Oh, the shamelessness. No make-up, eyebrows that need plucking, and sunlight reflecting perfectly off of a GRAY frizz-curl in the middle of my forehead.
(The things I do for this blog . . . )
But I’m talking about the dust mask.
I come from a line of dust-mask-wearers. My mother, Practical Peggy, always wore one when she vacuumed and dusted. It was normal to me.
Not that I loved it. But I chose not to say anything else after one of my comments about how I couldn’t see her expression prompted her to draw a VERY large, VERY red smile on the front of it.
Which was traumatic.
Anyway, I started buying them myself soon after I had my own home because I don’t love being sick, and breathing in dust makes me sick.
And being sick isn’t fun. And being sick means I can’t/won’t keep cleaning.
Since wearing a dust mask to clean/declutter is totally normal to me, it’s funny to see others’ reactions to it.
I’ve had more than one person make shock-revealing comments when I’ve answered the door with one stuck on top of my head.
“Wow. Is it really that bad?”
I’ve received feedback on decluttering videos from people who were amazed that I would get on YouTube wearing one.
I mean, showing the world your path-through-the-middle master bedroom is one thing, but wearing a dust mask???!?!?!
A declutterer’s gotta do what a declutterer’s gotta do.
For real, people.
And this girl with highly-sensitive airways has to wear a dust mask. I’m not willing to get sick and I’m also not willing to live in clutter forever. (A few months at a time, yes. Forever, no.)
My point is not to get all snarky about dustmasks, but to ask what other shame-related things keep people from decluttering.
Or, to put it better . . . what keeps YOU from decluttering?
If you’re thinking, “Why doesn’t she just not let her house get cluttered so she wouldn’t have to declutter and wear that goofy-looking dustmask?” . . . welcome. You must be new here.
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--Nony
… You must be new here. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You’re the best. 🙂
Excellent
You’re not the only one that wears those masks! I do too when I dust and I actually leave one by the washing machine when I wash diapers!
Oooh! I hadn’t thought about wearing one while washing diapers!
That dust mask is one of the things I love most about you! I, too, have to wear one if (when) I dust or use the vacuum. Otherwise, I end up in the hospital emergency room with a severe asthma attack. I will never forget when we had men working on our apartment and one grabbed his shop vac to clean up the ceiling dust from where they had installed the new (and hated) smoke detector. My darling yanked the plug on the shop vac almost before the motor started up. “If you run that before she gets her dust mask on, you will be paying the hospital bill!” he yelled at the totally shocked workmen. The workmen learned to yell out, “dust mask ON!” when they were ready to clean up their mess.
Oh my word, that is SOOO sweet that you have someone looking out for you like that!!
This cracked me up, but maybe it’s something I should consider. I have dust allergies and asthma. Maybe, although silly looking, a dust mask when cleaning would really help? I’ll give it a try 🙂
It really will! And it takes away so many excuses!
Hmmmmm…I’m going to try it! Never wore a dust mask before, and I most certainly wasn’t dusting or vacuuming yesterday, but I DID declutter my oldest’s clothes which hasn’t happened in a long time and so took all day. When we were getting close to the end I started feeling sick, and I’m wondering if dust is why. Clothes were flying everywhere and it is pretty dusty in there. Going to try it. I have 2 more kids clothes declutter projects to go and then my room needs a complete overhaul. I watched your post on your master bedroom and not that we’re in a contest or anything, but to make you feel better…mine is way worse.
Hahahaha!! I’m so glad it isn’t a contest!!
DS thinks I need a dust mask since everything sets me off, and stuffs my head up. After all that I did the last couple of days of cleaning, my head is so stopped up today :/
*Snagged your button for my blog, hope you dont mind 🙂
Of course I don’t mind!!!
Hi, Dana! I live in the desert, so dust is nothing new to me. Using a mask is what I do when I am cleaning and decluttering, too. I use what works so that the work gets done. Nothing at all gets done when I am sick and the dust can do that to me.
