Whether you’re doing DIY renovations or have hired a team, cleaning up after you’re done can be a massive job. Dust is inevitable, and you’ll likely find it’s been tracked throughout your home no matter how careful you’ve been.
Knowing how to deal with all this dust and debris is important because it can get everywhere. Below, we’ll cover the best ways to tackle it, which is especially useful if you don’t have cleaners Bromley.
The Best Ways to Remove Dust and Debris After Home Improvements
1. Dust the Walls and Ceiling
As with all cleaning jobs, it’s best to start at the top and work down. You might not notice any dust on the ceilings or walls, but it’s most likely there. So, start by dusting walls and ceilings using a standard duster.
Ideally, you’ll want to knock it onto the floor. To do this, dust in a downwards or swiping motion rather than in circles like you normally would.
2. Clean Decorations and Light Fittings
Hopefully, you put all your decorations into storage or covered them up. If not, you might have a big cleaning job ahead of you! Things like books and DVDs will trap dust and you’ll have to dust each one individually if you want to get it properly clean.
It might help to take everything off the shelves and take it outside to clean it properly. Doing so will at least reduce the amount of dust that’s floating around in your home.
3. Set Up an Air Purifier
Cleaning all the surfaces in your home will be wasted effort if you don’t deal with airborne dust. Eventually, this’ll land on all the surfaces you’ve cleaned, making them dirty again.
Air purifiers aren’t expensive, and getting one with a HEPA filter will make a massive difference to all the dust in your home. Set it up to run while you clean and then leave it on for a few days after. You don’t need to run it 24/7 – just set it up during the day.
4. Wipe Down Hard Surfaces
Next on the list is hard surfaces, such as mantle pieces, shelves, tables, etc. Again, start from the top and work down until you get to about skirting board level. It might help to hoover things first with the brush attachment before you use a duster.
You can either use polish or a damp cloth depending on the surface you’re wiping. You’ll probably have more luck with a damp cloth because it’ll catch dust more effectively, and then you can follow up with some polish.
5. Sweep the Floors with a Broom
Unless you have the luxury of a shop vacuum, you’ll want to sweep floors first. Domestic hoovers won’t deal with larger pieces of debris too well, so it helps to get these up before you hoover.
This step is more about dealing with debris than dust, so make sure you pick up all the larger bits with a broom and then a dustpan and brush.
6. Wipe Down the Walls
We’ve already dusted the walls, but once you’ve moved a lot of dust to the floor, it’ll be helpful to give them a wipe down. Use some warm water with a few drops of washing up liquid and a tea towel.
Make sure the cloth is properly wrung out so you’re not wetting the walls too much. If you’re unsure about the finish of your paint, do a spot test somewhere. Matte paints will show water marks if your cloth is too wet, so consider just dusting the wall a second time if you’re concerned about this.
7. Hoover, Hoover, Hoover
Be prepared to hoover your house from top to bottom several times if you want to properly deal with all the dust. Start upstairs and work your way down, regardless of where the renovations happened.
The brush attachment will be your friend here, particularly for doing skirting boards and getting in corners. Hoover the whole house and check things the following day. If you notice any dust, hoover again. Carpets will hold a lot, so you’ll definitely need to do them several times.
8. Make Sure You Mop Thoroughly
Even if you’re using a good quality hoover, a mop will do wonders for picking up fine particles and construction dust. It can form a thin film over hard floors that you probably won’t even notice until you wash them. Of course, if your home is mostly carpeted, you’ll want to hire a carpet cleaner and use that instead.
Final Thoughts
Cleaning up home renovation mess takes a lot of work. Dust will have found its way into the smallest spaces, so make sure you’re thorough. Provided you start at the top of each room and work down, you should be able to methodically catch it all. Just be prepared to spend a long time dusting!
