Dyson study reveals shift in cleaning habits since Covid-19 – but many are still in the dark about dust

At a time when our homes and hygiene have never been so important, it’s unsurprising that six in every ten people worldwide are cleaning more frequently. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of cleaning has come into sharp focus.

However, understanding exactly why we clean and what is in household dust is not something many of us think about. Dyson’s recent Global Dust Study, which investigated cleaning habits and behaviours while evaluating our understanding of household dust and the impact it can have on our health and wellbeing, revealed that while 76 per cent of us are “extremely worried” about the dust in our homes, very few have a clear understanding of what’s in it.

In response, we asked engineers and dust science experts at Dyson’s Research and Development facilities in Malmesbury, UK, to examine what’s in our household dust and explain why we should care and what we can do about it .