When other people question what I am doing or why I do things certain ways, that is their problem. I will explain, if asked, but I will never apologize. If I do not take care of me, then who will? My husband would try and so would my kids, but really? Prevention is the first part of the cure…
Today I am working on paperwork for taxes and reviewing the calendar in the morning. This afternoon I am deep cleaning two bathrooms. Wanna come over and play bubbles with me?
Have a great day!
Di
Hahahaha. I think being overwhelmed is what’s standing in my way today. Cluttered master bedroom. Going to try and steal some of your energy and get to going. 🙂 Lets hope I can get a lot done. Youngest has her bday party here on Saturday! Prob should wear a mask, been a while since I dusted in there…a long while! Thanks for being so awesome and honest about all this!
Me, Myself and I are my biggest obstacles, even though I LOVE a job well done and standing back admiring it, I sometimes don’t get started because well, what if I don’t do it well enough, what if I get sidetracked and its done half-a, so if I don’t start then I won’t have to face me, myself and I and hold accountability for not doing it right the first time.
“you must be new here” LMBO!!! 🙂 Your so awesome Nony!
A great idea!! Unfortunately, I am also extremely claustrophobic (fear of suffocation) and cannot wear things too close to my face… any ideas for people like me who would like to be able to breathe when they are done cleaning (or who would actually like to finish ONE task without using my inhaler)???
I received a new one from 3M recently that has an air vent in it. That might help! Or a beekeepers mask? (Kind of joking about that one!)
I hate things on my face too …but sometimes it’s necessary! My best method that doesn’t make me crazy is a WET bandanna tied across the bridge of my nose so it just hangs down (you know, cowboy style!). The wet keeps dust down and makes you feel like can actually breathe!
Haha I love this! I have gotten strange looks from wearing my apron before also.
I find an eye mask works best when there is a lot of clutter in the house. 😉
hahahaha!!!
Best answer yet…lol
I must say that I love, love, love your blog!! I am getting through my house little bit by little bit…decluttering as I go. You are the most REAL blogger I have ever seen and hence my inspiration. Keep your mask on and keep typing about your struggles and those of us who are real women will be right there to learn from you!
Oh thank you so much, Donna!
Hummm wearing a dust mask so you CAN dust? I have just been ignoring it! I hate wearing a dust mask because it fogs up my glasses, I get all hot and sweaty and I cant see. Any suggestions? I need/should be wearing one. Part of the reason I have been avoiding some places. Usually I just start cleaning by using my inhaler, and taking two zyertec.
I got one recently from 3M that has an air vent in it. I don’t have glasses, but I’m guessing that might help?
My husband has really bad allergies and asthma. When we do a really dirty dusty job he has a cloth dusk mask. It doesn’t fog up glasses and it still filters out the dust. Best of all it is washable and reusable.
I found that using a couple of inches of medical tape across the top, to secure the mask to my face, takes care of the problem for me. The paper tape is less effective, but is less troublesome with eyelashes and skin.
Ha ha ha.. I thought I was the only one- I ALWAYS have a stack stashed somewhere… I always use one when I clean the bathroom with the cat box in it or if I’m drilling something.
I never thought of wearing a mask! I am going to have to try that now!
Great idea! When I clean the cats litter box in the unfinished laundry room is filled with fumes/dust in the air–all being breathed through my mouth!
Me too! It always makes me wonder what I’m doing to my poor cats! I’ve even considered rinsing our (crystal) cat litter before dumping it in the box. My husband thinks that sounds weird…..
LOL!!! I happen to have a box of dust masks that I purchased for this exact reason!
People that don’t wear a dust mask to clean… Get sniffles and blame their children or people of Walmart for making them sick … Or they don’t clean!
Or
Maybe they pay someone to do it!
If I don’t have a mask I use a damp bandanna!
… New here! Hahahahaha ha!
Pat
I have a horrible confession to make because I read bandanna as banana and got so confused! Hahahahaha
That’s hilarious!
I can see why the confusion.
You don’t know me … But that would be hilarious – me wearing a wet banana!
Certainly I could embarrass my grown kids with this technique ,as my age progresses and my mind begins to slip.
I shall file this away for future reference!
Liz! You are a genius!
Pat
Can’t hurt. Going to try.
