I know I need to up my game on dusting. My former house had a whole house air cleaner installed with the heat pump and I rarely had to. I've had time to get back into the habit but the ongoing dust wasn't something I'd been expecting or even thinking of when we moved (and now have radiant heat in the ceilings, no duct work in place to easily set up an air cleaner)

I do dust but can't say I've ever thought about dusting behind pictures. And there are some things I want to dust but can't, like the ceiling fan in the peak of our living room. That one is on DH and he says he has something to rig up a vacuum extension - it better be loooong! I do stand on the beds and dust the ones in all the bedrooms though. Also I tip my sofas forward and vacuum the underside maybe 2x/year to get the dog hair - nowhere near as bad with this dog as our last so I can probably drop that to 1x/year ;-)

Oh, wow. My knee-jerk response to the title was "not as often as I should" and then I read that you meant dusting areas that almost no one will ever see. That's a hard "no" for me. I guess I should, but if I hit the fan blades with a duster every now and again, I (sort of) congratulate myself on my thoroughness. It has never occurred to me to dust behind books or under art. Do house cleaners even do that?

It has never occurred to me to dust behind books or under art. Do house cleaners even do that?

Nope, and that's why I get to keep doing this job myself.

I just dusted the bathroom wallpaper with the swiffer. Took down the picture so I could dust behind it. I do it once a year.

I do all of those things, but not frequently. I do a half @ss swiffer swipe on the semi-regular, and then a more hardcore version about once a quarter or so, I'd guess. There always seems to be some sleeper places that I forget about and then when I get to them am horrified at how awful they are. Like the grout in the stone fireplace. It is exactly the color of all cobwebs, which is great until I clean them and then ewwww so dirty. Trying to get cobwebs off my redwood ceiling is another thankless task.

Do you dust...

Not as often as I should. C'est la vie.

My vacuum is great for getting the cobwebs from rough surfaces.

On the rare occasion I swifter my walls, I’m amazed at how dirty they get!

When I had ceiling fans, I realized I should dust them pretty regularly; and if they weren’t the first job of the cleaning session, dusting them meant washing the bed comforter or vacuuming the carpet AND changing my clothes and brushing dust out of my hair the rest of the day!

I've pretty much lost interest in dusting! Hate doing it, it's a hopeless case!

eld, my housekeepers miss things but I gotta give them credit for what they accomplish in the time they're here. I don't mind having to do the odd this or that. I think it was someone at GW who said that some of the photos are purposely left a little askew to indicate they were dusted.

Bunny, or left askew to make you think they were dusted lol

Yes, but not weekly or even monthly -- perhaps two or three times a year.

bpath, you're probably right, but it's so easy to debunk.

I used to have a lot more energy than I do and lived in a smaller house. Every surface basically shined. Every week I walked around with a can of Pledge and polished everything.

Now? Ha. Now I'm older, fatter, much more lazy, in a bigger house with TWO dogs. Now I occasionally walk around and swat at things with a Swiffer. The added bonus is that my eyesight is going too, so it's pretty easy to convince myself it's fine.

Bunny, I think it was me, but it wasn't pictures, per se, it is not replacing things exactly where they were, knick-knacks might be put in a different order.

I agree with you Bunny, I am more than happy to do the oddball thing that they don't do.

Dust?

More than 25 years ago, in our former house, my high-school age DS took sneaky advantage of the fact that his mom, moi, was NOT a house-proud woman, and not into dusting frequently. DH and I went to England that summer, a long-desired 2 1/2 week trip for me.

Not until MANY years later did I learn that DS had had a very large group of friends over to our house for an all-day party while we were gone. He had a couple of friends help him move a lot of furniture out of the living room into our bedroom to make more space.

Reason that we didn't suspect such shenanigans had taken place once we returned? DS had oh-so-carefully removed each item in the tall curio cabinet -- and replaced them EXACTLY in position, using the portions of the shelves free from dust to re-locate everything precisely.

Since I learned about it so long after the fact, I had to laugh then, and gave him points for being clever, and for bothering to protect my treasures. He was and is a great kid, but there were times when I wasn't sure who was going to survive his raising -- him or me!

Olychick -- that's hilarious, and my attitude as well!!

Dust? I did that once. It came back. I’m not falling for that again.

OMG, littlebug! Well said! I am still roaring with laughter. Thanks for the perfect retort!

Dust? I did that once. It came back. I’m not falling for that again.

That's exactly how I feel. Now the trick is to not disturb the dust. It's not so noticeable if it's an even layer. ;-D

Oh, littlebug, exactly! The worst housekeeping chore.

Little bug, yep! Hah.

Yeah, I remove the art every 10 years or so when the walls need to be painted again. Just did it. The tops get it though.

Books, nope, whatever the housekeeper does in front and around them with a swiffer is fine. They do pick up most things and dust under them. I have to watch the ceilings for spiderwebs because they don’t always dust up high. I have been amazed at what lurks around our DR fixture on occasion.

dust behind the books in the bookcase, behind the pictures on the wall

Some pictures I caught and cleaned before the painters removed them -- the heavy ones that I couldn't move did shame me -- and all the books were removed by me so I only shamed myself.

I did insist on inspecting each picture before they were rehung to make sure the backs were clean. I figure they're good for for a few more years.

What is this dust that you talk about?

But if I dusted then all those cute little dust bunnies would cease to exist.

