This Is the Most Ingenious and Effective Way to Start Dusting Your Home

Welcome to day one of Apartment Therapy’s Spring Cleaning Cure, a free 10-day program that’ll help you tidy up your entire home. We’ll be working in the same manner as many professional cleaners do: from top to bottom. It’s one of the most effective ways to clean,  as it ensures that whatever dirt or dust is lurking above falls down first, so you’re not forced to redo any of the hard work you’ve already done below. 

This type of efficiency is such an important factor when it comes to cleaning. You only have so much time and energy to give each day, but you also need your home to be clean. You want to use that time wisely, and that’s what we’re all about this year. 

The Spring Cleaning Cure is made up of 10 core cleaning assignments that can be altered to fit your needs. We’ll share daily tasks that you can change to fit the time (and energy) you can offer them. You can also return to a task or skip it altogether. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do it right now by entering your email address on this email signup page.

Now that you’re all set to clean efficiently, let’s get into the first assignment: dusting your home!

Grab your preferred dusting tools (and a mask!) and get ready to say goodbye to dust in high-up places — starting with the ceiling, then moving on to other spots if you can. 

• A duster with an extendable handle can be helpful for hard-to-touch nooks.
• A microfiber cloth or handheld duster can be good for anything within reach.
• You may also need a step ladder — especially for a ceiling that has any moldings, exposed rafters, architectural details, etc. Just remember to be extra careful whenever you’re trying to access something that you can’t reach; it might be better to have someone with you for assistance.
• For anything that may need a more thorough cleaning, consider damp dusting. To do that, lightly dampen a microfiber cloth or your handheld cloth duster with an all-purpose cleaner to get areas you can reach, or spray directly on an expandable microfiber cloth mop to swipe up at areas you can’t easily reach.

• Ceiling or wall-mounted light fixtures
• Ceiling vents or ductwork
• Exposed rafters, ceiling molding, or other architectural details
• Ceiling fans (try the pillowcase trick!)
• Curtain rods
• The tops and sides of door frames and window frames
• The tops and sides of bookshelves
• The tops of furniture, like cabinets
• The tops and sides of wall-mounted radiators or air conditioning units
• The top and sides of a wall-mounted TV
• The tops of picture frames that hang on the wall

The best part of getting this task done is how quickly it’ll make you feel good and breathe better — even if you dust just one spot. Make sure to step away from the area you dusted afterward and return later. 

What did you dust today? Share it with us in the community forum! 

• Sign up for email updates.
• Visit the Spring Cleaning Cure page and catch up on assignments.
• Download the Spring Cleaning Cure calendar.
• Check off that you’ve completed this task and track your overall progress here.
• Join the conversation by checking out the Cure board in our community forum.
• Listen to our one-hour cleaning playlist on Spotify.

The Cure Program is a tradition here at Apartment Therapy — it happens every January, April, and September. Click here to learn more about the year-round program and when to sign up.