Dusted and Disgusted - 3 Facts About Dust

Dust. Almost every home I go into has a lot of it. I have seen dust caked on every surface imaginable. We have been known to vacuum about 10 lbs of dust out of one home. A lot of Collectors that I personally work with have some sort of breathing problem and have to use some sort of breathing machine. I feel like a lot of it has to do with the dust in the home. 

A window I recently opened - after over 10 years.

Clutter attracts dust. POOF like a bag of flour exploding, our dust rag hits the banister. Without a mask I feel it seep into my mouth, tongue, teeth and yes lungs. It's "chalk" like. 

It is very important to open up windows before we dust, and we encourage everyone on the team to wear a N95 dust mask or a respirator. That includes our Client who is always on the team.

Below are three facts about dust that you might not know:

Dust consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil, dust lifted by weather (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes, offices, and other human environments contains small amounts of plant pollen, human and animal hairs, textile fibers, paper fibers, minerals from outdoor soil, human skin cells, burnt meteorite particles, and many other materials which may be found in the local environment.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust)

Collector Care Crew w/ Masks

Dust pneumonia is a medical condition that develops due to the excessive exposure to dust. This form of respiratory disorder affected a great number of people during 1930s in the US when the Dust bowl took place. The Dust bowl refers to a period of dust storms that affected American and Canadian prairies during a severe drought in1930s. The Dust Bowl caused ecological damage, agricultural depression and consequently economic and social disaster. Enormous amount of dust in the air caused dust pneumonia in large portion of the population and many died.(http://m.steadyhealth.com)

Dust mites grow best at 75-80% relative humidity, and they cannot survive when the humidity is below 50%.

Dust mite populations peak during the hot, humid months of July and August. Depending on its age, your mattress may house between one million and ten million dust mites. Dust mites flourish in warm, humid environments.

Now that you know a little bit more about dust, I invite you to purchase some masks. Not in bulk my wonderful Hoarding Disorder Clients. Go online (we know you hate going out) and order yourself a few to have around when you are cleaning or sorting and kicking up dust. Make sure it has a particulate filter. Below are two examples of ones we like:

Rachel Seavey, Blogger and Owner of Collector Care

Rachel Seavey speaks regularly about dust and clutter during her presentations for the Better Breathers Club Ca. American Lung Association. She prides herself on providing full service organizing needs to her clients including dusting and detailed vacuuming using a HEPA filter high grade vacuum.

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