On Dust Bunnies

I know that dust just is. It is on and in everything. And I know very well that most of it comes from our very own selves. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.

I am not a dust-o-phobe, but I guess you could call my relationship with dust neurotic at best. I really hate it. Sometimes I think maybe there is a deeper philosophical root to my dust aversion. Maybe it brings home the fact that "to dust we shall return" and I naturally rebel against that. But what it amounts to is when I see dust motes dancing in the sunlight, it is much akin to hearing nails scrape against a chalkboard.

I have been a Swiffer duster user for the last few years now. I suppose I bought the hype that a Swiffer will trap and lock dust and then blissfully remove it from your life. That's what I like to hear. Die dust bunnies, die. And get out of my house. But now that prices are going up on EVERYTHING and the income in this house is going down significantly, I'm looking for ways to cut costs wherever possible. Throwing away used Swiffer dusters seems like tossing money right in the trash. And I'm not entirely sure that the whole "trap and lock" claim is all it's cracked up to be.

So what is your preferred dusting method? Wet or dry? If wet, do you have a make-it-yourself spray or solution? (Once upon a time my mom and I used to dust her house with Pledge and a good old fashioned rag. Neither one of us uses Pledge or Endust anymore because we figured out the fumes bothered our sinuses.) If dry, what do you do to make sure that you're actually defeating the dust instead of just shooing it off the furniture for a while?