LOL…This is Cedar Fever Season in Central Texas where I live. Last week I wore my dust mask as much as possible. Not only while cleaning and packing (we are getting ready to put our house up for sale) but to pick up my kids at school, through the drive-thru at Starbucks….where ever my day took me. The relief was well worth it. If I don’t have a mask I wear a damp bandanna like Pat when I dust.
Wow. Now that’s a whole new level of commitment, but when it’s crazy pollen season, I totally agree that it would help!
Oooooh Tracy we lived in S. Texas for a few years and the first year I could not BELIEVE how sick I got from Cedar Fever season! I don’t blame you at all, wish I’d done it! It was miserable!
The dust mask isn’t weird. I had everything packed away and swept, then the next day I found a dust bunny the size of a small rabbit in an area that I had just cleaned. (My only explanation is that it was also sentient.)
Lol! Like the Dust Bunnies in Jayne Castle’s books!
What usually keeps me from completing my decluttering projects is having to get out of the house! I’m a real home body at heart, and I don’t like to drive at all. I’ll make every excuse in the book not to go anywhere…and without going anywhere the bags and boxes sit waiting for way longer than they should. -Tabitha
Yes! I hadn’t realized it until you said it but that’s a barrier for me also. Huge pile of boxes and bags ready to go that never seem to… GO! I need to be more proactive about contacting ARC to come pick up my donations. I’m convicted! 😉
… And I just had a light bulb moment. I use disposable gloves for a LOT of household tasks (cleaning, handling raw meat, etc), which gets some pretty funny looks from people too. But I can honestly say that the dust mask never occurred to me! Thanks for the inspiration!
Haha! I also tend to have disposable gloves on a lot, I hate touching water/soap when cleaning. It can alarm people because they think you are giving someone a exam or…? Add my apron that I am usually wearing and I get a lot of looks when I answer the door or run outside to chat really quick. My neighbors from other countries are more likely to wear aprons too, but they have the fun full wrap arounds with little sleeves that I really want.
I think suiting up properly for work is just common sense besides, guess what a millennial calls a dust mask for dusting? A life hack !!!
What keeps me from decluttering is not knowing where to put the stuff I want/need to keep. I go through a stack of papers, throw away what I don’t need to keep, pile up the rest of the papers and then, not know where to put this smaller stack
Cleaned blinds and ceiling fans this weekend. I didn’t have a mask so I used one of the many bandanas I use for my head every time I clean to make a mask. My family was shocked. Hubby asked what train I was robbing. I donned these things and a pair of sunglasses since I couldn’t find my goggles and got busy. Looking silly sure beats 2 years worth of ceiling fan dust in your hair, eyes and mouth.
Love this comment, made me laugh out loud :))
I cannot enter my basement without a mask on because I have asthma and am very sensitive to the dust, dander and mold that accumulates down there. I call it the dungeon. Unfortunately when I moved here my boyfriend put all my stuff down there and there it all still sits. I am a self proclaimed hoarder and have a ridiculous amount of stuff. I also became quite ill two years ago and have a whole slew of health problems that keep me from doing a lot work. I wish you lived close because I would pay you to help me! I have plenty of masks for both of us!
My dad mows the lawn in a dust mask. He has horrible hay-fever, so it’s just a part of life.
I did, too, in my teen years. Dad made me mow and it was (horribly) embarassing when friends were driving by the house! But I survived.
It never occurs to me to wear a mask. I do, however, take a prophylactic anti-histamine when I know I’m going to be raising serious dust.
I never thought of wearing a mask. I think that I should get one and wear it when I am filling my woodstove. Thanks. Love how real you are. It makes me feel better about being me. Everyone around me seems so much put together than me, but I am working on it and you are helping.
I have really bad asthma and allergies. Dust mites are a big tigger for me. I had an allergist tell me once that someone else should do the dusting and vacuuming in my home. I’m the one here who cleans it so I wear one myself. Like you said…you have to do what you have to do!
I never would have thought of that but it makes sense. Dust doesn’t bother me too much but I’ve noticed that when I use powdered Comet, it makes me sneeze. That can’t be good! Maybe I should swipe one of the dust masks from my husband’s tool box. He has a bunch. He probably wouldn’t notice . . .
