Your aim is to pick up dust, not displace it. For dusters, spray discarded vests, nappies or old towels with silicone polish. Muslin moistened with diluted lemon oil also works fine. Avoid feather dusters; get the lamb's-wool variety.
Starting at the top and working down, use slow, even strokes. if you'll be dusting for some time, wear a small face mask (available from DIY stores) to prevent a scratchy throat.
Wear a multi pocketed apron or carry a cleaning tray - a cheap, compartmented plastic box with a handle makes a good one - to keep supplies within reach. Include a bag for collecting debris.
Treat an old sock with silicone polish and wear it as a glove to dust tables and chairs.
Don't bother dusting knick-knacks one by one. Just soak them all together in a washing-up bowl with detergent. Then use your hair dryer to blow them dry.
To get at narrow spots behind radiators, between louvres or under the refrigerator, dampen an old sock, slip it over one end of a bamboo cane, and secure it with a rubber band.
Wax your dustpan so that dust won't cling. Shake mops and dusters inside a plastic bin liner outdoors.
Hard-to-dust things and places - pleated lampshades, carved furniture and crevices - are easy to clean if you blow the dust out with a hair dryer or the blow attachment of a vacuum cleaner. An empty squeeze bottle used as an air pump also does the trick.
Use spectacle-cleaning tissues to dust small picture frames.
