It doesn’t take long for dust to accumulate on shelves, countertops, and other areas throughout your home. Fortunately, this non-toxic, homemade dusting spray makes cleaning filthy surfaces a breeze. Ingredients like distilled white vinegar and dish soap help to disinfect items coated in dust, pet hair, pollen, and other dirt and debris. Thanks to several drops of a citrus essential oil, this DIY spray will leave your home smelling as clean as it looks, and with the addition of olive oil, you can actually repel dust so your home will stay clean longer.
You don’t need a store-bought cleaner to get rid of dust build-up in your home. With these few household ingredients, you can make your own dusting spray and keep your house clean and tidy for the long haul.
How to Make a Homemade Dusting Spray
Making a DIY dusting spray is simple and effective. In fact, you probably have many of the key ingredients in your home already!
Combine one cup of water, half a cup of distilled white vinegar, and two tablespoons of olive oil in a small spray bottle, then shake it up a little to mix everything together.
We also recommend adding a couple drops of dish soap and 10 to 12 drops of essential oil (such as lemon, lavender, or sweet orange). To use the cleaner, simply spray your dusty surfaces, then wipe away the grime with a microfiber cloth.
Be sure to shake your dusting spray well before use, as the oils and water will separate when left alone.
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Why This Homemade Dusting Spray Is So Effective
Each ingredient in your homemade dusting spray provides specific benefits to help you get rid up dust around your home, disinfect surfaces, and prevent dust from accumulating as quickly.
- Vinegar: Distilled white vinegar or cleaning vinegar is a common ingredient for many DIY homemade cleaners because vinegar is a natural disinfectant. This essential ingredient breaks down grease and bacteria, to help clean surfaces all throughout your home.
- Olive oil: Olive oil works as a protective film in your homemade dusting spray, by slowing down dust build-up and keeping surfaces clean for longer. Additionally, it leaves a nice, polished look on surfaces after you’ve dusted.
- Dish soap (optional): Although dish soap is not absolutely necessary to include in your homemade dusting spray, this ingredient provides an added cleaning boost.
- Essential oil (optional): Essential oils are another common addition to homemade cleaners, because they provide a fresh and pleasant aroma after cleaning. It can also subdue the strong vinegar smell in many DIY cleaning solutions, including this dusting spray.
5 Tips to Prevent and Get Rid of Dust Build-Up
Dust is a combination of dead skin cells, pollen, bacteria, clothing fibers, dirt, and more, making it an inevitable, unwelcome guest in any home. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to prevent and get rid of dust build-up in your house, including the homemade dusting spray.
Here are some additional tips to help you keep your home dust-free for longer:
- Wipe surfaces with dryer sheets: As strange as it may sound, wiping down surfaces like baseboards and windowsills with a dryer sheet can help prevent the build-up of dust over time. This is a great solution to use for areas dust less frequently.
- Swap olive oil for fabric softener: Some people trade olive oil for a spoonful of fabric softener in their DIY dusting spray, as this ingredient can achieve similar results.
- Buy an air purifier: With an air purifier, you can trap dust particles floating in your air before they have a chance to settle on surfaces in your home.
- Clean regularly: Of course you can get rid of dust build-up by wiping down surfaces with your homemade spray and a microfiber cloth, but you can also avoid excess dust by cleaning often. This includes vacuuming, sweeping, washing linens, and more.
- Use doormats and remove shoes: Our shoes can track in dust, dirt, pollen, and more from outside, making dusting an even more frequent chore. Use doormats to remove debris from your shoes and consider enforcing a “no shoes” policy in your home.
