On the Lamb--we like this lambswool duster for cleaning
Written: Jan 11 '05 (Updated Jan 11 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Natural wool and lanolin scoop up the dust well. Washable.
Cons: You need to go carefully around knick-knacks, and the handle is one length only.
The Bottom Line: If you dust, this is an effective way to keep your house clean, and the duster is washable.
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| knitsnbytes's Full Review: Wool Shop Lambswool Duster |
We hate dust. Yes, we really do. Hate it with a passion. We live in an area with a lot of agriculture, and the plowing of fields followed by harvesting and chopping of corn or beanstalks makes for a lot of dust. Mix that with a naturally windy location, and the house never seems to be free of a haze of powder. We've installed filters in the furnace, we use a dust precipitator, but we still need to dust the furniture and surfaces weekly.
In my ever-growing collection of newfangled dusters, I have some of those magic feathery plastic strand dusters. They are supposed to grab the dust by virtue of their static charge. Frankly, I think they just push it around. So I purchased the Wool Shop lambswool duster to see if it performed any better. My opinion is that this duster is far better.
Not only is the wool of the duster the right charge to pick up dust, but the natural oils in the lambswool also act to grab dust from a surface. The fibers are soft, therefore they don't scratch delicate surfaces.
The duster consists of a long puff of lambswool, which is the unspun wool from the coat of a baby sheep. When teased out, lambswool makes a woolly puff--different from fur, which is hair. Lambswool is light, porous and fluffy. It retains some lanolin, which is the natural oil of the sheep, a waxy yellow substance that keeps the sheep relatively waterproof (you can imagine if a sheep got drenched in the rain, it would be a good thing if the fleece repelled the water rather than soaking it up. Wool holds a LOT of moisture.) When they make the duster, they put this poof of lambswool, cleaned but retaining some of the lanolin, on a long, unvarnished wood stick. This makes the duster look rather attractive and "organic looking"--no plastic, very natural. The color is a rusty beige, the natural color of the wool.
To use the duster, you run it along your surfaces or around your knick-knacks. Here, the lambswool duster is at a disadvantage to a feather duster or a synthetic fiber duster. The wool is heavier, and dense, so it can knock over your china cupids rather than dusting delicately on by. So if you have a lot of bibelots, knick-knacks, bric-a-brac, etc, you will either want to use a feather duster or some other kind of duster that is lighter when you go to dust your objets d'art or hobby collections.
The handle on this duster is long enough so that I, a tall person, can reach up to the door lintels. However, if you are quite short, you might prefer a duster with an adjustable handle. This one is about a foot long, and has no way to be extended. You can wash the duster in warm water and a touch of soap. Then you can blot out the excess water by squeezing in a towel and hanging it up to dry. I'd be careful of using too much soap or detergent, as you want to preserve the light lanolin in the wool. It acts to help pick up the dust.
The duster works well and it's durable. With proper care, this should last for years.
Recommended:
Yes
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knitsnbytes
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Location: Delaware
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As well as digital photography, I enjoy writing.
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