During the summer months it is not unusual to have windows and doors open to get some fresh air and ventilation in your building. Whether you do it during the early morning hours, or in the evening you can’t avoid having extra dust come into the building.
Dust is made up of dead skin cells, dust mites, animal dander, pollen, fungi, and bacteria. All of these particulates combined make for very poor indoor air quality. Not all commercial buildings have live plants inside to help clean the air and therefore regular dusting is imperative to improving the indoor air quality of your business.
Here are the best steps for effectively dusting a commercial space:
- Dust is impossible to hide. A stain in the carpet can be covered with a decorative rug, and a blemish on the wall can be hidden using a nice picture but, dust is out in the open for everyone to see. Microfiber cloths are a very effective tool for wiping dust away. Microfiber is made from synthetic fibers that are charged with static electricity. This reaction causing the dust to be pulled from the surface it is sitting on and attached to the microfiber cloth. Microfiber is also absorbent so you can use the appropriate cleaning solution for the surface you are dusting. A microfiber cloth will pick up bacteria, pollens, and any other irritants that are flying around and landing on your surfaces.
- You can’t hide the dust, but the dust can hide. Dust will land on all surfaces when the breeze in the air slows down. For this reason, it is important to move all items from off of a shelf and dust each one, and then dust the entire shelf. If you just dust around items sitting on a shelf you are not really improving the indoor air quality and eventually your customers will be able to see the dust tracks where you wiped around items. If you have paintings or pictures hanging up, make sure to take them down and wipe around the whole frame.
- Top to bottom. When dust is disrupted, it will start to fly around in the air. No matter what type of cloth or cleaning solution you are using you can’t avoid this. For this reason, it is best to start dusting at the top of the room and work your way down, with sweeping and vacuuming being the last step. This way, any dust that you kick up will land on the floor and get cleaned up.
Thorough and proper dusting is an essential part of providing your customers with a pleasant and clean environment within which to do business. Make sure to dust your commercial space every day, with a deep cleaning dust once a week.