Keeping a desert home dust-free

Why desert homes get dusty

Dry air, wind and open desert all around mean there’s always fine dust in the air, and summer storms can push a lot of it at once. It comes in on shoes and pets, through gaps around doors and windows, and through the air conditioning, which runs most of the year here. The fixes fall into two groups: let less in, and clean in a way that removes dust instead of moving it around.

Stop it at the door

• Put a coarse mat outside each entry and a softer one inside. Shake or vacuum them weekly.
• Make shoes-off at the door a habit, with a spot to leave them.
• Check door sweeps and weatherstripping: if you can see daylight around a closed door, dust gets in there too.
• Look at the garage door’s bottom seal and the door between the garage and the house.
• Keep windows closed on windy days, and wipe pets’ paws when they come in from the yard.

Filters and vents

Your AC moves all the air in the house through its filter many times a day, so the filter does more dust control than anything else you own.

• Check the filter monthly during the months the AC runs hard, and change it when it looks gray, not just on a schedule.
• Use the filter type your system’s maker recommends. Denser filters catch more dust, but some systems aren’t built for them; an HVAC technician can tell you what yours handles.
• Vacuum the return grilles and supply vents with a brush attachment when you change the filter.
• If you use a portable air purifier, a HEPA one in the rooms you use most can pull more fine dust out of the air.

Dust so it stays gone

Feather dusters and dry rags mostly lift dust into the air, and it settles again an hour later. Trap it instead.

• Work top to bottom: ceiling fans and light fixtures, then shelves and furniture, then baseboards, then floors.
• Use a microfiber cloth, slightly damp. It holds dust instead of pushing it off the edge.
• Clean ceiling fan blades by sliding an old pillowcase over each one and pulling it back, so the dust falls into the case.
• Dust blinds with the slats closed one way, then the other.
• Vacuum with a HEPA-filter vacuum if you have one, so fine dust stays in the machine.
• On hard floors, vacuum or dry-mop first, then damp-mop. Grit on tile and wood acts like sandpaper underfoot.
• Don’t forget window tracks and slider tracks: crevice tool first, then a damp cloth.

After a dust storm

When a big storm rolls through, wait until it has fully passed before cleaning, or you’ll do it twice.

• Check the AC filter. A big storm can load it up in a day.
• Sweep entries, the patio and window sills outside before the dust gets walked in.
• Vacuum window and door tracks where dust blew in.
• Wipe surfaces near windows and doors, top to bottom, then do the floors.
• Rinse dust off outdoor furniture and patio cushions.

A cleaning rhythm

Little and often beats a big clean once a month, because dust builds on itself. A rhythm that works for most homes here:

Fewer places for dust

Every open shelf, knickknack and fabric surface is somewhere for dust to land. You don’t have to live in an empty house, but grouping decor on fewer surfaces, using closed storage for the things you rarely touch, and washing throws and cushion covers now and then all mean less to wipe each week.