Best way to keep books dust-free?

[musikalischer_wirbelwind_280]

Yes, allergic rhinitis made me ask this, and yes, it absolutely sucks (rhinitis, I mean)...

Anyway, long gone is the time when I'd let dust accumulate beyond what we might call a reasonable amount, but whereas a clean, slightly wet rag usually does the trick for most of the surfaces I clean on a regular basis at home, when it comes to books I know that's by no means a good idea, and it won't work even half as well as it does elsewhere.

Vacuuming them offers much better results, of course, but it's a bit too much of a hassle for me to do as often as I'd like to, what with having to take each and every one of the lads off their shelves and then putting them back in the right order (they're quite a few).

Then there are dusters. I've never used them before, because I always thought they would do no more than make the accumulated dust fly off the pages and settle everywhere else, but I heard something about some of them trapping dust effectively thanks to static electricity. Do any of you know if they actually work, or is it just merchandising? And if it's the latter, what could be a better way of ridding books of that sucker?

Cheers

[lelle]

I work in a bookstore and purchased a hand vacuum to be able to clean the tops of the books without having to pull them out of the shelves, for similar reasons. It works quite well.

[musikalischer_wirbelwind_280]

Thank you so much for the suggestion.