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As cute and as cuddly as they may be, pets require a lot of care – and a lot of cleaning up after. And I don’t just mean emptying litter boxes and scooping poop. I’m talking about pet hair.
Animals shed. If you live with a pet, you know that their hair can, and does, get everywhere. The only way to keep your home or apartment clean is to keep up with the hair regularly.
Ready to learn how?
Here are the top five ways to tackle pet hair in your home!
A Vacuum Cleaner Designed With Pet Hair in Mind
Looking for an easy way to clean up after your cat or dog? If you have a pet that sheds, it’s time to invest in a good vacuum cleaner.
But not just any vacuum cleaner will do. You’ll need one that’s explicitly designed to handle enormous amounts of hair.
There are a ton of great vacuum cleaners on the market to choose from, but here are two stand-out models that are perfect for people with pets.
The Dyson V8 Animal
The Dyson V8 Animal is a cordless vacuum with powerful suction to clean hair, dust and other allergens from deep within your carpets. It comes with a variety of attachments that can tackle corners, upholstery and other hard-to-reach spots. You can use it on virtually any surface.
For pups on the go, this vacuum can even convert to a handheld tool, making it easy to keep your car clean after those trips to the dog park.
Bissell IconPet
Who doesn’t love the ease that comes with robot vacuums?
I have one, and it’s the best– except in the realm of pet hair. In addition to clogged rollers, have you seen the massacre caused by an unknown poop in the living room? Yikes! So I recently gave up the fight and bought the Bissell IconPet vacuum.
This cordless vacuum has a variety of features and comes with a ton of different brushes and attachments to clean all sorts of surfaces. But the absolute best part is the tangle-free brush. No matter how much I vacuum, hair does not wrap around the roller! Hallelujah!
Lint Rollers
With a pet in the house, you will want to keep a few lint rollers on hand at all times.
You never know when you will look down and see an unexpected pile of pet hair. So I recommend stashing at least one in the house, one in your handbag and one in your car.
Lint rollers are a simple, affordable, and effective way to eliminate pet hair. You can use them on clothing, carpets, upholstery and other soft surfaces like curtains and drapes.
I have a cat who loves to sit in the window, and his dark grey fur sticks to my linen roller shades like a magnet. A few passes over each shade with a lint roller gets all the hair off in a matter of seconds.
Tumble Dry Your Clothes Before Washing
It may seem odd to dry your clothes before you wash them, but if you have a pet that sheds, this will change your life.
When pets shed, their hair goes everywhere – especially on clothes. And washing your garments often seems to expand the pet hair problem to otherwise clean clothes.
So instead of dumping your laundry basket into the washing machine, toss everything into the dryer first and run it on a heat-free tumble cycle for about ten minutes. All that tossing and tumbling will loosen up the hair and prevent it from spreading. Then, shake your clothes out and wash and dry them as usual.
Just make sure to empty out your lint trap in the dryer. That’s where most of the pet hair will end up.
Rubber Broom
I have one of these, and it works much better than I ever imagined it would.
Rubber brooms have two features – one side with little rubber teeth and one side with a squeegee end. And when you’re dealing with pet hair, both are super effective.
The squeegee side is ideal for gathering hair from hardwood and tiled surfaces. The flat edge makes it easy to get into corners, and you can pull hair away from baseboards and moldings with minimal effort.
The bristly end is perfect for use on carpets and area rugs. Run it back and forth in the same area for a few seconds, and you’ll be amazed at how much hair it pulls up.
When I do this, I get huge balls of hair … hair that wasn’t even visible, and I didn’t know was there!
Deshedding Gloves
The best way to tackle unsightly pet hair is to prevent it before it has the chance to build up. And an easy way to do that is to invest in a pair of deshedding gloves.
These silicone gloves are designed specifically to remove loose hair from your pet before it ends up on your clothes and furniture. Run these gloves over your furry friend to pull up all sorts of dirt, debris and loose hairs before they get the chance to shed.
It’s ideal for pets with long hair. Plus, your pets will love it because it cleans them and massages their skin at the same time.
The more hair you can remove preemptively, the less loose hair you’ll have to clean up after the fact.
What Are the Best Ways to Tackle Pet Hair?
Cleaning isn’t the most glamorous job. But with a pet in the home, it has to be done regularly. If you’re looking to rid your life of unwanted pet hair, follow these steps:
- Buy a vacuum cleaner designed to handle pet hair
- Stock up on lint rollers to quickly remove hair from fabric
- Tumble dry your clothes before washing to shake pet hair loose
- Use a rubber broom to sweep hair from hardwood floors, area rugs and carpets
- Prevent your pet from shedding by brushing them regularly with deshedding gloves
With these items on hand in your home or apartment, cleaning up stubborn pet hair will be a lot easier to do!