Have you ever looked at the top of your doors?
If you haven’t, congratulations—you’ve been living in blissful ignorance.
Because once you notice it, you can never unsee it.
That’s not dust.
That’s historical sediment.
The top of doors is one of those places that somehow collects grime like it’s trying to preserve a record of every year you’ve lived in your house. It’s awkward to reach, annoying to clean, and usually ignored until you either wipe it once a year and regret your life choices—or knock it loose into your face and look like a Victorian chimney sweep.
So naturally, I made a tool for it.
Meet Dustin.
What Is Dustin?
Dustin is a 3D-printed vacuum attachment designed specifically to clean the top edge of doors—no ladder, no dust rain, no sneezing yourself into another dimension.
It slips right over the door edge, angles the suction downward, and lets your vacuum do what it was always meant to do: delete dust, not redistribute it emotionally.
It’s also part of a growing collection of what I can only describe as eldritch household cleaning tools.
If you’ve seen my previous project—the Fingernail of Vecna, a vacuum attachment designed to suck bugs out of bowl-shaped light fixtures—you already know this is a recurring theme. I apparently have a very specific hobby now.
The Real Goal: Making Useful Things with Basic Shapes
This project isn’t really about Dustin.
It’s about something more important:
👉 You don’t need to be a “designer” to design useful things.
This entire tool is built from:
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Cylinders
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A box
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A couple of angles
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And the willingness to say, “Good enough—does it work?”
No fancy surfacing.
No over-engineering.
No unnecessary complexity.
It’s the same philosophy behind tools like a shovel or a hammer. Simple shapes, purposeful geometry, solved problem.
Or, in this case, a goblin with a vacuum.
Why the Top of Doors Is Such a Pain to Clean
Let’s be honest—this is why nobody cleans it:
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It’s just high enough to be annoying
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Just dirty enough to be gross
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And just inconvenient enough to say “I’ll do it later”
You have three options:
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Ignore it completely
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Wipe it once a year and hate yourself
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Knock the dust directly into your face
Dustin exists so you don’t have to choose any of those.
Designing Dustin (Without Overthinking It)
The design process was intentionally simple:
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A straight tube for the vacuum connection
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An angled section so you don’t need to reach awkwardly
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A flat opening that seals against the door edge
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Airtight enough to actually pull dust, not just wave at it
That’s it.
No decorative nonsense.
No “what if we added a hinge?” moment.
No reason for this thing to be fancy.
And yet…
At one point during modeling, I stopped and thought:
“Why does this vacuum attachment look angry?”
I briefly considered giving Dustin teeth.
I did not. This is a vacuum, not a mimic.
Printing & Practicality
This is why projects like Dustin are my favorite:
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✔ Prints fast
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✔ Uses minimal material
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✔ No supports required (depending on orientation)
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✔ No 14-step assembly guide
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✔ Immediately useful
This is practical maker energy.
It’s the kind of thing you design, print, and immediately wonder why it didn’t already exist.
The Moment of Truth
No ladder.
No dust explosion.
No regrets.
The dust is gone.
Not relocated.
Not redistributed.
Not emotionally processed.
Just… deleted.
That’s deeply satisfying.
Download Dustin (and Other Questionable Creations)
If you want to download Dustin, or the Fingernail of Vecna, I’ve got links in the description below. You can grab them free on:
🔗 Downloads
Dustin Vacuum Attachment (Door Vacuum Head)
👉 MakerBuildIt.com - https://makerbuildit.com/products/dustin-3d-printed-vacuum-attachment-for-door-tops
👉 MakerWorld - https://makerworld.com/en/models/2187287-dustin-3d-printed-vacuum-attachment-for-door-tops
The Fingernail of Vecna: (Bug Vacuum Head):
👉 MakerBuildIt - https://makerbuildit.com/products/the-fingernail-of-vecna-bug-vacuum-head
👉 MakerWorld - https://makerworld.com/en/models/2079960-vecna-s-fingernail-ceiling-light-bug-vacuum-head
🧰 Tools & Software Mentioned
Nomad Sculpt - https://nomadsculpt.com/
3D printers - https://amzn.to/4pVDKH3
Filament - https://amzn.to/4pjL5A3
That’s the point.
Final Thoughts: This Is What 3D Printing Is Really About
3D printing isn’t just about toys and trinkets.
It’s about finally making the things you’ve been wanting for years—but nobody bothered to sell, or they sell for $39.99 on Amazon with a suspicious amount of five-star reviews.
Useful tools.
Simple shapes.
Slightly questionable design decisions.
If you want more projects like this, make sure you follow Maker Build It for more 3D printing, DIY, and shop-built solutions to problems you didn’t know you had.