For years, I’ve complained about an Ikea shelf in my home that seems to attract dust at an impossible speed. Eventually, my frustration gave way to curiosity: what’s actually happening, scientifically? Is there anything I can do about it, besides just continuously dusting?I’m not imagining things, says Nisa Salim, a materials engineer and associate professor at Swinburne University of Technology. While an object’s placement in the home and airborne particle levels make a difference, some surfaces really are better at collecting dust.Large particles settle by gravity, but finer ones are influenced by van der Waal forces – weak molecular attractions that strengthen when there’s more contact between a particle and a surface, says Salim. Rough, porous materials have more contact points, giving dust more opportunities to stick.My shelf doesn’t feel rough, but Salim says “even if a surface appears smooth to the naked eye, at the microscopic level it may contain tiny peaks, valleys and defects that can trap particles”.The phrase “dust magnet” isn’t completely metaphorical, either. Some surfaces literally attract dust through electrostatic forces, which resembles magnetic attraction. When materials rub together, electrons can transfer between them, leaving surfaces charged; because many dust particles also carry charges, they’re often drawn to these surfaces.