How To Handle Seasonal Dust Accumulation: Your Year-Long Guide

Are outdoor temperatures and indoor dust accumulation related? You bet they are! Whether you’re tracking in outdoor debris from your summertime jaunts or shutting yourself in throughout the cold winter months, the weather plays a central role in the amount of dust within your home.

Unfortunately, substantial indoor dust buildup can negatively impact your indoor air quality, and consequently, you and your family’s health. At Dust Doctors, we can’t stress the importance of maintaining healthy indoor air quality enough. To help you keep your air as pure as possible, we’ve outlined a brief, year-long guide on how to mitigate dust buildup within your home.

Spring: Duct Cleaning & A/C Cleaning

Of all the seasons, spring is typically the worst for allergy sufferers. Not only does seasonal pollen make its debut, but after months of being closed up tight, your home has likely accumulated plenty of dust and other debris. To rid your home of health-harming dust and start your spring cleaning the right way, professional duct cleaning is key.

Along with duct cleaning, it’s also a smart idea to have your air conditioner professionally inspected and cleaned. Because you’ll use your air conditioner extensively throughout the summer, it’s critical that you keep it as clean as possible to maintain healthy indoor air quality. As well, routine A/C cleaning helps ensure your HVAC system operates as efficiently as possible, which will extend its life.

Summer: Vacuum & Dust Frequently

Summertime is outdoors time, which means you and your family track plenty of dirt, dust, dander, pollen, and other particles into your home. To mitigate dust buildup and the associated allergy symptoms, you’ll need to practice frequent, if not daily, cleaning. Be sure to vacuum regularly, clean with dust-trapping microfiber cloths, and wash your linens frequently.

Autumn: Improve Indoor Air Quality

Before cooler weather begins to set in, it’s important to ensure your indoor air quality is as healthy as possible. Throughout winter, you and your family will likely spend the majority of each day indoors, and the dirt, pollen, dust, and dander your home collected during summer can wreak havoc on your indoor air quality. Here’s how to ensure your indoor air is as clean as possible before winter hits;

●        Duct cleaning. Fall is also an excellent time for professional duct cleaning because it prepares your ductwork for the long winter ahead. By removing dust and other debris from within your ducts, you dramatically reduce indoor air pollution.

●        Air purification. Duct cleaning tackles the visible particles your HVAC system pushes into your indoor air, but a dedicated air purification system is the only way to trap the millions of tiny particles you can’t see with your naked eye. Most air purification systems use HEPA filtration, which captures 99.7% of all particles sized 0.3 microns or larger. For reference, a single strand of human hair is 50 microns in diameter—HEPA filtration captures particles 168 times smaller!

Winter: Practice Proper Ventilation

In Minnesota, we’re cooped up for the majority of the winter season, which means we shed plenty of skin indoors on a daily basis. And what feeds on dead skin cells? Yep, dust mites. Lack of ventilation also contributes to moisture and condensation development, which give mold and mildew a perfect opportunity to grow.

Keeping your home closed up tight throughout winter only makes your indoor air quality worse, so even when it’s frigid outdoors, it’s critical that you practice proper ventilation. Here’s what you can do:

●        Use your kitchen and bathroom fans to keep humidity levels low.

●        If you have ceiling fans, keep them circulating on a low setting.

●        Open windows and doors briefly to allow fresh air to enter.

●        If you can tolerate it, leave your bedroom window cracked open during the night.

●        Run oscillating fans on low in rooms that do not have ceiling fans.

If you’re ready to improve your indoor air quality, our team at Dust Doctors is here to help you do it. Whether you’re looking for routine duct cleaning, furnace cleaning, A/C cleaning, or air purification systems, we have the tools, experience, and products you need to keep your home’s air in top condition. If you live in or near the Twin Cities metro area and would like to learn more about our products and services, feel free to reach out to our team at 651-319-9777 or connect with us online, and we’ll be in touch!