From Clutter & Chaos to Calm & Control

From Clutter & Chaos to Calm & Control
FROM CLUTTER and CHAOS to CALM and CONTROL - LISA'S STORY (click on her picture to find out all about her!)

Friday 21 March 2014

Its NOT Just Dust, Darling!

Earlier this week I wrote a short facebook post about what’s really in those delightful little “dust bunnies” we all have accumulating in different corners of our houses, and it has prompted me to expand this desperately boring but important subject out a bit, to explain why the substance of dust is such a significant threat to human health, why we need to take more notice of it, and why - while tedious and tiresome - maintaining a dust-free environment is really important to our well being.

Dust is something that most of us generally do notice but don’t really want to think too much about.  That light, talcum-powdery coating we find on the furniture, nestling in nooks and crannies, and lurking on the architraves simply translates to work, and most of us would rather use the time we’d typically spend getting rid of it in a far more enjoyable way.  Perfectly understandable - after all, it’s not too difficult to ignore what we think of as a minor irritant, in preference to foregoing a meeting for coffee with a friend, spending time with the kids, or getting on with that blog we have to write!


But dust is not quite as benign or innocuous as we’d like to think.   As the subject of significant and intense scientific research and analysis, general household dust has been found to contain a worrying accumulation of deeply unpleasant ingredients, and while specific composition does vary by location, the overall analysis suggests that wherever it happens to be, it is in fact a significant threat to human health. Dust mites, for example, produce allergens that are well-documented “triggers” for people suffering from asthma and their presence can be enough to start the disease in those who haven’t previously had it.

The specific dust mix in any household varies with the climate, the age of the house, the number of people who live in it and the types of pets they have, along with their cleaning, cooking, personal hygiene and smoking habits. Commonly, the average dust combination contains dead human skin, animal fur, dried mould spores, the decomposing faeces and bodies of insects, ash, food debris, lint and organic fibres from clothes, bedding and other fabrics (such as wool), tracked-in soil, soot, particles from smoking and cooking, and, rather worryingly, chemical and metal particles such as lead (e.g. from vehicle exhaust fumes), arsenic (e.g. from nicotine, airborne volcanic dust and dust from mining and burning coal) and ingredients used in crop sprays and garden fertilizers.  Dust in the home can be absorbed into carpets, curtains and rugs and can remain there for long periods of time, as can powdered forms of residue from the chemicals present from home cleaning, DIY activity, and smoking.



Would we voluntarily snort any of that?  Erm... nope.

But here’s the thing – that’s exactly what we’re doing!  We are actually breathing in these airborne particles BEFORE they settle on the surfaces in our homes.  Whenever we open a window to invite the fresh air in, we also unwittingly invite in all these things that make their presence felt in the form of the dust we try to ignore, and since the ingredients all have different effects on different people they pose different risks to health.  Children are particularly at risk of compromised health from dust and its ingredients, as they often play on the floor where it tends to accumulate, and they routinely transfer any bacteria on their hands directly to their mouths. 

As our lives tend to get busier and there is less and less time available to meet our obligations, housework often tends to slide as we seek to enjoy the quality time that gives us the much-needed balance between work and play.  It’s a hard enough balance to strive for at the best of times. Outsourcing your domestic cleaning is a sensible option to ensure that a healthy home environment can be maintained in a way that doesn't stretch you to the absolute limit of your own capability and time.  It’s easy to put a price on having your house cleaned, but a lot harder to quantify the cost of compromised health or lost quality time.  One of my customers put it in a nutshell when she first hired Darlings Who Do.  She said that she is incredibly busy running a business, her house needs cleaning, and her beautiful little boy was growing up and she and her partner didn't want to miss a moment of the time they could have with him.  The logical compromise in her busy life was outsourcing the domestic cleaning.  It made more sense to her than anything else. Now, having domestic support is simply a part of her weekly housekeeping costs.


There’s absolutely no need to be unduly paranoid about dust in the home. It is, after all, part of everyday life, and our homes can never really be entirely free of it. But there are ways to reduce it and minimize its accumulation.  Regularly cleaning it from floors and other surfaces in your home (or car or office) will enhance the environment you live in and will significantly reduce the risks it poses to your own and your family’s health, especially if its done the way WE do it - without the use of harsh, unnecessary chemicals that raise important questions about whether clean is always healthy!  Outsourcing this most mundane of tasks also gives you back your quality time – and that’s something you can’t put any kind of price on.




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