I operate a housecleaning business and have for several years. One of my newest clients has a dust challenge that really has me puzzled. She has more dust than anyone I've ever seen! Her house is pretty clean, and is only four years old. When I say dust, I'm talking about an absolutely incredible amount, even on the baseboards. I can clean her home, and three days later, it looks like no one's been there in months. Here's what is NOT the problem:

There's no new construction going on nearby.
They have no pets.
They don't smoke.
They don't use Charmin toilet tissue (a big culprit, I've found).
They've had their dryer vent completely cleaned.
They change their filters once a month and have tried both the normal filters and the hypoallergenic filters - no difference.
They've had the contractor come back in and completely take out all of the insulation out of the attic and put down the rolled insulation (they originally had the shredded kind).
They've cleaned the coils on their fridge, both back and bottom.
They don't open their windows.
She doesn't fold her laundry anywhere but the laundry room.

This dust is so thick, that when you run your finger along the baseboard, you can literally push the dust as you go...this is three days after the house has been cleaned.

They've been struggling with this problem since they bought the house, and have had the contractor back in repeatedly, to no avail. He's (the contractor) out of ideas, and so am I.

Do you guys have any other ideas?

Thanks so much!

Mariah

my house is the same way. I thought it was 4 kids and all carpeting. Now the kids are older and not running around the place all day, and more than 1/2 the carpeting got replaced with wood floors and it's still dusty ALL the time.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the house had hardwood floors with stone tiles in the kitchen and bathroom, with no area rugs. They also have one of those air cleaner things that NEVER shows clean...it always shows "dirty", no matter how long they run it.

They're an older couple, with no children living at home.

Your post fascinated me. So I did some searching. Here's an interesting website on the subject of dust: What causes dust in your house? - Cleaning (Other) - Helium

I noticed that one of the causes brought up more than once and one I hadn't thought of are skin cells. Although it seems that the skin cells of just 2 people in a house wouldn't cause that much dust.

Thank you for that link - It was really interesting.

One more thing - the "dust" looks like dryer lint to me. I mean, really just dryer lint. It clings to the baseboards, the plantation shutters, the chair rails, the furniture...it is all over EVERYTHING! I've truly never seen anything like this.

This woman's house is practically spotless when I go in to clean - she's one of the cleanest, neatest people I have, but the dust is unreal!

Do they live in the country? I do and there is dust although not that thick on things simply because there is no pavement and everything comes in.

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Hi Anna!

No, they don't live in the country - they live in a well-developed housing development with paved roads.

I clean other homes in that same development and haven't run into anything even close to this problem.

Thanks!

Is there a bunch of electronics on that wall? This is a mystery if you figure it out let us know. Weird huh?

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What about the air conditioning and heater venting throughout the house? Could it be drywall dust and dirt down in the ventilation system that is getting blown about whenever the furnace/air conditioner kicks on?

Lisa

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Update - We "think" we might have an idea of what could be causing this. It seems her outside dryer vent and the heating/ac unit is side by side. Is it possible that the heating/ac unit is sucking in the dryer vent lint and disbursing it throughout the house? This seems like a logical explanation to me, but it also seems it's something the contractor would've thought of. What do you guys think? And how could I test it?

Thanks so much!
Mariah

Well, you could take something like one of those BIG candy straws in a bright color and when the centra is on pour it on a plate or something and see if it sucks it in and then if it does it would be in all the usual places the dust is accumulating. Then bring in the contractor and show him where it is coming from.

If the home owner had blown in insulation it sometimes gets in the duct work. It leaves a heavy dust around the entire house. It is sometimes a bluish or gray color and seems to be non-ending. She may need to have her ducts cleaned. This can be expensive and some places it is hard to find a reputable person to do the work.

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