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03 November 2007

This is a QI thread What is house dust made up of? [More:]
a huge amount is skin cells, & hair depending on the number of people living in the house, carpet fibres, clothing fibres, dust debris from walls, animal dander, dirt tracked in from outside, pollutants from both outside and inside (burned steak anyone?)and a large amount of dead & live dust mites and their faecal leavings.
posted by Wilder 03 November | 08:45
***SIREN SOUND***

Apparently, skin and dust mites only make up a tiny proportion of all house dust.

House dust is mainly made up of dirt and grit, but it varies according to place, season and other factors such as pets. (Forfeit: Human Skin, Dust Mites)
posted by chuckdarwin 03 November | 08:48
I've been watching QI on youtube lately. A wonderful show. I liked this one, with Johnny Vegas.
posted by doctor_negative 03 November | 08:59
Perturbed, I googled dust. There are many sites saying that there is skin and hair... but not HOW MUCH skin and hair.

Apparently, the dust mite thing has been played up by ad agencies. Not that THEY would ever LIE to us.
posted by chuckdarwin 03 November | 09:02
doctor_negative, I was really amazed at how bizarre Mr Vegas' thought processes were. What an odd person... brilliant, but very eccentric. He probably has a staggering IQ.
posted by chuckdarwin 03 November | 09:04
Jan, do you ride the underground a lot? The air is pretty awful down there.
posted by chuckdarwin 03 November | 09:05
Most of my journey into work is on the overground section of the Central Line, with just one station (Leyton-Stratford) actually going underground.
posted by essexjan 03 November | 09:06
...and just to make this thread more Bunny-friendly:

Where do dust bunnies come from?

Dear Cecil:

Where do "dust bunnies" (or, depending on size, "dust rhinos") come from? You know, those tumbleweed sort of things that you accidentally pull out from under your bed when you're looking for dirty socks.

Why do they form? Is it seasonally related? Any relationship to the presence of pets or small children? Can they be prevented? --Mystified in Madison, Wisconsin

Dear Mystified:

Proud though Cecil is of his contributions to science, he recognizes that he stands on the shoulders of giants. Journalist Penny Ward Moser, for instance.

In November of 1986 Ms. Moser squandered eight full pages in Discover magazine on this ridiculous topic. This surely qualifies as some sort of landmark in the history of journalism.

Among other things, she persuaded her editors to let her send her dust bunnies out for--honest--laboratory analysis. Her findings were as follows:

(1) Dust bunnies consist of any number of things, including pet and human hairs, pillow feathers, insect parts, clothing bits and other fibers, soil, mold spores, meteor dust, pollen, yeast, and God knows what else.


(2) They form under your bed because that's where they find "still air pockets," where they can grow unmolested. You want to get rid of them, get rid of the air pockets--e.g., plop ze mattress on ze floor.

Dust bunnies may also be found in ducts and vents, where they get blown by air currents, or stuck to spiders' webs on ceilings or in corners.

They're arguably more prevalent in winter, because the windows are closed and the breeze doesn't disperse them. Keep those windows open year-round and I guarantee you'll never complain about dust bunnies again.

By way of epilogue, I might mention that Ms. Moser was able to parlay her story (and others in a similar vein) into a gig as a contributor to Sports Illustrated.

I guess they figured if you can write about dust balls, you're certainly qualified to deal with the likes of Brian Bosworth. Truly, the woman is an example to us all.

--CECIL ADAMS
posted by chuckdarwin 03 November | 09:08
The Secret Life of Dust
posted by chuckdarwin 03 November | 09:15
My punctuation sucks: I should have said "A huge amount is:- the following list. "

Not in order of % of composition because that will depend on so many factors.
posted by Wilder 03 November | 10:10
Coincidink! I just watched that episode with Johnny Vegas, not two minutes ago. He is a funny, smart, guy, but if you've ever seen Ideal you know he is also truly revolting.

essexjan, have you seen this? Gross.
posted by goo 03 November | 10:54
Apparently, skin and dust mites only make up a tiny proportion of all house dust.

Hang on, you're quoting Wikipedia quoting QI? That's like a perfect storm of "probably not quite true".
posted by cillit bang 03 November | 11:39
cillit bang, I think that many people are under the impression that house dust is 100% dead skin/dust mites... which isn't true (thus the alarm).

But, yeah, Wilder was in no way wrong, he just said the magic word that sounds the alarm.
posted by chuckdarwin 03 November | 12:23
Did someone mention house dust?

≡ Click to see image ≡

Also, this is what you get for not going to meetups, chuckdarwin... Wilder ain't no "he". :)
posted by taz 03 November | 14:56
1. The best possible answer to the question, in this or any other physically possible universe, is "smashed badgers."

2. Twenty-five of my personal favorite QI moments.
posted by Wolfdog 03 November | 15:01
Boy, is my face red.
posted by chuckdarwin 04 November | 04:50
I give up, I really do. || Oh, Amy..

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