I dry-sanded an old chest of drawers in my living room just to freshen it up: when I saw what had settled into the carpet, it was already too late
A weekend furniture refresh turned into a contamination hazard when fine lead dust settled invisibly into the carpet. Old painted chests of drawers and dressers may contain dangerous lead-based paint from before 1992, and dry sanding creates particles so small they’re impossible to see yet heavy enough to embed deeply into carpet fibres where ordinary vacuums can’t reach them.