Most teams involved in cleaning will need either a feather or a natural-fiber duster. Most will also benefit from a microfiber duster, which serves a similar purpose. Less often needed is a vacuum duster, but these dusters can be useful and convenient as long as they produce enough suction. Any team dealing with electronics or especially sensitive surfaces should also get a compressed air duster, although one won’t strictly be necessary for all teams.
Types of Dusters for Commercial & Industrial Cleaning
The types of dusters commonly used in commercial and industrial cleaning include the following.
Feather Dusters
A feather duster is what many imagine when they hear the word duster. It is a collection of feathers attached to a handle that can be used to gently brush dust off surfaces with minimal risk of causing damage. These dusters are reliable and long-lasting, which is why they see continued use even as newer options become available.
Feather dusters have a light touch and serve their purpose, allowing a team to effectively and efficiently dust. They are the standard duster used in this article to compare the utility of other types of dusters.
Natural-Fiber Dusters
Many dusters first considered to be feather dusters are actually natural-fiber dusters. These dusters use natural fibers, such as wool, but otherwise function almost identically to feather dusters. Ideally, the natural fibers will help trap dust particles. The exact qualities of the duster depend on the fibers used.
While expert opinions will vary on what material is best for a duster, a natural-fiber duster is comparable to a feather duster in both quality and price for most purposes. It might benefit some teams to have both a feather and a natural-fiber duster (or a few natural-fiber dusters of different materials) if they deal with a wide variety of surfaces and dust types, but this is often not necessary.
Microfiber Dusters
Microfiber dusters are increasingly common and use synthetic microfibers on their heads. This makes the duster hypoallergenic and can change the way it interacts with water. Note that even a hypoallergenic duster can’t make dust hypoallergenic.
Microfiber dusters are widely available and affordable. Although microfiber dusters can be somewhat harsher on surfaces than feathers and gentler fibers, they often serve the same purpose without issue when not used on sensitive surfaces such as glass or electronics. For commercial and industrial cleaning, many teams benefit from microfiber dusters, but it typically shouldn’t be their only duster in case a lighter touch is required.
Vacuum Dusters
A vacuum duster (or the broader electric duster) is essentially a small, handheld vacuum. These tools can be especially useful for sucking up dust from “grabby” material, such as carpeting.
The utility of a vacuum duster will depend on its strength, with some cheaper models being fairly ineffective. However, a vacuum duster is a helpful tool if it is small enough to easily maneuver but strong enough to suck up dust. One advantage of these dusters is that collected dust is stored in the device and can be easily dumped out.
Compressed-Air Dusters
Compressed-air dusters blast an area with compressed air, helping loosen dust from areas where it might otherwise be unreachable. They’re commonly used to dust electronics, such as keyboards, which can have tight, difficult-to-reach areas that may also be sensitive to physical touch.
These dusters won’t necessarily be required for every commercial or industrial cleaning job, but they are likely to be important on jobs involving electronics. They’re also a useful tool to have for other tight areas like corners or inlaid patterns. In some cases, an air duster may help clean areas that would otherwise require some level of disassembly, such as fans or coffee machines.
Important Considerations for Duster Types
If these options struggle to remove dust from some surfaces, a vacuum duster may also benefit the team. A more standard vacuum might also serve the same purpose, depending on the specifics of the surface.
Compressed-air dusters are arguably more specialized, although most modern businesses have at least some electronics that should theoretically be dusted with relative regularity. A team that regularly deals with sensitive electronics will consider a compressed-air duster essential, but even a more standard team would benefit from a compressed-air duster for properly maintaining electronics. Although a compressed-air duster comes at a greater expense, it has the potential to extend the life of computers and keyboards, which are significantly more expensive to replace.
If this topic interests you, you might also want to read about dust mops, which arguably count as a type of duster. This mop type removes dirt, dust and other forms of loose debris from floors and other difficult-to-reach locations.
How Alsco Can Meet Your Cleaning Supplies Needs
Dusting isn’t especially complicated, but it’s important that you equip your team with the right tools. Broadly speaking, the more a team needs to clean varied or complex surfaces, the more varied their cleaning tools will be. Having the right products ensures a team can effectively clean without damaging surfaces.
Businesses interested in improving their cleaning capabilities should read about the services we offer at Alsco. We can equip your business team with cleaning chemicals, mops, towels, protective equipment and more. You never have to worry if your cleaning supplies are fully stocked when you work with us.