How do "Anti-Dust and Allergen" Cleaning Products Work?

[Green Bean]

I am waging war against dust in my new apartment. I've done all the typical dust-reduction things, and I do need to get a better vacuum, but in the meantime, I'm dusting a lot. I use old hand-towels for dusting. I generally dampen the cloth slightly with some water or diluted wood-floor cleaner.

But I bought a can of Pledge Clean & Dust spray last week. The can says "Grabs and Removes More Dust and Allergens" with an asterisk and a cross-thingie.

The cross-thingie goes to the statement "vs. dry dusting." The asterisk goes to a statement on the back that says "Removes more dust and allergens from dust mites, pet dander, and pollen, than a plain cloth." Well, duh. Dampening the cloth with anything removes more dust than dry-dusting with a plain cloth.

The back also says "Anti-Dust Formula with Allergen Trappers (tm)" and "Cleans fingerprints and smears." So, I suppose the stuff has some cleaners in it. It has no ingredients listed.

It smells good and and seems to work as well as my old method, but I don't know that it works any better than that.

But does it really do anything to help trap dust and allergens? Or to help control them after use?

If so, how does it work?

Thanks in advance

[Harriet the Spry]

There are products that react with the proteins in dust mite allergens to make them non-allergenic. These are not widely available in the average grocery store. I buy mine from an allergy-specific catalog/ website. These do not remove the allergen, just change the protein so it doesn't bother my allergies. In my experience they do work. When air has a lot of dust mite in it, I can feel it in my nose. I spray this stuff, and the air no longer causes that sensation.

What you are talking about sounds like something improves the ability of a cloth to pick up dust. That doesn't sound like the same thing. For me as a dust mite allergy sufferer, it would be good for someone else to use that product to dust my house. It would remove the dust while (probably) leaving the dust in its allergenic state. A product like you describe could also improve pickup of pollen and pet dander.

If you are trying to remove dust for "normal" reasons, I don't think the dust mite products have much to offer you. If you are allergic to dust mites, you probably don't want to be doing all that dusting yourself. You might find microfiber cloths pick up dust better than the hand towels, but maybe not enough to justify the price.

[Green Bean]

Thanks, Harriet.

Actually, I have been diagnosed with a dust mite allergy. I don't think it's too severe, though. I am going to be getting some dust-mite specific products and do all the mite-proofing stuff. I can't do it all at once, though, and I'm the only one available to dust. Fortunately, this apartment and most of my furniture is not very conducive to mites.

In the meantime, I'm trying to reduce the overall dust load and get into good dusting habits!

I will definitely look into getting the dusting product you mentioned. Not to hijack the thread too much, but my allergist recommended www.natlallergy.com. Do you like that site? Do you know of another good one?

In any case, my question was inspired more by sheer curiosity than anything.

[Harriet the Spry]

My allergist recommended the same site and I've been pleased with the stuff I got there. Some times I can find some things at Target/Wal-Mart type places for a little cheaper, but usually I buy from National Allergy because I know they will have a wide selection in stock. I have some Allersafe and De-Mite now, and have used other products.

If you have to dust your place yourself, you might want to consider getting masks to wear while you do it. If there's anyone you can trade chores with to avoid dusting and vacuuming, you might want to try it.

Maybe you are not as sensitive as I am, but for me it was like a lightbulb going off to realize I had this allergy problem. I used to really get wiped out whenever I cleaned house and be exhausted for a day or two afterward. First I thought, "oh, everyone hates housework, I'm just especially lazy." Well, both parts of that sentence may be true , but it actually isn't normal to be exhausted for two days because you dusted and vacuumed your apartment.

One other thing that made a lot of difference to me was keeping the humidity low. Dust mites aren't exactly the same thing as dust, and they breed more when there is humidity above a certain point. So when I was running a humidifier to try to help with my irritatated nasal passages, I was actually making the problem worse. I didn't need to get a dehumidifier, but just stop using the humidifier, run the A/C, and not open windows on humid days.

Good luck with all this!