Notes on a Feather Duster

How many of you use feather dusters? We didn't always, but now we see the benefits. Ours has an adjustable handle so we can get above doors, the spider webs in the corners, and the general high-up dustiness that makes us crazy.

We did a little search to learn the true benefits of using a feather duster (ostrich feathers), and this is what we found via the Clean Team:

What good is a feather duster? Does it really clean or just move the dust around?

According to national cleaning expert Jeff Campbell, grandma had it right. An ostrich-down feather duster knows how to tackle dust. It's those other dusters - lamb's wool, synthetic materials, tacky dyed-chicken feathers - that push the dust and flip it into the air. With the ostrich-down feather duster, the feathers attract dust, holding it until you shake it free to vacuum later.

Image via Ostriches Online (price: $16.85).

Comments (10)

I have used the Wilen retractable feather duster for more than 15 years. I have yet to find a better duster. You can wash it with regular water, and my first one lasted more than ten years before I needed to replace it. Osterich feathers work very well at gathering and holding onto dust.

Swiffers work in a pinch, but they are expensive, wasteful, and only add to landfills.

I learned from my old boss that the grocery stores in Chinatown have the best feather dusters. I'm blanking on the store names, but ostrich feather dusters are plentiful off the Cermak/Chinatown red line stop. Visit their website for more info: http://www.chicago-chinatown.com/

I have a feather duster that I ordered from flylady.net that I love. She has a pack of a small and large one, but I order two large one for upstairs one for downstairs. I personally love it. It has a long handle (not extendable) and it works great. She has care instructions on her site as well that should work for any feather duster.

Feather dusters are great for cleaning things without beating them up--books on shelves [including knickknacks if they're not so light they actually get knocked off], stereo equipment [doesn't mess with buttons and knobs] and such. And contrary to boomer's experiences, we find Swiffer cloths great for cleaning hardwood floors [with the actual Swiffer] and the cloths by themselves for baseboards, windowsills and just about any surface you can wipe.

boomer -- as zaya suggested, check out www.flylady.net for her instructions on how to deal with the feather duster -- I'm betting it would work for any good, ostrich-feather duster.

I don't use feathers because I'm allergic to feathers. I used to use a Pledge Grab-It mitt (with no scent or cleaner added), but I can't find them anymore. The mitt was great -- the Grab-it cloths were pretty good, but I can't find the plain ones anymore. And they had the BIG disadvantage of being non-reusable.

I need to find a re-usable duster that doesn't bother my allergies. Wish I could use Flylady's ostrich feathers...

I bought an ostrich feather duster from an ostrich farmer in Borough Market in London a few months ago and I'm still completely in love with it. It's the best dusting tool I've ever had.

Smallcitybeth - Simplehuman do a microfibre mitt, which looks like it could be good for dusting with a little spray of water:

http://www.simplehuman.com/products/accessories/microfiber-sponge-mitt.html

I've found that feather dusters work great - I added the one I've used for years to my top ten cleaning supplies list this week...it's an ostrich feather one that they sell at The Container Store.

I use a microfiber dusting mit. It attracts all the dust and then gets thrown in the washing machine rather than in the trash.

ostrich feather dusters are the best! if you blow-dry it, it fluffs up even more, and picks up more dust.

If anybody prefers swiffer dusters and doesn't like throwing them away - you can throw the fluffy end into the washing machine with your rags. Doesn't look too pretty when it comes out, but it still works!

Experience? Dusting a 5000 sq foot year-round Christmas store and all it's nick-nacks... pretty much a never-ending project.