Don’t tell my husband that dust masks prevent sensitive airway sicknesses. I somehow managed to loose chores because of poor breathing.
After my last bout of asthma he now tells me that I am not allowed to empty the vacuum canister, dust the fans, or pull weeds. He will do those. Which is funny because I never complained about any of those things.
Not on my time schedule, but poor breathers will task-taking husbands can’t be too bossy. 😉
I am allergic to dust too. I hate wearing the mask but do when i get into the deep down cleaning. I have been wondering if one of those cloth mask medical personnel wear would work but now I think they are made of something else. Has anyone tried this?
Oh gosh, you’re so funny! You crack me up!
This may be silly, but… I never thought of wearing a dust mask to clean. I have sensitive airways as well (just the smell on the clothes of someone who smokes [especially menthols] makes it hard to breathe), and I’m even sensitive to the smells of cleaners like windex. I also have this thing about inhaling things that I probably shouldn’t, such as dust, chemicals, etc… So I avoid dusting ceiling fans, etc. With all that, I never thought of it… Wow. I think I need to go get a dust mask and safety goggles. 😉 No more excuses that way!!!
I think you’ll be so glad to have that excuse eliminated!! And I totally understand. On the days when I can’t find a dustmask, I feel like I can’t do any major cleaning!
What keeps from cleaning? My eye problem… Just can’t see doing it!
But I have two! air filters that I run while dusting & my vac has filters. When I’m dusting furniture, I keep the hose to the vac running so loose dust gets sucked up.
I’ve tried masks but they just make me hot. And not in a good way.
I have serious issues with spiders and we live in a drafty home built in 1947 so I usually wear a head lamp 🙂
I loooove that mask. I love wearing gloves for cleaning. The most important reason: we do things we wouldn’t normally do when we are armed and masked lol! We clean deeper than we normally would. We clean longer, too.
my decluttering projects always seem overwhelming to me but I need to get over it. I put off decluttering my bedroom dresser for weeks and it only took me 15 minutes once I got started.
I think gray frizz curls are adorable and dust masks are cool. You are my favorite slob in transition. Rock on.
I wish I would wear gloves more often, keeping my nails nice and all. Sometimes it’s gets down right gross!
I use a bandana, folded corner to corner & then the double corner to the middle. Then I tie it on with the short side up, long side along my chin (so, upside down if the point was still out). It covers my mouth and nose, stays tight along my jaw & cheeks instead of drooping and letting in a lot of dust through the bottom. I’ve also been known to take a couple drops of peppermint, lavender, and eucalyptus oil on a cotton round & stash it between layers of bandana. It’s a homemade inhaler, and works fabulously for stinky jobs like oh, say, turning the compost pile in the heat of summer. Bandana is necessary for bigger jobs, or whenever my asthma is already being fickle, and I vastly prefer them to dust masks. For some reason, bandanas being so tight means they allow the breath back through them so it doesn’t trigger the claustrophobia or OCD (about breathing my own exhalation) the way dust masks do. Also I got really mad about dust masks letting in so much dust and being pointless.
My grandma would wear a dust mask while doing yard work and when I was little it would scare me so much I would cry! Haha! What keeps me from decluttering? Not knowing where to put things that I am keeping and being way too overwhelmed to even get started.
I know this is an old post, but I’ll comment anyway 🙂 Dust, especially thick dust like you might find in a basement, makes me itch something awful! I have to wear long sleeves, so I sometimes avoid cleaning basements or stuff that is likely to be very dusty. I’m sure I look strange wearing long sleeves when it’s 95 degrees in the shade 🙂
ty for the idea! I have asthma too, and I was looking for someone to help me to clean, but I think it´s easy to find a dust mask! =)
I wear eye protection as well as the dust mask. The dust makes my eyelids swell and itch.
Good idea!!! I have bad allergies. The type that causes me to wheeze and sneeze, and itchy eyes. Working on dusting or working in my (dusty and of course messy) closet for less then ten minutes results in an allergy attack! maybe for once i will actually get the closet organized! …and dusted.
