Yes, You Should Be Cleaning Your Books

Whether you have a large home library or a few books stacked on a shelf, cleaning bookshelves can be a chore. Reaching all the nooks and crannies, especially if your shelves are wide and tall and piled high with objects and books, can feel like an unnecessary task. But cleaning your bookshelves—and your books themselves!—can create a healthier living environment.

We talked to cleaning expert Courtney Walsh from Homeaglow, to get all the details about this often-skipped cleaning task. She recommends cleaning books regularly to eliminate dust, dirt, mold, and mildew. We’ll break down exactly how to clean books and share how often you should deep-clean your bookshelves for a cleaner home.

Why You Should Clean Books (And Your Bookshelves)

Walsh says cleaning both the individual books and the bookshelves they sit on is important for a clean home. Cleaning your bookshelves can prevent dust buildup, protect your books (and any other items you store on your shelves), and make your home look and feel fresher. A cleaner home will also feel more inviting, so don’t skimp out on the process. Be sure to clean the entire bookshelf, not just the sections most visible to you, to ensure a clean result no matter the height, angle, or visibility of anyone sharing those spaces with you.

Cleaning isn’t just about keeping a tidy appearance, though. Walsh explains how routine cleaning preserves your books as dust, dirt, and debris can build up over time, which will also help prevent mold and insect infestations. Cleaning your books also extends their lifespan, as they can become discolored, fragile, or even fall apart without proper care.

Bonus: Cleaning books and bookshelves will also reduce allergens like pet dander and dust mites, especially for allergy and asthma sufferers. “Many people across the world live with some form of dust allergy or asthma, which can be triggered when they are exposed to dust and other triggers that can build up on bookshelves if they aren’t cleaned regularly,” Walsh says.

How Often to Clean Books

To keep a cleaning regimen intact, Walsh recommends breaking your cleaning routine into two phases: Regular and deep cleaning. To start, she recommends cycling through one regular clean at least once per month and one deep clean every three months. This advice is dependent on your environment and dust accumulation, so adjust as needed.

“The more regularly you clean [your books], the less frequently you should need to deep clean them, so it pays to stay on top of your cleaning and removing dust before it builds up,” she advises.

How to Clean Books

To help you fine-tune your cleaning process, Walsh shares her tips for both regular and deep cleaning below.

How to Clean Books for a Regular Cleaning

Routine cleaning will rid your surfaces of any baseline dust that’s collected on shelves and the spines of books.

1. Vacuum the top edges of your books: Use your vacuum’s brush attachment and suction to collect any dust that’s settled on the top edges of your books, being gentle in the process. Walsh recommends taking this step only if you have new or gently used books.
2. Wipe down the book edges: Next, use a dry, clean cloth to wipe over the top and outward-facing edges of your books to clean any remaining dust your vacuum handheld may have missed.
3. Vacuum shelves: Using your soft brush attachment, vacuum the exposed areas of your bookshelves to remove dust buildup.
4. Wipe down the shelves: Using a clean cloth, wipe down your shelves and books using a mild cleaner (which will also help to remove stubborn stains or buildup).

How to Deep Clean Books

Regular cleaning will remove most dust from your books and shelves, but a deeper clean is the only way to treat heavier stains or individual items.

1. Empty your shelves: Take out any books and objects from your shelves and sort them into collections for easy reorganization.
2. Wipe and vacuum: Use a vacuum hose with a soft brush attachment to extract any dust. Next, use a clean cloth to wipe down any remaining dust or tackle stubborn stains or debris.
3. Dust the outer edges of your books and items: Using a dry cloth, wipe down all outside edges of your books—the tops, bottoms, and sides—to remove any dust that’s settled on top of them or in between covers. For other objects that need a deeper clean, you may need to use a damp cloth or a microfiber cloth.
4. Put everything back: Once everything is clean and dry, arrange your books and items back on your shelves.

Cleaning Tip

As you place the pieces and books back on your shelves, consider a rearrangement. Reorganizing the pieces you already have in a new way, either by color, size, genre, or author’s name, can give your space a quick makeover (while making the pieces you use more often more accessible).

Additional Tips for Book Care

Walsh also cautions handling older or more delicate books with a gentler hand, as cleaning can damage fragile book materials like brittle pages, bindings, or leather. To start, she recommends dusting any delicate books with a clean, dry cotton or microfiber cloth. For tougher stains, only use a few drops of water and a mild cleaner. When in doubt—and for any vintage or antique books—consult a professional or research the type of material and book you own before trying any cleaning methods.

Walsh notes that book placement can also ease your cleaning routine and keep your books in pristine condition. “It’s a good idea to store books upright and avoid stacking them horizontally, which can potentially damage them, and use bookends to keep your books straight and prevent leaning—which can also cause lasting damage to your books,” Walsh says.

As a rule of thumb, “it’s best to keep bookshelves in a cool, dry area away from direct sunlight to prevent books from fading and warping,” Walsh says. “It’s also a good idea to periodically rotate books to ensure even exposure to environmental factors—this can be done during deep cleans while putting books back as another way of organizing them.”