Where Does Dust Come from in a House

Have you recently noticed a steady increase in the levels of dust that are becoming apparent on the surfaces of your home? The more and more you clean it seems the more dust that magically re-appears on the surfaces within the indoor space. Dust is a stubborn contaminant found inside of a lot of homes that will be hard to completely remove from the environment, as the sources of dust creation are ever-present within the walls of this confined area. Household dust can be sourced from dead skin, fibers in carpeting, bedding, clothing, and upholstery that will contribute to the development, sometimes excessive development, of dust inside of this environment.

Dust accumulation indoors is downright frustrating for many homeowners, especially those who are in constant conflict with their aggravated allergies and asthma that is being triggered inside of a home where dust is found in excess. Those individuals who are allergy sufferers will immediately detect traces of dust in a home, as the onset of symptoms will take place almost instantly as they enter into a dust-filled environment. If you suffer from allergies and asthma, you will need to kick the dust out the door quickly and swiftly.

In this article we are going to discuss how dust forms inside of a home, the sources of dust creation, and how you can eliminate and remove dust from both the surfaces and the air of your home. 

What is Dust

Are you under the same assumption as many people that dust is strictly comprised of dead skin that has accumulated within the home? Strangely, this is what many people have come to the conclusion to, and whether this conclusion come from another article that they read or just something that they had been told for quite some time, this myth about dust is strictly that, a myth. In reality, dust is made of several household things including dirt, bacteria, pollen, pollutants, molds, animal dander, hair, decomposing insects, fibers, dryer lint, insulation, dust mites, and some dead skin.

These particles and pollutants that make up dust can come from either indoor and outdoor environment, as some of these particles float into a home from outside air that carries these pollutants into a home. Outdoor dust is typically made up of soil particles, pollen, vehicular matter, and insect follicles.

What Makes Dust

If you are a homeowner, you will constantly be wondering what exactly in a home makes dust inside this environment. Mostly, you want to know so you can seize this growth in your personal indoor environment, but unfortunately there is little you can do to completely eliminate all growth of dust. Dust is created by airborne particles of fine, dry matter from the surface of the ground and will form into dust onto the surfaces and in the air of the home.

When you try to dust inside of a home, ultimately dry dust will just end up getting pushed around and result in the dust becoming airborne within the airspace of the area. The process that you use when dusting can greatly impact the dust levels, and that is why it is recommended you use furniture polish or multipurpose spray cleaner to collect and remove dust from the surface(s).

What Causes Dust: Sources in Home

The sources of dust in a home can include a multitude of different items in a home such as pets in the home, frequently opened windows, full carpeting throughout the environment, dirty pillows, and dirty floors that are not frequently cleaned. All of these different items present in a home will impact the levels of dust that are found and created inside this environment.

Below we are going to look at the reasons why these sources produce dust into a home and what you can do to reduce this potential dust exposure indoors.

• Pets: Dogs and cats will release dead skin cells and dead hair into the environment that will act as a major source of dust in a home. This dander will not only impact those in the environment that suffer from allergies, but it will also help in the formation of dust. Therefore, grooming pets regularly to help keep dead skin and hair from accumulating will help minimize the levels of dust in your home.
• Open Windows: One may think that opening the windows in your home can provide many benefits for the airspace, and although this is true it can also adversely impact the dust levels in this indoor space. Dust enters through doors and windows in the form of pollen, mold spores, and airborne pollutants, which will all attribute to the buildup of dust on windowsills.
• Carpeting Throughout the Home: When full-carpeting runs throughout a home it will be a source of dust collection that will build up within the fibers of the carpeting. If you have carpeting inside of your home, it may be necessary to look into switching your floors to a wood, tile, or vinyl that will attract a lot less dust within its composition.
• Dirty Pillows: Pillows and sheets are prone to collecting dust and dust mites on their material, which will work steadily to multiply over time. It is recommended to wash these sheets and pillows frequently to remove any dust found on the pillows and reduce the potential increase in dust and dust mites in the environment over time.
• Unkept Floors: Do you maintain a regular schedule when it comes to cleaning the floors in your home? Floors in a home can harbor a large level of dust and contaminants that will contribute to the increase in dust within the environment. Therefore, giving your floors a thorough cleaning with a mop will help to eliminate up to 90 percent of the dust in a home.