You forgot the safety glasses and the cotton gloves. My eyelids are really sensitive to dust, and the glasses and gloves are barriers.
Thank you for being so real! Filth & germs keep me from decluttering. I don’t want to/can’t touch things when they are so dirty & gross!?
That is the funniest thing! Your mom drawing a smile on her mask. I was rolling in laughter. My mental pictures are very vivid. 🙂 That is probably something my mother would have done also since she had no problem being a mom and being funny at the same time. She once told my brother that she could “whip him and laugh at the same time”, which she did. Of course that was way back in the early 1950’s when disciplining your child was the correct way to do things. And we all turned out great. Well, that is another subject. Your mom must have quite a sense of humor. Love it.
I never really thought of this.. I just figured this is what you did. Wear the mask and be proud!!!
Oh, it never occurred to me to use a dust mask or goggles. I wear glasses, so putting on a face guard like a dentist uses will work better (which I have) and is in the sewing room which I forget to use when hammering snaps, rivets or grommets.
I am (now) putting a shower cap, bandana and eye protection with the aprons, that way I won’t need to shower and change to clean clothes after cleaning/dusting and carpentry/painting….unless I work up a sweat. Ha!
I dont wear dust masks but i like to wear gloves if im cleaning the bathroom or something else really nasty. I thought buying them would intrigue me to clean and get through the mess but really it didnt help all that much. I did clean a couple times though with them. Maybe ill try again. Gloves alsp get gross as well so you gotta invest in some nice ones that wont get all nasty the first time you use them, ivs tried disposable ones and i dont like how they stick to your hands. Something that keeps me from cleaning is well not cleaning. The longer i let it go the harder it is but thats everyone right?
You are so so so so funny. I should giggle now or I will giggle when I am in my bed.
I too must wear a dust mask when I declutter. I Was tested and found out that I’m allergic to dust (It makes my skin sting!) I also wear long sleeves, long pants, rubber gloves, and a glamorous disposable shower cap to keep the dust out of my hair. As soon as I finish my decluttering job, it’s off to the showers to wash off any remaining dust. Then I change into all-fresh clothes because my dusty work clothes go directly in the dirty clothes hamper.
I don’t often take the time to post like this, but I just wanted to thank you SOOOO much for posting this article (and for the email today because I wasn’t around when you first posted it). I feel like someone finally “gets” me. My best friend does, and my mom tried, although she was born organized, may she rest in peace. But it’s all the others, even well meaning ones, with their little comments that get to me. And I let them make me feel guilty because I seem to forget that there’s nothing WRONG with me and it’s OK to do things differently! People make me so mad when they make you feel bad because of how they say things that they don’t even realize reveal that they think you’re abnormal just by how they question what you’re doing.
This was very timely because I’ve been trying to declutter in earnest the past few weekends, and on Sunday I’m sneezing, my nose is itching and running, and my eyes are itchy and watery. In short, I’m miserable, even though I feel better after getting rid of the stuff. My friend suggested using a mask and I didn’t want to wear one because it was hot and fogged up my glasses. But after a few weeks of this, I knew I had to do something. I know I don’t need your permission, Dana, but you just struck such a chord in me by what you wrote. I have to do whatever is necessary for ME and it’s okay if other people don’t understand! So next time I start a decluttering session, I’ll be wearing my mask! Thanks for being real!
Fistbump, Dana. I am so happy that cute masks are so much easier to find these days. A silver lining.
I’m getting reacquainted with your blog… I used to read it a lot when I was nursing babies and a couple thousand miles where I grew up (which I think is the same general area you did). And then those babies started walking and we moved twice and lots of other stuff happened… I’m enjoying reviewing your tips. 🙂
Not only a dust mask, but sometimes safety goggles, too! For dust protection – I tend to get itchy, watery eyes, and the safety goggles I own are enough protection to keep them from getting too bad.
That, and vacuuming with a Dirt Devil before I get started – I’ve been known to vacuum the surface of a particularly dusty area a bit before picking up a single item, just to get the worst of it off!