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Dusting involves removing unwanted particles from surfaces in your home. Ideally, then, regularly vacuum all the areas you can reach with a high-efficiency filtration vacuum to remove as much dust from the environment as possible.
An excellent tool to routinely dust with is a feather duster. If all surfaces that needed dusting were flat and smooth, a dust cloth would be ideal. But since the majority of times you will be dusting irregular surfaces and between and around items, the feather duster may be the best choice.
We should qualify that a bit because certain feather dusters are not recommended. Avoid those brightly colored chicken feather dusters you see in some supermarkets. Choose an Ostrich feather duster. Ostrich feathers are fine and soft with enormous surface area (the key to holding dust); they will conform to the shape of an uneven surface and wisk the dust away. When dusting with a feather duster you can't avoid stirring dust up a bit, but the fact is, gravity carries most of the dust downward provided you use it correctly. You're not going to beat the surfaces that are dusty, but use that tool as a wisk and as a paintbrush, directing the dust off of ornaments and toward the floor.
Surface area is the key to a good dusting tool. The more surface area a duster has the better, since it has more places to trap dust. That's why real lambswool dusters, another recommended duster, are better than most synthetic puff dusters. That's also why microfiber cloths and mitts are very effective too.
The exception to these recommendations is when there is an allergic person in the home. Then vacuuming with a high-filtration unit and wiping with a damp cloth is the best method.
