Before You Sweep, Do This to Your Dustpan to Keep Dirt In

Nothing about cleaning my house is quite as rage-inducing as sweeping the floors. Not because it’s difficult, or even particularly time-consuming, but because the dirt never really ever stays in the dustpan. Does it?

That’s what I thought, at least, until a friend tipped me off on this stupid simple household tip. It’s so ridiculously easy and quick that you’ll feel silly for not having thought of it before.

Here’s the tip: Just run the dustpan under water first.

(This real life anecdote is either going to be highly relatable or potentially very embarrassing for me, but here goes…) You know when you come out of the shower and dry off, but your feet are still a little damp and you walk around and they are like magnets for all the gross stuff (hair, dust, dirt) on your floors? Wetting your dustpan before you sweep works the same way, but where you want it to happen.

The next time you sweep, run the top of your dustpan under the kitchen faucet for a bit before you go to town on the floors. As you sweep up and sweep dirt into the dustpan, the little bit of dampness on the surface will keep that gunk in place where it belongs—right inside the dustpan. You won’t ever have to worry about tilting it just so and unleashing the filth back onto your floors.

And if you think this makes it tough to get the dirt out of the dustpan when you’re ready to send it into the trash—you’re kinda right. It’s not as easy as just tilting it in. But all you need to do is grab a paper towel or rag (even an already-dirty one from the laundry basket) and wipe it out.