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What To Do When You Think Dust Is Blowing Out Of Your Home's Vents

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Your home's HVAC unit should help keep the air in the house clean through filtration, but if you've noticed that the areas in line with the airflow from these vents are always dusty, you've got to find out what's going on. Solving the problem fully may take some time, but a fast way to help clean up involves air duct cleaning. It is possible to reduce the amount of dust your home deals with, and duct cleaning is a huge part of that.

Find the Cause and Address the Current State

You can solve this issue by addressing two things. One is the current state of the vents and ducts; if you just bought an older house, for example, it's possible the ducts are full of dust from years of neglect. Be sure to change the HVAC filter, too. But that dust came from somewhere, and it's possible that your home has issues. Sometimes the dust can be particulates from outside, like pollen getting in through open doors or ash floating in from a local brush fire. The dust can come from old carpet, linty tissues, and more. You've got to locate the sources of that dust in addition to cleaning out existing piles.

Duct Cleaning Is the Fastest Remedy

As you search for the main cause of the dust, you should turn your attention to the vents and ducts themselves because cleaning those out is a fast way to improve the situation. Dust can build up in air ducts slowly, and over the years, that can turn into a major mess. A residential air duct cleaning company can place special vacuum hoses in the vents and remove dust, cobwebs, and other debris quickly. While you'll still have to find and stop the real causes of the dust getting into the ducts, removing what's already in there will reduce the flow of dust out of the vents immediately.

Revamp Your Cleaning Routines

Regardless of whether the cause of the dust was something you did or something external, now would be a good time to revamp your cleaning routines. Dust more frequently, using electrostatic dust cloths to prevent spreading the dust around to other surfaces. Vacuum at least once a week; twice if you have pets or if it's allergy season. Look at replacing your window screens if there are holes or gaps; while this won't block out all dust, it can help stop larger particles, such as leaf debris, from blowing inside. If external doors have large gaps under them, install door sweeps.

You'll also want to do laundry more frequently for sheets and other bedding, and as strange as it may sound, use moisturizer if you aren't already. A lot of "dust" in homes consists of dead skin cells from dry skin. Finally, start scheduling regular duct-cleaning appointments, such as yearly or every couple of years. Giving the ducts a good cleaning once in a while ensures that the buildup you originally had to clean out never occurs again.

For more information on residential air duct cleaning, contact a professional near you.


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