Should You Vacuum or Dust First When Cleaning?

Looking around your home, you notice a thin layer of dust everywhere. It is on every exposed surface that you can see of your home. Surfaces like the countertops, mirrors, ornaments, and even on your curtains and carpets.

It is now time to clean your home but it seems like no matter how often you dust and vacuum, the dust just keeps coming back. 

This leaves you wondering why

Cleaning your home is a task that you have done too many times to count. Then it suddenly hits you.

You have set yourself a routine and have cleaned your house the same way every single time. But are you actually doing it right?

The question running through your mind is should you vacuum or dust first when cleaning your home?

Well if you think about it for a short moment, it makes sense to dust first and then grab your preferred vacuum cleaner like a Bissell or Dyson to vacuum. But you have seen people argue that you should vacuum first because a vacuum cleaner kicks up a lot of dust while you are busing using it.

In this post, we look at if dusting or vacuuming first works best and why. First, let us look a little closer at what dust is and how we can get rid of it.

What does dust consist of?

It is impossible to get rid of dust completely from your home, but there some things you can do to keep it under control.

Next, to help you figure out if you should vacuum or dust first when cleaning your home we look at which one will work the best and why?

If you Dust First

When you dust first, you can wipe away the majority of the dust. But there will always be some particles that will land up floating up in the air until they finally settle down on the nearby surfaces and on your floors.

You are then able to vacuum those particles up with your vacuum cleaner, leaving your house as clean as you could possibly get it at that time of cleaning.

Dusting the right way

Yes dusting the wrong way is possible especially if you don’t perform the task often enough or if you use the wrong type of cleaning tools. This brings us to the next question

How often should you dust?

This depends on your preference, your situation like, if you are living with asthma sufferers. If you absolutely have to have a clean house all the time, then dusting once a week is good but if not once a month is also okay for the light jobs.

But for thorough cleaning and dusting like high shelves, ceiling fans and blinds should be done at least every three months. And for the final dusting question.

What are the correct dusting tools to use in your home?

If you Vacuum First

If you decide to vacuum first and dust later, you are opening yourself up to more work than you should have. Because when you dust, the particles that you don’t catch with your dusting cloth will end up on your recently vacuumed floors. This would mean that you would either have to vacuum all over again or dust your house sooner than you planned to do to get your house completely clean. 

So what about the people who argue that vacuuming kicks up a lot of dust?

If your vacuum cleaner were pushing out dust it would mean one of two things. It is either time for you to clean your vacuum cleaner and the filters or you should consider buying a new one with a better filter system. 

You should also notice that if your vacuum cleaner is releasing dust into the air or it is moving it around on the floor, it has lost some of its suction power. This could be due to pet hair entangled around the motorized brush or rollers, a clogged hose, or the filter may need cleaning or replacing. 

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