As time has run away with me this week… one from the archives:
To some the humble feather duster may conjure nostalgic visions of French maids and uniforms, to others they are a rather retro adjunct to the broom cupboard. To me, they are a necessity. Every home should have one. No question. I can give you my reasons…
1. They are, obviously, useless for really dusting… on the other hand you can whip round with a feather duster and do the entire house in less than five minutes without moving a thing when you get that call to say unexpected guests will arrive in ten… For a writer, this is paramount, as dusting comes a long way down the scale of priorities when in full flow.
Plus it gives you five minutes to get out of the pyjamas and make yourself presentable.
2. For the vertically challenged amongst us, they are, of course, ideal for cobwebs. This is part of their primary function. The advent of extendible handles make reaching the corners of ceilings far safer… and you don’t have to bend for the skirting boards either, so technically, you can still be writing, or reading, on your phone as you clean… They are also good for retrieving the innumerable pens that disappear down the back of the desk…
3. Speaking of cobwebs… spiders. I don’t like killing them, but prefer not to live with the large and visible ones. My son bought a humane spider catcher… a gadget designed to trap and eject the creatures without damage, but which, without fail when duly applied, squashes them every time or at best deprives them of several legs. While the spiders can survive without a number of legs and may, in fact, grow them back, I cannot help but feel this leglessness to be an unnecessary inconvenience. The feather duster picks them up gently and cradles them to the door. With the added bonus of terrorising any sons in the vicinity on the way past. This works every time, in theory. And if you are lucky. If not…
4. Spiders move fast… so do feather dusters, and with the aforementioned extendible handle, you don’t have to get too close to the scurrying beast attempting to convince you it is a tarantula. At worst, if you cannot actually encourage the little blighters onto the feathers, and you can dodge any arachnophobic sons trying to get off the floor whilst maintaining a pose of nonchalant unconcern, you can use them as a kind of sweeping brush to get them out of the door without damage. Even if, by this time, the dog is showing an inordinate amount of interest in the proceedings…
5. …at which point the duster becomes an effective distraction from the spider itself. The small creature thus has a chance at survival… even if it means creeping back in as soon as your back is turned. Meanwhile, the dog has discovered a new toy. She discovers it anew every time and chases, pounces, stalks and dances round in circles until she is exhausted and crawls under the sofa cushions to sleep…
And a quick tip… if your ‘feather’ duster is synthetic, dusting a screen makes it pick up static that even sucks the crumbs out of keyboards… They are a writer’s best friend. So… if you haven’t got one… what are you waiting for?
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Got one but never got around to using it! 🕷
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wouldn’t be without mine 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
👌👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
Got one in the cupboard, just right for ceilings nooks and crannies. Hubby uses it, not me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, it’s either me, or Ani’s tail here 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
haha. I bet treats and hugs by proxy
LikeLike
She’ll take those too 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
CHRISTMAS GIFT STOCKING STUFFERS!!!!
LikeLike
😀 Thanks for sharing, Jonathan 🙂
LikeLike
I’ve never owned one!
LikeLike
Worth their weight in gold 😉
LikeLike
I dust, um…maybe once a year? and use a butter knife to move ‘unwanted guests’ outside, if they are willing – I try to discourage them from even moving in, in the first place, through essential oil saturated terra cotta plates sprinkled around – – All to no avail in fall time – settling foundation cracks sealed, plates recharged with “Go BACK! This area Not for YOU!” messages – etc., etc. Thus, some of the few get squooshed by instinctive reaction when they choose to scurry in my peripheral vision – sigh – – but still – I may, (MAY, mind you!). consider purchasing a feather duster – if I can avoid comments AND be presentable when family says, “Hey! We are passing through, and wanted to see you…” – – LOL – it might be worth storing in the cupboard, just for that option – LOL
LikeLike
The dog loves it too… she thinks chasing it is a great game. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oakely gal and I played hide and seek the other night for the first time in….forever? LOL – – Ahhh….the simple joys in life and I didn’t have to dust, either – – LOL
LikeLike
We raise more dust than we shift when we get the duster out here 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I built me own air purifier out of a box fan and furnace filters – been running it for 2+years now – amazing how much dust from ‘old house’ and dirt rode is not ‘visible’ until time to change out the visible to me, everyday, filters – :). “A puff of wind, bright sunshine or moving fast, shows all the dust collected around making the world in soft fuzzy edges” is no more, here – LOL
LikeLike
With Ani, a purifier would just get clogged with hair 😉 Permanent moulting 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL – I added he cheap, green, rewashable filters over top of the HEPA filters – so I can vacuum off dust and dog hair – still not a full, solid answer when winter weather precludes opening the windows to blow the ‘stink of us’ (ahem, because, I’m a smoker….sigh) BUT does cut down on what I have to order, from far away, to just keep the hair/dust, smoker smell rather at bay – sorta kinda – but not really – if we lived in a cave and walked out everymorning to get water – well, then, the stink, the sweat and the hair would just be blown off us OR we’d be so grateful to get back in where it’s warm, we wouldn’t be so concerned with dust, housecleaning, or such things – right? LOL
LikeLike
Right!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have very high ceilings, so an extendable feather thingy is essential…
LikeLike
All ceilings are high to one of my stature 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing, Jaye x
LikeLiked by 1 person
If they really suck the crumbs out a keyboard I’m putting one on my Christmas list 🙂
LikeLike
Good ones do… depending on the calibre of your crumbs 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
They seem pretty well embedded. I tackled them with one of those interdental brushes – it worked but was painfully slow.
