Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Dusting Tips on Martha Stewart Living Radio



If you missed Morning Living on Martha Stewart Living Radio today, this is what we discussed. 

Dusting or Polishing
There is a difference between dusting and polishing. Dusting is something that removes the dust from surfaces while polishing is actually treating the wood. We have tried to combine the two by using polishing sprays while we are dusting. What's happened is that we are doing a poor job of both.

picture from http://multimenage.webs.com/dusting.htm
Dusting should be done once a week with just a clean microfiber cloth and a touch of a light spray. I mix up my "light dusting spray" and put it into a spray bottle.(Never spray anything directly on the furniture). Then just go over the piece and remove the dust. This is easy and quick. The less oily polish you use the longer it will stay dust free. The oils collect dust and make it harder to remove it.

Polishing should be done every 3-6 months. This is a lot of work, but keeps the furniture looking new and also keeps the wood and finish moisturized. I use my recipe - Lemony Furniture Polish - when I'm going to polish the furniture. And make sure you use a high quality microfiber cloth.

How to dust
I always say to myself "top to bottom, back to front" because i always want to go to the dusty thing i see first. Instead, start as high up as you can reach and work you way down to the floor. Also work in a circle around the room and you'll never miss anything. Make sure you get the tops of door jambs and all the wood trim. You can use a feather duster to knock off some dust, but for flat surfaces - use a cloth. You can also use a lambswool duster - high quality ones are able to be washed in the sink with a touch of dish detergent

Other ways to dust
Removing dust from pillows - use your dryer
Removing dust from knick-knacks - use your dishwasher
Removing dust from tight places - use a stiff paint brush and a vacuum

12 comments:

  1. Microfiber clothes are key!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. I need this site! lol... I found you on SITS and added you to my Google Reader. Thanks for the tips!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These are awesome tips. I can do them right away.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Microfiber is used in many professional cleaning applications, for example in mops and cleaning cloths.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great tips... thanks for sharing all information it is very useful for me… Actually I like to clean my home and I was looking to those blogs which grant me a good advice for cleaning and dusting. Your blog really inspired me. I generally using vacuum cleaner to remove dust at home but I don’t have any idea about polishing the furniture but after I saw you blog I have many ideas about dusting and polishing the furniture.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great tips, thanks for sharing, I totally agree top to bottom. Drives me mad if the other half hoovers first!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous12:40 AM

    I like the helpful information you provide in your articles.
    I will bookmark your weblog and check once more right here regularly.

    I am reasonably sure I'll be told many new stuff proper here! Best of luck for the next!
    My weblog ... günstige Lebensberatung Ausbildung

    ReplyDelete
  8. Many might think that dusting is an easy task but there still homes that homes plenty of it because the owners may not have the time or they just simply procrastinate. Thank your sharing your thought on the matter.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice post. I agree with dusting from top to bottom - Makes more sense to me! Does anyone else find dusting therapeutic?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for writing this blog about dusting tips…I really had good time looking over this. I’ll bookmark this blog for future reference.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very nice and amazing tips regarding dusting is provided here. House cleaning is a very difficult task and it requires a lot of time. And using these tips you can easily clean your house from dust.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous1:03 AM

    Hi, you can try to contact some cleaning services if you don't know how to clean a house. I have a meat shop and it was very big that's why I try to hired this abattoir and meat shop cleaning Melbourne and I was impressed on their job.

    ReplyDelete