Dust bunnies (or dustbunnies) are small clumps of dust that form under furniture and in corners that are not cleaned regularly.[1][2] They are made of hair, lint, flakes of dead skin, spider webs, dust, and sometimes light rubbish and debris and are held together by static electricity and felt-like entanglement.[3] They can house dust mites or other parasites and can lower the efficiency of dust filters by clogging them.[4] The movement of a single large particle can start the formation of a dust bunny.[5]
Dust bunnies are harmful to electronics because they can obstruct air flow through heat sinks, raising temperatures significantly and therefore shortening the life of electronic components.[6]
An American trademark for "Dustbunny" was registered in 2006 for the "Dustbunny Cleaner", a robotic ball with an electrostatic sleeve that rolls around under furniture to collect dust bunnies and other material.[7][8]