can something be both dusty and damp?

[alpacinoutd]

Hello.

Can something be both dusty and damp? Is this sentence correct?

The boxes I found in the storage were dusty and smelled of damp.

I thought for a second that when dust settles on something, maybe the smell of damp goes away.

[emsr2d2]

Things can certainly be both damp and dusty.

[Tarheel]

Things can certainly be both damp and dusty.

But water will turn the dust to mud.

Alpacinoutd, I think the word you are looking for is musty (for the smell).

[Tdol]

Or fusty.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Things can certainly be both damp and dusty.

No.

They can be musty (that is, smelling of mold), but they can't be dusty.

[emsr2d2]

Sadly, I can assure you from bitter experience that things can get damp, remain damp and also have a layer of dust on top of them.

[tedmc]

I think it is only natural that a powdery material like dust when comes into contact with moisture invariably absorbs water through capillary action and becomes moist or damp, just as earth would. If it is damp, it is no longer dust.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Sadly, I can assure you from bitter experience that things can get damp, remain damp and also have a layer of dust on top of them.

Ugh! No details, please!

[Piscean]

I think this needs to be said again:

things can get damp, remain damp and also have a layer of dust on top of them.

[tedmc]

This is not a question of English but of science and logic. How can you have dust on a damp surface? Can you have "damp dust"?