What are Dust Mites & Where Do They Live

With dust, comes along dust mites that can originate from the dust accumulation in the home and feed off of this allergen to steadily multiply within this environment. Dust mites are microscopic bugs that primarily live on dead skin cells that are frequently shed from humans and their animal pets and are released onto the surfaces and in the air of the area. These dust mites are generally harmless; however, it will stir up allergy symptoms and asthma in those occupants of the home that suffer from these conditions.

Dust mites will attract to bedrooms, particularly beds and bed sheets, that can host up to tens of thousands of dust mites within the bed. These dust mites will begin to multiply and take over this environment. However, you will not be able to see these dust mites with the human eye, as they are only about 250 to 300 microns in length with a translucent body. These translucent body dust mites will grow rapidly, with adult female dust mites laying up to 40 to 80 eggs which have about one-month cycle from egg to adult. Below we will learn more about how to get rid of dust mites naturally.

What Takes Dust Out of The Air in Home

As dust travels in the air, it can be potentially harmful when inhaled into the human body and impact the respiratory health of these individuals. The body’s lungs are the natural defense mechanism in the human body that work to remove dust particles from the respiratory system. This dust will enter into the human body and contribute to allergic/asthmatic symptoms that have the potential to significantly debilitate an individual’s health.

When it comes to removing dust, often times many people will forget that dust not only settles on the surfaces of your home, but in the air of your home as well. As you dust the surfaces inside your home some of this dust that you are pushing off of the surfaces will instantly become airborne and travel throughout the air – leading to the inhalation or ingestion of the dust into the human body.

Do Air Purifiers Reduce Dust?

The tiny particles that dust is composed of will remain airborne throughout your home’s air and will become constantly re-circulated within this environment. In a home where there is very little ventilation, the threat of dust in the air can be extreme as it will linger in the air for quite some time with little aid for removal from the indoor air. Thus, by having an effective air purifier residing within your home can be a highly successful addition to combating these tiny particles of dust that are swirling in the air of the home.

Air purifiers were designed to aid in the filtration of indoor air, removing contaminants and pollutants that can be found within the indoor air that are not easily removed from the airspace. There are a variety of different air purifiers that work specifically to remove certain pollutants that can travel throughout the air including noxious odors, chemicals, particles, and allergens. However, finding one all-encompassing air purifier that works effectively to combat all of these airborne pollutants is much easier said than done – as there are very limited options available today for consumer purchase.

The EnviroKlenz Air Purifier is one of the few air purifiers that will provide your home with protection against noxious odors, chemical odors, particles, and even allergens, all through the help of a two-stage filtration process housed within the air purifier. EnviroKlenz utilizes a proprietary earth mineral technology that works to adsorb, neutralize, and eliminate chemical pollutants from a broad array of sources while removing airborne particles such as dust and miscellaneous debris. The EnviroKlenz technology is used within the first stage filtration – the EnviroKlenz Air Cartridge for chemical odor, fragrance, and VOC elimination. The second stage filtration is a hospital-grade HEPA filter that is designed to remove harmful dust, particulates, allergens, pet dander and more from the air at a 99.99 percent efficiency – removing particulates larger than 0.3 microns in size.

The HEPA filter housed within the EnviroKlenz Air Purifier is highly efficient in removing particulate matter like dust from the environment. This image below shows EnviroKlenz’s HEPA filter size compared to other air purifier particulate capacity to show the capacity of these air purifier in trapping particulates.

EnviroKlenz Air Purifier uses a HEPA filter that has more square feet of media when compared to the ones used in the IQAir and the BlueAir. The MoleKule does not have a HEPA filter, so the square feet of the prefilter was used for this comparison. The prefilter, in addition to the having fewer square feet of media, is also significantly less efficient at removing particulates when compared to HEPA or better filters of the EnviroKlenz, IQAir and BlueAir systems.

1. The EnviroKlenz Air System has the highest amount of particulate matter filter media with over 56 square feet,
2. IQ Air has approximately 50 square feet
3. Blue Air approximately 28 square feet
4. MoleKule particle filter has around 3 square feet of particulate filter media.

The more square feet of particulate matter media results in a filter that can capture more particulate matter before needing to be changed.