Dust? Ugh!!! I live on acres and acres of untouched or naturally landscaped Northern New Mexico mountain land. In a mountain valley that runs from west to east, which is also the way most of our breezes and winds (and dirt) blows, as well. I can dust my house in the morning, and by 3PM it's dusty again! Twelve months a year. So, do I dust? Yes, but not very often behind books and under statues, etc. And, almost every wall in our home is painted, exposed adobe brick (see photo below), so dust settles into every crack and crevice! That I do dust. As for behind our paintings? We collect art and there are too many on the walls to take down and dust behind very often. I have too many other more pressing things I have to do every week, so those I ignore for months at a time (LOL)!. Yesterday, I had 2 repair guys out to fix my broken clothes dryer. Seeing what had gathered behind it, now THAT was embarrassing!

I have allergies & asthma. Every time I disturb or stir up dust I have trouble. If I let it be my breathing is better. That is my excuse & I am sticking to it.

Huh, apparently not. We are moving, and when pictures were taken off the walls, I was taken aback by the dust bunnies. Was this in the instructions somewhere?

I had a sweet older cleaning lady a few years ago that was no more than 5 ft tall. I started to notice that she did a great job cleaning and dusting, as long as the items weren't much taller than her! Lots of cobwebs and dust went unnoticed in the upper half of my walls!

To the op's question, no, not on a regular basis. I have a very high tolerance for dust in general.

Christmas is when I do that type of dusting because I'm removing objects and putting up Christmas decor.

We're on a dirt road and no matter which way the wind blows we get a lot of dust, especially if the wheat fields are empty, so I have to do regular dusting a couple of times a week. I even keep a cloth dust mop behind the front door so I can quickly go over the wood floors. Nobody can see it either unless the door is closed and we usually keep it open.

Last week I wanted to take a picture of a picture on a wall with a lot of other pictures. I always windex the glass first and oh.my.gosh. I ended up doing the whole picture wall, which includes dusting them too.

I dust behind the books about once a year. First I blow the dust off the book then dust under and around it. :)

Our dogs bring in a tremendous amount of dust.

I'm right there with Lynn, as in fellow New Mexican. The dust is constant. When I first moved here a neighbor came over to welcome me. She noticed some of my dark wood furniture and said "You didn't buy that here, did you?" Well, no, I moved it from another state. I must have had a weird look on my face, because she immediately said "Wait until you have to dust it daily." She was very right, except I never did quite get into the habit of daily dusting.

Chispa, I told DH the other day that if we ever remodel a bathroom, the mirror will be no higher that I can swipe with a cloth. I was looking at our mirror and see the distinct indicator of what that height will be.

I have a cleaning team that come bi-weekly and include dusting among their tasks. They don't however get everything and they don't go in the den, where we spend most of our time. I sort of let all that go, and then I discovered Campanelli's cleaning supplies, especially their microfiber dusting mitts and cloths, especially those made of what they call "puppy fur". What a great invention! They are nice to hold, literally grab the dust, washable in the washer, but don't put them in the dryer. Hang them out and they'll dry quickly.

They are available on Amazon and QVC; I have them in an array of sizes and colors. I keep one tucked away in every room in the house, always ready for a quick swipe.

Dusting generally is not a big part of my genetic makeup. However, DH's mother was a cleaning fanatic, and his dad was not far behind (his garage was clean enough to eat off the floor). Now, with that as his background, DH could be a tad picky about my housecleaning routine (or lack thereof).

Decades ago, one day he finally brought to my (in)attention the fact that he had been writing the date with his finger in the accumulated dust on top of the fridge, adding new dates as time went by and nothing had been done about this by me. Notice the fact that HE had not dusted up there...

Now, you may recall that I am just 5 feet tall (less now). It never occurred to me that the top of the fridge might need attention. I cannot SEE it, so it was just not on my radar.

DH is still living, in spite of his "cute" reprimand about dusting. I simply handed him the dust cloth and told him to have at it, if it bothered him. =)

I keep DH around for his decorative qualities. 52 years so far. Dust still happens, as he has lost the dust cloth...

Roxanna, that was hysterical. Thank you for the laugh!!

patrice, funny now, but not so much at the time! I seriously considered doing away with him then, but didn't want to make my sons fatherless, OR force myself to get a job with similar salary to his (no way on God's green earth to manage THAT!).

Roxanna, that was so funny and not funny at the same time, and that’s funny!

Dust is like a best friend. Neglect it, it will be there waiting for you. Push it away, it will still come back.

LOL, bpath -- you definitely get it! Thanks!

I do not have any books in open bookcases, so that solves that problem hahaha! When dusting, I always remove the items on furniture and then dust. Pictures, every few months I dust pictures/frames, etc. I take them off the wall to clean the glass and honestly, I've found very little dust behind a picture. I always do a big cleaning late fall, before the holidays and do the baseboards, edge of wall at ceiling, etc. I have all kinds of extendable dusters, etc. to make this an easy job. I recently bought one of those baseboard dusters and like it. Windowsills, etc. have been done. Hubby always does the windows for me and he did that a couple of weeks ago in prep of the holidays. We finally got a new mattress and actually an adjustable base, so since we dismantled our bed/boxsprings/mattress, etc. we moved all the furniture in that room and dusted/cleaned baseboard, floors, etc. For some reason, our MB gets the most dust. It's the end room on one side of the house, furthest from the return (HVAC) - hubby thinks that's why we accumulate more dust in there, and of course that's the room we want the least dust in!

This post reminded me of this poem ( and I doubt my cleaning person dusts behind the books, but I wouldn’t know):

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

dedtireds poem reminded me that We shed about 40,000 dead skin cells every minute, now that's a heck of a lot of dust.

Love that poem!!!

Problem is, I can't enjoy my house if it's full of dust, so dust I must.

I read somewhere that most dust is made of dead cells of humans. I find that hard to believe. If that’s true, I should be skinny.

dedtired -- thank you for that poem. It is a reminder of what is important in life.

Dedtired, that poem‘s my story and I’m sticking to it.