How To Clean Up And Control Pet Hair

There are so many rewards that come with being a pet owner, but cleaning up pet hair happens to not be one of them. If you have a cat or a dog (or both!), the chances are high that you spend a lot of time each week cleaning hair from your furniture, upholstery, carpets and bedding, and are probably always looking for new ways to simplify your process.

You don’t have to live sparsely or have leather furnishings only to keep pet hair at bay. If you keep to a regular schedule of cleaning up your pet’s hair in a simple and effective fashion, you really can control pet hair in and around your apartment. Before you start working on removing hair from your home, make sure to talk to your vet about your pet’s shedding, and ensure that you’re doing everything possible to take care of their coat and keep them comfortably groomed.

Here are our easiest, most effective strategies for keeping your apartment clear of pet hair, all year long!

Furniture First
Before you tackle floors, start by cleaning off your furniture and surfaces. To wipe off furniture and upholstery, lightly dampen a sponge and wipe down, removing hair from the sponge as you go. You can also try spraying a mix of water and fabric softener to certain types of fabric (check your fabric or upholstery first before doing this) and wipe down easily. Wooden furniture can effectively be wiped down with a cloth and dusting spray. The dusting spray should cling to the hair, and make for easy wipe down and removal.

Flooring 
Your vacuum will be your second best friend once you’ve brought a new pet into your home, and we recommend upgrading to a vacuum specifically designed to pick up pet hair. When vacuuming rugs and carpets, make sure to go over hairy spots more than once. If hair is trapped in or clinging to the carpet, try using a pumice stone to gently scrape it away before vacuuming. When it comes to wood floors, you’ll want to put your vacuum away, and switch over to a dry mop with a microfiber cloth to cling to and remove pet hair most effectively. 

Pets, Too
It won’t matter how much you clean your floors and furniture if you don’t also do some hair removal on your actual pet, as well. Regularly brushing your pet with an appropriate-sized pet brush will help to pull hair from their coats before it sheds. If you have long-haired pets, we recommend purchasing a FURminator brush to remove hair from the more excessive shedders in your life. Depending upon which kind of pet you have, you may want to regularly bathe and groom your pet to help keep their coat healthy and free of debris, dirt and tangles. 

Clothing and Fabric
Investing in a few pet hair specific lint rollers is the easiest way to keep pet hair off of your clothes. Keep a lint roller in your closet, beside the front door and in your bathroom to make it easy for you to roll of hair on the go. When your lint roller isn’t enough, toss your clothes into the dryer with a dryer ball for 5-10 minutes to pull hair from your clothes.