How do I drill without filling the room with dust?

There are two separate problems and people only ever solve the first. The coarse dust that lands on the carpet is a nuisance. The fine fraction that hangs in the air for hours and is small enough to reach the deep lung is a health issue, and it is invisible. The diagram ranks the four common methods against both.

Safety

Step by step

1. Match the method to the material.Plaster and plasterboard produce a lot of visible dust and relatively little hazard. Masonry, concrete and tile produce respirable silica. The effort is worth scaling accordingly.
2. Use a paper shelf for one or two holes.Fold a sticky note or a strip of card into an L, tape it to the wall just below the mark with the shelf sticking out. It catches most of the falling dust for no cost and no setup.
3. Use a vacuum at the hole for a handful of holes.A helper holding the nozzle immediately below and slightly to one side catches considerably more, including some of the plume the drill pushes back out. Without a helper, tape the nozzle to the wall.
4. Buy a clip-on dust cup for regular work.A small cup with a flexible collar that clips onto the bit and rides against the wall. Cheap, catches at the source, and works one-handed. The obvious upgrade for anyone who drills masonry more than occasionally.
5. Use on-tool extraction for anything sustained.A shrouded head or a hollow bit connected to a vacuum, drawing the dust away as it is made. This is the only method that meaningfully controls the fine fraction, and it is what the regulations expect of anyone doing it for a living.
6. Choose the right vacuum.A domestic vacuum without a fine filter passes the respirable fraction straight through and blows it back into the room, which is worse than not vacuuming. A workshop vacuum with an M or H class filter is the tool for this.
7. Wear the right mask, fitted.FFP3 for masonry. It only works if it seals — a beard or a poor fit renders it close to useless, and the strap position matters. Put it on before you start rather than after the dust is airborne.
8. Ventilate and clean up wet.Open a window, and clear the residue with a damp cloth or a filtered vacuum rather than a brush. Sweeping re-suspends everything you just settled.

Tips

• The plume that comes back out of the hole is much more of the fine fraction than the pile on the floor. That is why capture at the hole beats catching what falls.
• For overhead drilling, dust control stops being about the carpet and starts being about your eyes. A cup on the bit and sealing goggles are both worth having.
• If you are drilling in a house with a small child or anyone with a respiratory condition, shut the door, seal the gap with a towel, and clean up before opening it.

Common mistakes

• Using a household vacuum to catch masonry dust — Fine dust passes the filter and is discharged into the room, so the vacuum concentrates and redistributes exactly the fraction you most want to avoid.
• Wearing an unfitted dust mask and assuming it works — Air takes the easiest route, which is round the edges of a poorly fitted mask. Fit is more important than the rating printed on it.
• Sweeping up afterwards — A brush re-suspends the settled fine dust, and you breathe more of it during the clean-up than during the drilling.

Questions people ask