I'm the 1st owner of a new construction condo built in 2008. I moved here from an old home built in the 1940's that was too much maintenence for me to keep up with so I moved here relieved that there was zero maintenence (no roof leaks, cracking walls, lawns to mow, snow to shovel or centipedes the size of Maryland coming up from the basement) and my never ending dust war would be over, right?? Wrong! The dust here is even worse!!

I change my furnace filters every 3 months but I don't know what else I can do to get things to calm down. Is there a better filter than 3M? Every day there is grey film on everything that eventually turns to fluff and I am beginning to wonder about the dryer. It's new but cheap quality. I clean the lint catcher religiously but I still think it might be getting into the air too much. Short of having to spend thousands on a new washer/dryer (it's one unit together) is there anything else I can do?? I'm desperate to not live in a dust haven for the rest of my life. I have an Oreck air filter too that helps in my son's room. If I have to buy a new washer/dryer I will but looking to see if there's anything else I can do first. Thanks.

Check to make sure that the dryer is actually being vented outside. It almost sounds as though there is no vent for your dryer to be getting this kind of dust. Also, do you live near a busy road? I did once and that created an enormous amount of dust. Actually, if the dryer isn't vented, that's something that should have been caught in the home inspection so you may have some recourse if there are repairs needed.

It's pretty sure vented since it's got that big silver hose going into a wall which I'm assuming leads out of the unit. .

Yes, I live with a major 4 lane road in front of me and a highway next to me. One lady did say she bought a new washer and dryer claiming it helped a lot but not entirely. I can't justify spending the money unless it was really worth it.

I guess I will just invest in a new vaccum cleaner and more expensive furnace filters.

If you can, find where on the outside the dryer is supposed to vent. Then do a load of laundry and while it's drying, check to make sure that there's hot air coming out. If there is, then you're properly vented. If that's the case, then then try vacuuming your cold air return to your furnace. And the heavy duty air filters on the furnace should help. You might also check to make sure that all of the windows, faucet openings, etc. -- anything that has an outside face or opening to it -- are properly caulked. Not something that you want to do when your goal was to escape all of this maintenance, but can't think of what else it might be. Hope some of this helps.

I've seen that there are these hoses to attach to your vacuum to put in where the lint catcher in your dryer goes to suck ou the stuff that gets past the lint trap. Supposedly this can help and it would be a heck of a lot cheaper to try than a new dryer.

I desperately need to get one! *note to self*