h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Dirt is just 'tired' without the e-numbers!

MMF

If you live in a large rambling house (as I used to) it never gets properly 'cleaned' but it never gets really 'dirty'. As soon as I moved into a small (student) flat, I realised that each person has a 'dirt/dust quotient' so, in a large house, it never gets noticed but in a small flat is a constant irritant.

we used to vaccuum our wall-to-wall carpets on - well - let's call it a regular basis , thinking that would be good enough

but then 2 kids got asthma and we had the carpets replaced with wooden floors

only 2 days later we discovered what vast quantities of dust bunnies invaded our house

after that we had to clean every second day

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You might have considered replacing the kids; it's cheaper.

I might have thought that, but I didn't say it!

I can't have carpets either, on account of asthma, but I actually notice my floors need cleaning less often here with all wood floors, than at my childhood home which was completely carpeted. We had to vacuum floors two or three times a week there; I wash floors every other week at most, unless something is spilled.

A larger home might spread it around (although my apartment's not exactly small, it's not rambling either), but there's also the likelihood I'd clutter it up with more furniture, books and objects d'art (), and would therefore accumulate that much more dust.

It's the bathroom floor that drives me nuts. My asthma meds make my hair fall out, which is murder on the bathtub drain pipe and also means I practically have to shave the floor every day.

Would you feel silly wearing a hairnet, Psychocandy? Only when no one's looking, of course.

after paying gazillions for the wooden floor i recently read an article saying carpets are actually better for asthmatics since the carpets seem to collect the dust and hang on to it - instead of having it flying all around the place

i keep my shaver in my bathroom - but for other reasons

Personally I prefer wood anyway, if for none other than aesthtic reasons. But I imagine whichever you have, you'll hear somewhere that the other is better for you. Such is the way of the world.

We got a Dyson Ball upright, one of those pet models, earlier this year, and it's fantastic for keeping the floors very clean. I keep meaning to get the attachments for the blinds and the ceiling fans, since those are harder to get to (we have 12-foot ceilings). It's the knick-knacks and the surfaces they live on that are such a drag, since you have to dust every little crevice.

Most of the dust and grit is generated by the cat. As fastidious as he is about keeping his fur well groomed and his paws cleaned, he sure likes to cover everything within his reach with litter, fuzz and food bits.

you have asthma AND a cat

Yes, I have asthma and a cat. I'd always had cats as a kid anyway, but this one came with my better half. If I take my allergy meds as directed, it's not a problem at all.

I have asthma and two cats

Do your cats also have asthma? Ours does, or something like it. He sleeps on my lap and we snore at each other.

We know one of the does.. and now the other has begun snoring too! Sheesh! the racket!

I miss Jack the Cat He was the only one of ours who snored.

Herman and K both snore, and I do when I'm congested or when I have a cat on me. Sometimes, when Herman's sleeping at the foot of our bed, all rolled into a ball, he snores loudly enough he wakes us up.

Webbie, there is a little bit about that poem on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_if_you_must

I couldn't go out and climb a mountain and enjoy it if I knew there was a pile of ironing or a dirty kitchen to come back to. Having the place reasonably tidy puts the mind at rest and free to do other things. I think a former colleague of mine had it right. She said she loved cleaning her little boy's room. She poured herself a glass of and took her favourite CD in to play on his CD player while she did it.

It doesn't have to be a chore.

i'm fond of cats but since both me and 2 of my kids are asthmatic and allergic i have none

but i sort of share an alley cat with a neighbour he gets to feed it - and i lend it the roof of my shed for afternoon naps

Thanks Rich. That has put my mind at rest.

I liked the bit about <>

Websailor