The post How to Clean Up Dust In Your House After Construction Work appeared first on UK Construction Blog.

Construction or renovation work in your home can be stressful but rewarding. Once the work is done, the fun part can begin: cleaning up. Whether you’re doing the construction yourself or hiring builders, dealing with dust is arguably the hardest part.

So, how can you clean up dust effectively after a big construction job? Let’s find out.

How to Clean Up Dust In Your House After Construction Work

1. Prevention is Better than Reaction

Ideally, you’ll want to prevent as much dust as possible from settling. To do so, cover furniture with plastic sheeting and lay down dustsheets or tarps on floors. Doing so means you can usually just pick up the cover and shake it outside. It’s not always possible to cover things, but it makes a big difference if you can.

Similarly, it’ll be worth covering carpets with plastic sheeting. It’s more important than covering hard floors, as dust will settle in carpets and will be very difficult to get out.

2. Open the Windows

This is less of a cleaning tip and more of a safety tip. Open the windows when you’re cleaning up construction dust to improve ventilation!

3. Start at the Top and Work Down

When it comes to actually cleaning up the fine dust, start at the top of a room (or your entire house) and work down. If you can reach the ceiling with your hoover, this will be the best option. Just make sure you attach the small brush head to avoid scuffing surfaces.

If your ceilings are higher, use a soft broom or a duster on a stick. This is less about collecting dust and more about knocking it down to somewhere you can hoover it up. Make sure you get into the corners, as dust can stick there.

4. Dust Walls with a Microfibre Cloth

A microfibre cloth is great for catching fine dust particles, which can easily stick to walls. Using a damp cloth is even more effective, but you should avoid this on interior walls unless you’ve used bathroom or kitchen paint.

It’s better to wipe down walls than dust them in the same way as ceilings. This is because you’ll likely find dust will stick to walls after it’s been knocked into the air, so it’s best to just try and capture it.

5. Hire a Wet-Dry Vacuum Cleaner

Domestic vacuum cleaners are good for most standard jobs. However, you might find yours is lacking the suction needed to properly pick up all the fine dust particles generated by construction work.

A wet-dry vacuum, on the other hand, will be much more powerful and is designed for this sort of job. You can rent them from all kinds of hardware and building suppliers, and they’re usually fairly inexpensive. Although you’ll probably still have to go over the area more than once, it’ll do a much better job than your regular hoover.

6. Shampoo Carpets

You should be shampooing your carpets every year or so anyway, but it’ll be important to do it after construction work. As mentioned, dust will settle very deep into carpet fibres and even a powerful hoover will struggle to get it all out. If you don’t lay down plastic sheets, you’ll have to spend some time cleaning your carpet.

Luckily, you can rent a carpet cleaner from the same place you get a wet-dry vacuum cleaner. Pass over the carpet a few times with the hoover and then shampoo it to properly remove all the building dust.

7. Get a Flat Mop

A flat mop has a rectangular head and a long, flat mop pad. These are usually easier to use than a traditional mop but also can’t clean as deeply. For our needs, though, they’re perfect for all kinds of jobs.

Specifically, you’ll be using it dry to pick up dust. Look for one with a microfibre head because it’ll do a really good job of trapping fine particles. Following the tips above, start on the ceiling and then wipe down the walls. This should get rid of most of the dust, allowing you to hoover up anything left.

Final Thoughts

Cleaning up construction dust isn’t particularly difficult but it does require a consistent method. Start at the top of the room and work down, focusing on corners and nooks and crannies. Provided you’re consistent and use the right tools, it shouldn’t take you too long to pick up all the construction dust in your home. If you don’t have the time for it, then a house cleaning service will suffice.