Can Towels on Tables in a Living Room Help With Dust?

Eliminating Dust

• No matter how often you clean, you can never completely eliminate dust because 80 percent of dust is made of human skin cells. To eliminate dust, you would essentially have to move out of your home. By placing towels on your coffee and end tables, you simply allow the towels to become covered in dust.

Benefits of Towels

• One key difference between dust-covered towels and a dust-covered table is that dust is usually more visible on the latter. Covering your living room tables with towels allows you to wait more time between cleanings. Towels can also make a conversation piece as guests will wonder why they're there. Use small, stylish towels with plain hems to avoid drawing too much attention to them.

Drawbacks

• Adding towels to your living room decor if you or anyone who regularly enters your living room suffers from allergies is a bad idea. Fabric surfaces attract dust mites, microscopic creatures whose corpses and droppings cause allergic reactions. Dust mites cause symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, itchy eyes and runny nose. Decrease dust mites' effects by washing your towels at least once a week in water that is at least 130 degrees F.

Alternative Solutions

• Instead of using towels, modify your cleaning habits to decrease the amount of dust in your home. Vacuum your home at least once per week, and avoid feather dusters since they throw dust into the air rather than collecting it entirely. Use a damp rag to remove dust from surfaces without redistributing it.