Flat top = surface that allows dust to stay put. A slopped surface means the dust will "fall off" = looks like it is gathering less dust.

The neat thing about household dust is MOST of it comes from humans. Yep. Human skin cells make up 90% of house hold dust. This percentage drops if you live in the country, next to freeways or have pets. Those contaminants will ADD more dust to the house...but the human skin cells are there so long as humans live there.

So the question becomes, are you OK with dust? Which is more important to you? Can you put up with vacuuming/wiping down your baseboards a few more times per year to get the look you want? Or is the narrow+slopped profile an acceptable compromise if you can get away with 1-2 fewer vacuumings/wipe downs a year?

The human who lives in the house, and their personal tolerances, will dictate "acceptable" and "unacceptable". If someone finds ANY sort of dust intolerable, then a wide/flat baseboard is going to bother them no matter where they live.

Someone who isn't bothered by visible dust (I'm one of them) won't care about it until they live in a HIGH DUST environment (on a farm with acres and acres of top soil waiting to enter the house). At that point, the tolerant person might say: "No. Don't want it. Too dusty." And there are other people who would still use them in that situation and just vacuum and dust a bit more often.

I've lived with both types of baseboards, and I have to admit the flat topped boards are EASIER to clean. The more intricate, more decorative, sloped boards are HARDER to clean because of their shape...even though they *technically collect less dust.

Give me a flat baseboard and a vacuum. Done. Damp cloth works even better. No crevices to work with or Q-tips to pull out to get into the dusty detail work.

We have sloped baseboard in our current house and chose flat topped baseboards in our new build. I do expect having to dust the baseboards more often but I also expect them to be easier to dust than our current baseboards.

Vacuum with the right attachment...done in a jiffy!

When I'm sweeping the floor, I run the broom along the baseboards when they look like they need it. Done and done.

With our new Shaker cabinets, Craftsman window and door trim, and flat-top baseboards, I've considered naming our house "Dusty Ledges." But I'd still go with all those choices. I agree with the others that it's easy to clean. I use a cordless hand-held vac, and an occasional wipe with a damp microfiber cloth.