We love our pets, we really do – but what we don’t always love is cleaning up after them. Our furry friends just tend to make lots of messes wherever they go! One of the biggest problems pet owners face is dealing with all that pet hair. It’s everywhere and it never seems to go away no matter how much you sweep, vacuum, or mop. Well, we’ve got good news for you – we’ve got the down-low on how to get pet hair out of your life the right way, no matter the surface. Let’s get right to it!
Cleaning Floors
Let’s start right where you’re going to need the most help – your floors. Believe it or not, there are some great, easy methods for getting pet hair off your floors. If you have hardwood floors, tile, linoleum, or any other type of hard surface, you can simply use an electrostatic dust mop to gather up that pet hair! You can use a cloth or a Swiffer as well to gather up all those dust bunnies from your fur babies.
Carpets, of course, are another story altogether. Does it seem like no matter how hard you vacuum those pet hairs just don’t want to come up? That’s because they don’t. Pet hair tends to get bound up in carpet fibers quite easily. However, you can loosen these hairs from carpet fiber by sprinkling baking soda on your carpet prior to vacuuming.
Cleaning Furniture
This one’s another doozy, especially if you allow your pets on your chairs, beds, and couches. Of course, even if you try to keep your pets on the floor, there’s no telling what you’re doing when you’re not around, is there? Thankfully, non-upholstered furniture, such as glass, wood, or laminate is relatively easy to clean. A slightly dampened microfiber cloth is perfect for picking up proliferating pet hair.
Cleaning pet hair off of upholstered items is a different story altogether. You’ll need to rub a dampened rubber glove or cleaning cloth along the top, sides, and bottom of the upholstery until it picks up all the accumulated pet hair. This tends to be a bit more time-consuming, as you might need to apply a little elbow grease.
Meanwhile, if you have a pet bed or two in your home, they’re perhaps the easiest to clean. You can simply toss this in the washing machine with a pet-safe detergent whenever it gets a little gnarly. Feel free to do so often!
Laundry Methods
Speaking of doing laundry, there are some important things to keep in mind. Pet laundry requires you to loosen the hair from your clothes or other soiled garments before washing by placing them in the dryer for 10 minutes on a heat-free tumble. Then, shake these clothes out before placing them in the washing machine. Then simply place them in a regular drying cycle after washing.
Finally, one expert tip: brush your pets as often as possible. This will help you gather up shedding hair before it ends up getting spread all over your house. It’s either pick it up now or pick it up later, so choose your poison!
For more education information contact Tom Bissanti: Tom@AlphaTechPet.com or visit our pet industry education website.