Top Tips for Cleaning Builders Dust

If you’ve had some kind of construction work on your home and the builders have left, I’m afraid to tell you the real stress is only just beginning. Whether it was a full-scale renovation or just a few smaller changes, the dust left over gets in everywhere, and cleaning your entire property of it can at first seem like an impossible task. This can be dealt with by hiring a professional cleaning service, but if you want to save money by taking the job upon yourself, here’s a guide to help you through it.

    Preparation
First of all, you need to prepare your home against any accidental damages which sometimes happen while cleaning up after builders. Start by covering all your electronics with either cling film or plastic bags which you can use tape to seal. They may have incurred some damage from the actual construction period, but leaving them uncovered while you clean up after the builders can make this damage far worse. While all good construction companies are insured against damages to your property, you may want to take this precaution before they actually begin work. If it’s a long-term project and you want to be absolutely sure, it may be worth doing a quick clean up at the end of each day.

    Open up windows
When cleaning up after builders, try to avoid tackling the dust as you would with any other patches around your home. The problem with sweeping dust in such massive quantities is that you’ll often be lifting it into the air and leaving it to settle somewhere else in the room. If you really have to sweep a patch of dust, open all the windows in the room and try to direct the debris as best as possible out of the room. Before tackling the room again, leave it alone for a little while so that the dust can settle. You’ll probably not only find builders’ dust on your floor, but also clinging in patches to your walls and ceiling. Fortunately, it’s a lot easier to deal with in these areas. Simply wet a cloth and gently rub at the dust in small circles until it lifts off. It’s best to leave this a few days if you’ve recently had your walls painted.

    Vacuum
After you’ve got as much off using this method of cleaning, switch to the vacuum. If your vacuum has a filter, make sure you check it often, as the dust can build up quickly and cause some serious damage. Once you’ve run the vacuum around all the affected rooms at least twice and start to notice a significant improvement, you can start mopping the floors.

    Mop
Any cleaning product you like will be sufficient for this job, but it may be worth paying out a little more for something with significantly stronger lifting power to make sure. As with any step towards getting rid of builder’s dust, one sweep of your house will very rarely be enough to get it spotless, and will leave large, ugly streaks over a lot of the area you clean.

    Wipe windowsills
Once this is done you should be only left with the windowsills. After the gruelling domestic work you’ve already been through, this part will seem like a breeze. Simply attach a narrow extension to your vacuum, and sweep over all the sills. As with the floors, you should make a point to open as many windows as you can to increase airflow, and follow up with mopping the area with a wet cloth. Remember that removing builders’ dust is an invariably long process, and if you don’t have the time to take it in small, manageable bites you should try to find help from somewhere.