My apartment is too dusty, help!

Cognisseur

So I feel like this has a pretty obvious solution, but for some reason it escapes me.

I share a one bedroom apartment with my girlfriend and two kitties. Lately, I've noticed there's a lot of dust, and cat hair, and other general... tiny badness... all around my apartment. Ideally, it'd be nice if there was just some plug-in or something that did this for me so I don't have to scrub my apartment daily, but for now I'd settle for an effective method of getting rid of it in the first place.

It's approximately absolute zero outside, so leaving windows open to air the place out isn't too likely. I'd vacuum, but that's a pretty short task, since we just have one tiny carpet in the living room and the rest of the apartment is hardwood. I figure I can dust and sweep, but I feel like I'd just be putting a lot of the dust back in the air to settle elsewhere, and the idea of thoroughly wiping down every surface, floor, and wall every other day just doesn't seem very efficient to me.

What am I missing here? How do I get my apartment to be a cleaner place?

TexiKen

Change the air filters every month or so.

tbloxham

If you have two cats in a small apartment you should clean and dust every day if you want that show home look, every other day for normal purposes

Zul the Conqueror

You can also see about switching to a lower-dust cat litter. I have the same problem (not solved completely yet...) so I recently switched from Arm & Hammer to Scoop Away litter. If you're willing to give up clumping litter you can probably get even lower- or no-dust options.

JebusUD

vacuum the furniture too. Brush the cats.

Sir Carcass

Dust.

Wait an hour.

Vacuum.

Wait a day.

Repeat until dust is less noticeable.

RUNN1NGMAN

If you live in an apartment building and have central heat/air, building maintenance generally only changes units' air filters once or twice a year. And they use the cheapest filters imaginable. Buy some 3M Filtrete filters and change the filter every 2-3 months. You'll notice a huge difference.

Cognisseur

What do we mean by dust? Like, dry rub random stuff? Or like, spray some cleaner and wipe down? Do I spray and wipe walls? Do I mop the floors every other day?

...Are you sure there isn't some nice plug-in freshener that does this for me or something? This seems like a lot of work.

fightinfilipino

you could purchase a standalone air filtration unit. they're not too costly, but you will have to pay for replacement filters AND you will have to use more electricity to run it.

i have one in my apartment, and my roommate and i have noticed dust visibly reduce.

November Fifth

Do this once a month:

Get a dust mop and some rags/washcloths for dusting.

Run the dust mop along the corners of the room and around any light fixtures/fans/etc. that are collecting dust.

Wipe down the furniture and appliances with a moist rag. If you have wood furniture you can spray that with Endust and wipe (Do not use Pledge, it will eat through the finish over time). If you have a glass coffee table, feel free to use a glass cleaner on it.

Vacuum your upholstered furniture and any draperies.

Wipe down your cabinetry and baseboards with a damp rag.

Vacuum your carpet. Mop the hardwood floors with the dust mop. Mop your kitchen floors with a wet mop.

Once or twice a week, wipe off the table tops with a damp rag or use something like a swiffer duster if you can afford it and vacuum.