ATLANTA – Cleaning dust from your window sills and bookshelves can be a never-ending battle, but you’ve got to wonder why one of the most popular places for dust is also one of the hardest to reach spots.
Take a look at your ceiling fan. In most homes, it is lined with dust.
Why?
First, let’s get the lowdown on how dust gets into your home.
You create some of it. Dust is made of the dead skin and hair that you shed. Your pet contributes particles of its skin and hair. We call that pet dander.
Some of the particles gather into dust bunnies while some of it is microscopic.
You would think that a rotating ceiling fan would toss dust aside, but it actually has the opposite effect.
“Electrical equipment like a ceiling fan carries an electric current,” says Pamela Turner, an Extension Housing Specialist with the University of Georgia. “As the blades turn, there is friction which creates an electrical charge. Charged dust particles attract other dust particles.”
The same electrical charge can draw dust to your television screen.
One tip when you’re dusting the blades of a ceiling fan is to cover them with a pillowcase to capture falling dust.
“People with asthma or allergies often benefit by cleaning ceiling fans regularly,” says Turner.
