the bathroom, get a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter or invest in an air purifier.
Why Is My Bathroom So Dusty?
If you feel like your bathroom always seems to be dusty, even when you’ve just cleaned the entire space, these could be the reasons why:
- You clean the carpet and rugs inside the bathroom. If you vacuum your bathroom rugs and carpets, you know exactly how dusty they can be. But the thing is, vacuuming carpets might clean them up, but vacuums can also release dust and allergens back into the air. That is unless your vacuum cleaner has a HEPA-rated filter.
- Your bathroom has leaky air ducts. Leaky ducts mean there are gaps and holes where dusty air can enter your bathroom. Watch out for those unsealed joints where air can flow back into your bathroom.
- Dirty air ducts. Besides leaks in the ducts, it could be that there are already months, or even years, worth of dust buildup inside. These can easily be responsible for dusty air circulating inside your bathroom.
Lastly, your bathroom can be dusty even after cleaning because your home, as a whole, is also dusty.
How to Reduce Dust in the Bathroom
Here’s the thing about dust in the bathroom – if you don’t do anything to prevent it, every nook and cranny will be filled with dust, and that’s just the beginning of the problem.
While you can’t get rid of dust 100%, there are plenty of ways to make your bathroom less dusty or keep the dust in your bathroom almost unnoticeable.
1. Use Weatherstripping
Dusty air can come through even the tiniest gaps and holes, like under your bathroom door or through gaps in your bathroom window. Making sure that the bathroom door has good weather stripping around it, especially at the bottom, ensures that you stop dust and dirt before it enters the bathroom.
Don’t forget to add weather stripping to your bathroom windows, too, especially around the frames. If your electrical outlets have gaps and holes around them, make sure to caulk and seal those, too, so dusty air has no way to enter the bathroom.
2. Avoid Blowing Dust Around the Bathroom
You might be cleaning and dusting your bathroom, but are you doing it right? Not all cleaning methods will “clean” the bathroom. For instance, if you’re using a feather duster, that isn’t as effective in getting rid of dust. It only scatters the dust and, most often, leaves tiny fluffs of feather around the bathroom.
Instead, use the correct equipment to clean the dust in your bathroom, like a damp microfiber cloth. It will hold onto the dirt when slightly wet, instead of just tickling or moving the dust around as the feather duster does.
If you’re going to clean rugs and carpets, it’s best to do it outside of the bathroom, so you don’t risk blowing dust in the air and around the bathroom.
3. Clean the Bathroom Fan/Vent
When was the last time you deep cleaned your bathroom? You’ve probably vacuumed and dusted, but have you taken the time to properly clean the bathroom fan and the vent?
Keeping the bathroom vent dust-free is essential, so there’s less dust floating around the bathroom. Don’t forget to clean the vent covers too!
4. Avoid Clutter
There are a lot of things that contribute to household dust, including your clothes. Those dirty clothes on your bathroom floor could be laden with dust. Furthermore, any clutter in the bathroom can contribute to dust accumulation and loose fibers from your clothing are a major contributor.
So, if you want to reduce dust in your bathroom, avoid any clutter. Toss your clothes in the hamper and not anywhere on the floor. The less stuff sitting around your bathroom collecting dust, the less dusty your bathroom will be.
5. Replace Old Carpets and Bathroom Rugs
It goes without saying that carpets and bathroom rugs catch all sorts of dirt, pet hair, dust mites, dead skin cells, dust, and bacteria. But do you know that they also produce dust on their own? Carpet fibers are another culprit for your dusty bathroom, especially when the carpet is too old and worn out and the fibers start breaking down.
6. Get an Air Purifier
Investing in an air purifier can help reduce the dust in the bathroom effectively. This machine will do the work for you, collecting and trapping dust, so it doesn’t float around the air in your bathroom.
You can place the air purifier near your bathroom door or the window for maximum dust-collecting action. But make sure you buy a purifier with a HEPA filter for optimal air-purifying benefits.
7. Use a Vacuum with a HEPA Filter
If you are going to vacuum the bathroom, then vacuum effectively to remove as much dust as possible. Instead of using just any vacuum cleaner, get one with a HEPA-rated filter.
When you vacuum the bathroom, make sure you do so effectively. Vacuum the floor slowly in overlapping strokes, giving it a chance to suck up all the dust and dirt. Remember – you can get much more dust from your bathroom floor when you vacuum the right way.
Reducing Dust In Your Bathroom Is Crucial
Removing dust in the bathroom can seem like an endless, tiring battle you’ll never win. But it’s well worth the battle to keep the bathroom clean, spot-free, and safe for everyone. It can help get rid of some health problems caused by dust mites like allergies and asthma attacks.
Although dust is a part of life, a layer of it isn’t exactly a part of the bathroom! With the tips above, you can help keep your bathroom’s dust levels to a minimum.