Why different surfaces get different dirt
Two surfaces in the same room accumulate completely different soil, and the pattern is predictable rather than random.
In detail
Ask why a glass splashback shows fingerprints while the tiled wall beside it shows a greasy film, and the answer is not that one is cleaned more often. Surfaces preferentially accumulate soil that is chemically like them. High-energy, water-attracting surfaces — glass, bare metal, glazed ceramic — hold thin polar films and show every fingerprint, because a fingerprint is largely water-soluble salts and body oils spread over a surface that displays interference at that thickness. Low-energy, water-repellent surfaces — plastics, waxed and oiled finishes, painted surfaces near a hob — accumulate oily and greasy soil, because oil wets them where water does not. Electrostatically charged surfaces attract particulate: a lighting manufacturer prohibits a dry cloth on plastic parts precisely because static already built up on them attracts dust. And rough or porous surfaces accumulate everything, because they offer keying and shelter to all of it. The payoff is diagnostic: knowing which soil a surface should be accumulating tells you what to reach for before you have identified the mark.
Why
- Soap scum is explained by Why different surfaces get different dirt
- Dust is explained by Why different surfaces get different dirt
- Pollen is explained by Why different surfaces get different dirt
- Cleaning product residue is explained by Why different surfaces get different dirt
- House dust mites is explained by Why different surfaces get different dirt
- Stainless steel cleaner is explained by Why different surfaces get different dirt
- Dusting is explained by Why different surfaces get different dirt
Sources for this page
Sources
Cleaning instructions for luminaires
ETAP Lighting International · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That a dry cloth must not be used on plastic parts because static already built up on them attracts dust. (states this directly)
Conserve O Gram 15/2: Dusting Guidelines for Stone Objects and Interior Architectural Features
National Park Service, US Department of the Interior · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That highly porous stones entrap dust which is then difficult to remove. (states this directly)