There’s nothing quite like having a furry friend to share your days with. It’s no secret that owning a dog equals endless fun, love, loyalty and… fur?
Fur and dog hair can be a nightmare. Maybe you’re finding clumps all over your home, or just get the odd few hairs tucked away in the cracks of your sofa. Perhaps you’ve also noticed that you don’t breathe as easily in your own home anymore. Unfortunately, it’s more than likely Fido’s fault.
If you’re looking for the best ways to rid your home of unsightly dog hairs, look no further. Here are 5 simple ways for cleaning up your dog’s hair that won’t cause you endless stress.
Get rid of pet hair manually
Perhaps your fur situation isn’t terrible. You’ve got a dog that doesn’t shed much hair, and in fact you don’t find too much extra hair lingering at the end of the day.
You can go the manual route, and use a few household objects to clear your home quickly and easily.
Our first tip for this section would be to use the age-old favourite: duct tape.
It’s a simple and easy solution that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, but provides fast and effective relief from the eyesore of your pet’s hair lingering on your furniture. Simply keep a spare roll of duct tape in your drawer for all of those moments where you find a few stray hairs or a patch on piece of furniture, and get ready to snag every last hair up, on the go.
Our second tip? Grab a damp sponge or a pair of new rubber gloves.
Before vacuuming, grab a damp sponge or a pair of rubber gloves to help remove all the excess from your furniture and upholstery.
Any hair clinging onto your sofas or chairs, carpets, rugs or curtains will easily stick to either, making it much easier to get those extra bits off before you run a powerful vacuum over the top.
Invest in a state of the art vacuum
Our second tip costs a little more, but is worth it if your pet’s hair or fur is making your home look dishevelled and you don’t like to clean it up by hand.
Investing in a proper vacuum cleaner will not only help to eliminate all of Fluffy’s extra fur, but it can also leave your home’s air cleaner and more breathable, an added bonus that many pet owners forget over time.
Any vacuum that includes extra strong suction, a specific brush dedicated to getting rid of pet hairs without them becoming tangled is your perfect match for the never ending battle that is eradicating unwanted fur.
On top of that, many powerful vacuums nowadays come with a HEPA filter, which is important if you have allergies, or find that the air in your home is a little stale. These fantastic filters make sure they trap allergens and other bacteria and leave your home much fresher, which is an added bonus to the elimination of lingering pet hair.
Some vacuums made specifically for people with pets include the BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser Upright Vacuum, the Miele Classic C1 Cat & Dog Canister Vacuum Cleaner, the DYSON Cyclone V10 Absolute Lightweight Vacuum, and the BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser Corded Handheld Vacuum. These are all fantastic vacuums on the market right now that have all been specifically designed for capturing pet hairs.
The added bonus with buying a vacuum specifically for pet hair woes means that you don’t have to put extra effort into your vacuuming by cleaning the same patch of carpet multiple times. These vacuums have been engineered and designed with pet owners in mind, and can take the stress out of vacuuming for good.
One tip for using a vacuum to keep pet hair at bay: don’t forget to keep your vac well maintained throughout its life. It will make it much easier to grab every piece of hair, and stop clogging and blockages in the vacuum itself.
Turn to your other household appliances for help
Your furniture and floors aren’t the only things in the home that get covered in your dog’s hair. Your clothes are prime targets, as well as any blankets you use to cover furniture (which is another great tip, by the way).
If you’re not interested in investing in a new appliance for your home, or simply don’t have the cash to fork out, turn to the household appliances that you already have installed.
If you’ve got a clothes dryer hanging around in your utility room, it could be the perfect tool for helping you deal with all that extra fur that’s making you look like you’ve resorted to wearing your pet itself.
Throw the clothes and blankets into the dryer, along with a dryer sheet or dryer ball for about 10 minutes. Not only will your clothes be lovely and warm, but the hair’s will stick either to the dryer sheet or be deposited into the lint catcher, where it can easily be disposed of.
Go all in on your pet and groom them regularly
Keeping your furry friend well-groomed will certainly help you get rid of that excess hair, as well as prevent it from becoming a problem in and around your home, because even short-haired dogs can pose problems when it comes to shedding.
Give your dog regular baths to reduce the amount of loose fur.
Also, keep an eye on your dog and check for outbreaks of fleas. Whilst this is another problem in itself, a dog that’s scratching itself regularly can lead to clumps of hair being pulled out and deposited all over your home. A well-timed flea bath or regular flea drops can both be really helpful.
Grooming your pooch with a good-quality grooming brush will also lead to loose hairs being eliminated before they can be transferred to your furniture too. All dogs shed their fur, so being proactive, rather than waiting for it to land on your floors and furniture is a must.
It’s not always the physical act of grooming that gets good results either. Feeding your dog the right food can lead to significantly less shredding, believe it or not. If excess hair is causing you misery, it might be time to change your dog’s diet. Feeding them a good brand of dog food that has extra protein in it can minimize damage and loose hair in your dog’s coat, meaning less shred and less clean-up for you.
Maintain your home by minimizing the appearance of dog hairs
The truth of the matter is that dog hair is often just one of those things that can never be fully eliminated.
No matter how much you groom your dog, how often you bring out the vacuum, or how many tricks and tips you learn, there will always be some dog hair lying around.
With that being said, there are ways to help minimize the appearance of dog hairs so that you don’t have to worry about your home being unsightly for visitors.
Firstly, keep your pet away from any furniture that you wouldn’t want covered in hair. Many people insist that their pets stay off sofas and chairs altogether, so that they don’t ruin the upholstery in any way.
If that’s not a viable solution for you, use a blanket specifically for your dog to keep them off the upholstery itself. If you’ve got visitors coming, you can easily whip the blanket off and throw it into the washer or dryer to get rid of the hair that’s already accumulated.
Secondly, you could invest in some good-quality air filters and place them around your home, or in the rooms that your pet is most often in.
Much like the air filters in your vacuum cleaner, these will catch and trap excess hairs or air particles that give off the dreaded ‘dog smell’, leaving your home smelling fresher and cleaner.
Finally, if your home is full of hardwood floors, it might be an idea to paint or gloss them to the most similar colour to your pet’s hair. This way, any hair that has been shed is less noticeable, and much easier to ignore during those moments that you’re caught off guard.
However you decide to rid your home of stubborn pet hairs, we wish you the best of luck and hope that you can use some of these great tips to leave your home relatively hair free, fresh and clean.