Dust balls, sometimes called dust bunnies or balls of fluff, are balls with threads of textile fibres and hair as a skeleton on which particles, dead skin and debris are attached.

In the present study, dust balls were sampled from normal homes by the homeowners. The structure of some of the dust balls was studied in a scanning microscope. The weight of each individual dust ball was quantified. Each sample was placed on a plate of a painted particleboard, representing a floor surface, and was exposed to a velocity field generated by the outflow from a rig for calibration of velocity transducers. The velocity was gradually increased until the dust ball started to move. The majority of the dust balls had a weight less than 20 mg. A particleboard is a fairly rough surface and the velocity required to initiate a movement was beyond what usually is generated by a ventilation system. These levels of velocity can only be generated by opening windows or by people’s movements. The mechanisms by which distant textile fibres are brought together was studied by placing textile threads on the plate of particleboard and following the process by taking pictures with a digital camera. The protruding parts of the surface would sometimes catch the textile fibres.