A Little Help Here, Please.

[Wilma]

I HATE dusting.  You know, wiping up that film of dirt that settles on your household items.  Do you have an easy, painless way of doing it?

[Roma Jean Turner]

I have this long handled, rainbow colored type of brush, only instead of bristles it is some kind of synthetic material.  It picks up the dust so easily and then you shake it outside.  (Sorry for the weird description, but I've had it so long I don't remember where I got it and what it is called.)  My housekeeper uses the Swiffer dusting deal.  It is a plastic handle and you can change out the Swiffer dust cloths, which of course aren't cloths but some kind of synthetic material.  Anyway, I know what you mean, I always hated it as well, but these work pretty well for me.

[Ms Bear]

My favorite way to dust is to wait for a good windy day, open the windows and let it blow the dust out.  Of course when I lived in Arizona it blew more dirt in but at least it was new dirt.  We didn't  have dust there, it was all sand and dirt.

I am enjoying my new Shark steam mop.  The floor does feel clean and doesn't leave the buildup of cleaners.

[frawin]

I, too, use a swiffer.  One of the ladies that helped me with housework (when I done spring cleaning) in Midland told me to spray Pledge on the swiffer dusters, and it does help to pick up the dust.  I do my blinds every week, and I find that it does help to keep the dust off of them.  Just spray it on lightly.  I like the swiffer steamer mop, too.  It is much easier to clean the tile than using an old fashioned wet mop.  I sometimes do use the wet swiffer cloths if I am doing a small area like a bathroom.  We have quite a lot of dust in this neighborhood as there are several houses going up .  Maybe the dust will settle some when they are completed.  Guess I just got used to having to dust a lot when we lived in West Texas!!  Yes, it was more like sand than dust! 
Myrna

[Wilma]

I have the Swiffer duster.  While it is preferable to not dusting at all, I don't feel like the dust has been wiped up.  Too many years of the old dust rag, I guess.  There isn't any method of dusting that I like, but the least undesirable might be the Pledge wipes.  I find that I feel as if the furniture is being polished like old times.

I also have the Swiffer Wetjet Mop which beats all heck out of the old fashioned rag mop.  No rinsing and wringing.  But for getting a floor clean, nothing beats the old hands and knees method.

[Varmit]

You folks are trying to make too much work out of something simple.  Just do what I do. Pack your fishing equipment in the car, and make your wife do the dusting.  Viola!! when you get home the house is clean.

[frawin]

Wilma, I agree, the hands and knees method is best, but I can't do that every week!  One, I don't have time to do it, and it's hard on the knees.  I have quite a lot of tile, so I use the mop.  I do get down on my hands and knees several times a year and mop, and clean the baseboards.  Summer, however, finds me outside in the yard and flower beds most days.

I like the long handled swiffer to do the fans, and reach high places.  I use a clean (new) dustmop to wipe down the trim on the tray ceilings.  It works well for me.  I can use a 3-stop ladder that way and not have to drag in the 6-step ladder. 
Myrna

[Diane Amberg]

Varmit, in your next life you are going to come back as a wife married to a picky man.

[Wilma]

Diane, is that a prediction or a wish?  If it is a wish, I will back you all the way.

[Diane Amberg]

Definitely a wish.