LikeLike
See if you can find one of those little brushes the menfolk use to clean electric rasors…they work fairly well 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Okay – will do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love mine!
LikeLike
Me too 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Why you should own a feather duster… — Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo | When Angels Fly
I had no idea it would pick up static from the TV and then lift stuff from the keyboard. Thanks! And yes, it is the best 5 minute duster.
LikeLike
The more statc it has, the better it works for that quick once-over 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good to know!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I need to get a featherduster. 🙂 It sounds like a must for dust, spiders, small dogs, and writers.
LikeLike
They will all benefit 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right on Sue! Lol, I was with you on every reason I keep one around too, but the last one was priceless. I’ll be trying it out on the keyboard! Thanks! 🙂 xx
LikeLike
I hope it works for you 😉 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
It did! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love mine and it is missing a few feathers now but you are so right about being able to whip around on being notified of an imminent visit… lovely Sue.. hugs
LikeLike
I wouldn’t be without mine… though Ani has killed a couple 😉
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord Blog Magazine and commented:
As always a highly entertaining look behind the scenes in the Sue Vincent household… and something to tickle your fancy today and on how to become a spider whisperer… #recommended
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLike
Having just cleaned my parent’s house of many years worth of cobwebs – and a spider or two – I can attest to their usefulness. Neither parent could see the point in cleaning – if you left the dust and cobwebs undisturbed for several years, they did you no harm (I can agree with this myself), and the spiders are always useful for catching those pesky flies, although I draw the line at having them running about the place.
If only the short, fat spider sitting in the corner behind my desk would oblige and crawl onto the feather duster, instead of running for the depths behind the desk every time I approach…
LikeLike
I have a tarantula-sized monster living under my desk… It evades capture every time. As long as it stays there, I don’t mind so much. The first time it ventures into the bedroom, however, it will be war.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤣🤣🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great for short people like me, and I love not having to move things around.
LikeLike
Me too. As I live alone with a hair-shedding dog, I try not to worry too much about dust… but the feather duster keeps things decent 😉
LikeLike
I know where you’re coming from with spiders. I don’t want to be scared of them but I am. Hopelessly. I jump on a chair screaming if I see a big one, and once I actually left my house because I’d encountered an enormous one defying me to pass it half way up the stairs. I wouldn’t go back in until one of my friends went and stalked out and removed the beast.
But as for dusters – what’s one of those? Madly high study levels put paid to anything fun like dusting now. 🙂
LikeLike
I am not scared of spiders, but after one nearly killed me a couple of years ago (and I mean seriously) I do tend to give them a wider berth. Big ones, oddly,don’t bother me as much as the smaller ones.
As to dusting, I have very little to dust these days, so don’t bother overly much… apart from keeping the crumbs down on the desk 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Killed you? How terrifying. How on Earth did that happen? The big ones are far worse for me – I’m not keen on the little ones either, but I always at least hope they’ll bring me some money as well as making my skin crawl. That helps.
I wish I had very little to dust – instead it’s the detritis of a family of four – some of whom hoard stuff, mentioning no names (my daughter Maddie). It’s the time I’m lacking.
LikeLike
One bit my foot several times in the footwell of the car as I was driving. It bled a lot, but I thought nothing of it…till my leg swelled and I got pretty ill.
A couple of trips to A&E, an allergy to the antibiotics they gave me… and I was a bit of a mess for a while.
As to the dusting, I downsized from the family home a while ago… much easier now 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh that’s horrific, Sue. I wonder what sort of spider it was that could produce that reaction in you. Makes me feel more justified jumping on chairs and screaming when I see one now…
I hope the dusting thing works with castles. My dream is to live in one up North, and of course castles don’t get dusty. It’ll be fine… 😉
LikeLike
I wouldn’t worry too much… we think this one came over from California in my friend’s luggage 😉 I’d had it in the car a couple of times.
You HAVE to have dust and cobwebs in castles… 😉
LikeLike
Never had one! We use a Swiffer duster, but Christmas is coming!
LikeLike
They come highly recommended by Ani 😉
LikeLike
I’m with you, Sue. Mine comes in very handy around once a week or when guests are due… x
LikeLike
They are perfect for that 🙂 xx
LikeLike
I’ve been pondering one (which I do for weeks before any purchase) and you’ve convinced me. The spider thing–powerful.
LikeLike
Works like a charm 🙂
LikeLike
Who would have thought that reading about dusting and spiders could be so entertaining!
LikeLike
Thanks, Liz 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person