We clean up Middleton's farm dust

Farm dust gets into Middleton homes

There is still a lot of farm ground around Middleton, and the wind across the valley picks up that soil and carries it. When a field gets plowed or cut, the dust comes in through window screens and around door frames. It settles as a fine tan film on window sills and blinds. You can wipe a sill on Monday and see it back by Thursday. Garages and mudrooms get the worst of it.

Left alone, that dust does more than look bad. It gets pulled into the furnace return and blown back around the house. It also builds up on ceiling fan blades, and the fan throws it across the room when you turn it on. On hard floors it works like fine sandpaper under shoes and chair legs. If anyone in the house has allergies, they usually feel it before they see it.

So on a Middleton house we clean from the top down. We start with fans and high ledges and work down to sills and blinds. Floors go last, so nothing we knock loose lands on a surface we already cleaned. We wipe out the window tracks too, because that is where field dirt piles up. It takes longer than a quick pass with the vacuum, but the dust leaves the house instead of moving to a new shelf.

• Fans and high ledges dusted first
• Window sills and tracks wiped out
• Entry floors mopped where boots track in dirt
• Hard water spots cleaned off faucets and glass
• Floors vacuumed and mopped last

Newer houses still carry construction dust

Much of Middleton is new. Subdivisions have gone up on land that grew crops not long ago, and on many streets the building is still going on next door. Those houses tend to have open floor plans and tall ceilings. That means two extra jobs for us. There is fine drywall dust left inside from the build, and there is fresh dirt blowing over from lots still being graded down the road.

Drywall dust is finer than field dust, and it hides. It sits on top of door frames and inside cabinet corners. It also lines the heating ducts, so the vents keep blowing it out for months after move-in. It dulls new floors as well. A dry mop only pushes it around, and a mop that is too wet leaves a white haze behind. A lot of people blame the lot next door for a dusty new house, when some of it is coming out of their own vents.

We wipe vent covers and the tops of door frames on every visit to a newer house. That is where the build dust keeps coming back. Floors get a damp mop that is wrung out well, so they dry clear instead of hazy. Tall ceilings mean high fans and ledges that most people cannot reach from the floor. We get up to those too, so the dust does not sit over your living room all season.

Winter is hard on Middleton floors

Winters here bring snow and freezing nights, and then the thaw turns gravel drives and unfinished lots into mud. It comes in on boots and dog paws and gets ground into entry rugs and the grout by the back door. Road sand comes in with it. Leave that grit on a floor all winter and it wears through the finish in the spots everyone walks.

Cold weather keeps windows shut for weeks. In the middle of winter the valley often sits under still, hazy air, so nothing in the house airs out. Cooking grease and dust settle on the kitchen cabinets and the range hood. The water adds its own mess. Water across the valley runs hard, and it leaves white spots on shower glass and a crust around faucets that plain soap will not lift.

Some of the older houses near Main Street have wood floors and older tile, and those take the worst of the winter grit. We sweep and vacuum before any water touches them, and wood gets a damp cloth instead of a soaked mop. The shops and offices on Main Street get the same mud at the door. We also do janitorial work for businesses, so a Middleton office or shop can go on the schedule too.

Getting a price in Middleton

Call Jean's Cleaning at (208) 321-4595, Monday to Friday between 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM, or send us a message from this page. Tell us how big your Middleton house is and how often you want us there. For a business, tell us what kind of space it is and what needs cleaning. You get a free quote before any work starts, so you know the price and what it covers.