MOST people rarely give dust a passing thought, just something we address once in a while.

But if you have visited Chirk Castle recently, you will have seen they take dust very seriously.

The National Trust property shared a curious and eye-opening photo with their social media followers.

Explaining the scene, they said: "If you visited the Castle rooms this weekend, you will have noticed a line of tape down the Grand Staircase.

"We've been monitoring the dust left behind from daily visits over a busy weekend by only cleaning one side and not the other.

"Were you surprised by the results you saw?"

The taped Grand Staircase at Chirk Castle, in a bid to monitor dust. Photo: National Trust/Chirk Castle

I certainly was, and instantly felt rather shameful about my own cleaning attempts at home.

But I was also interested in just how serious dust is, how detrimental could it be?

A member of the Collections and House team at Chirk Castle shed some light.

They said: "Dust is highly detrimental to the castle and collection. If left too long, dust becomes an agent of deterioration as it can become encrusted and a food source for mould."

Again I made a note to get the polish out more often.

What, if any, would the action be as a result of the findings?

The team member added: "We frequently re-assess our cleaning regime to ensure its best practice and we now use a more dynamic approach to dusting.

"This means we don't dust everything along the visitors' route every day (e.g. floor is dry mopped and the collection is dusted using a variety of brushes), but instead as and when it's required, which is currently more like every third or fourth day.

Read more: Erddig hosts Bank Holiday weekend shows of family play

"This does mean a little dust can settle but not long enough for it to be unsightly or detrimental to its condition. This also essentially protects the collection from being over-cleaned. And this frees up the house team to turn their focus to other things.

Were the team surprised by the results?

They said: "The experiment was a great talking point for visitors and at the start of the day there was a clear difference between the two sides of the staircase.

"Towards the end of the day with footfall over both sides, it became a little less obvious. Next time we'd do the experiment over a longer time period (this was for three days) and we're sure we would see a big different in the dust left."

Preserving the past can be a dirty job but who you gonna call? Dustbusters!

We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.

Please report any comments that break our rules.

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here

© 2001-2022. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. A Gannett Company. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. HP10 9TY. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |

Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event.

As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles.

Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services.

These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community.

It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.