Skirting boards sit right where dust naturally settles, along the join between wall and floor, yet they're easy to overlook simply because they're low down and rarely at eye level during a normal clean. Run a damp cloth along the top edge every so often, rather than leaving it until dust has visibly built up into a noticeable line.
Work your way around the room in one direction, rather than jumping between sections, so you can easily see which parts you've already covered and which still need attention. A steady, methodical pass takes less time than it might seem, especially once it becomes a familiar part of the routine.
Pay extra attention to corners and behind furniture
Corners where two walls meet tend to collect the most dust along the skirting board, since airflow there is naturally more limited than along an open stretch of wall. Give these spots a bit of extra attention rather than treating the whole skirting board the same way throughout.
Behind larger pieces of furniture, the skirting board often goes untouched for far longer than the rest of the room, simply because it's harder to reach. Pull furniture out slightly every so often to check these hidden sections, rather than assuming they're fine because they're out of sight.
Doing this alongside the regular vacuuming or mopping of the floor makes sense, since you're already down at that level and moving through the room in any case. Adding the skirting boards to that same pass means it never becomes a separate task you have to remember on its own.
With regular attention to the skirting boards, the whole room looks noticeably cleaner even at floor level, rather than just the surfaces at eye height. It only takes a few extra minutes once it's folded into the usual cleaning routine.
