Dust is my nemesis. Dusting is the one household chore that I never ever feel like I can get on top of. I almost feel like as I am dusting, I am just watching new dust build up all over again. Does this happen to you?
(Note: Studies show that the average six-room home in the United States collects 40 pounds of dust each year.)
Well, don’t give up on your dusting just yet. It is incredibly necessary and an incredibly powerful tool in your arsenal of preventing mold build-up and improving air quality in your home. As a matter of fact, regularly dusting and keeping dust levels low in your home can yield noticeable improvement in allergies, nighttime sleep, and overall health for everyone in your family, regardless of mold.
Now, a few facts on dust as it relates to mold:
Dust is not dirt, so no need to feel embarrassed that you have it or that it an indication of poor housekeeping. House dust is a normal occurrence as fibers found in pillows, drapes, clothes, linens, and other furnishings at home, work, school, or even in your car, breakdown and disperse.
Just as plants produce seeds for reproduction, molds produce tiny spores. These spores are less than 4 microns in size – so small that as many as 250,000 spores can fit on the head of a pin. Mold spores attach to airborne dust particles. Then they can be transported just about anywhere and land just about on anything. That is why mold, once airborne, is so hard to get rid of, and also why mold spores are so easily inhaled by those who inhabit the spaces where they exist.
Many times, you have mold in your home and you mistake it for dust. Gravity will always pull dust to the top of a horizontal surface. If you ever find “dust” on the bottom of a surface, such as a shelf, you are looking at mold. This is a very common place to find mold in homes. Grab a flashlight; shine it on the bottom of a shelf. See anything? If there seems to be a blanket of “dust” on the underside of horizontal surfaces, it is time to get some Diagnostic Mold Test Plates to see what you have going on there.