If you own a cat or dog, you deal with pet hair. You’ll never be rid of pet hair as long as you have hairy pets. The best you can wish for is to control the amount of hair in your home, on your clothes and in your car. There are good practices and essential tools to aid you in the fight against overwhelming pet hair.
Good Practices
Brush Often. The best way to control hair in your home is to prevent its entry. Brushing your pet often, even once a day for just a minute or two, will pay huge dividends. This simple practice will dramatically reduce the hair in your house.
Use Covers. Every pet has a favorite place to lie. Sometimes it’s a piece of your furniture or a dog bed or pillow. A great way to keep the hair down is to cover that spot with a removable, washable cover. When it gets funky, wash it. Keep two so you can rotate them.
Get Professional Grooming. Get your pet professionally groomed every month or two. A professional groomer not only gets in those deep coat spots, but they trim your pet, reduce the amount of hair and make them look stylish for the season. If you don’t already, give it a try and notice the difference in hair.
Create Off-Limit Places. There should be some spots in your house the dog or cat isn’t allowed. Keeping the pets off the furniture not only keeps the furniture from getting damaged, it will dramatically reduce the hair on your clothes and across your home. Two recommended off-limit spots: The couch and bed. Use a dog or cat bed with washable covers.
Keep The Kitchen Clean. A little hair here or there might be acceptable in the living room or bedroom, but the kitchen is a hair-free zone. Ensure you wipe down the kitchen counter tops and strictly prohibit pets from getting on countertops.
Replace Air Conditioner Filter. When you have pets you’ll need to change your home AC filter more often. Your home has hair in the air and your AC pulls that air in through the filter. Keeping this filter clean won’t reduce the amount of hair in your house, but it will keep your AC unit running more efficiently.
Hide Your Clothes. Ever had your pet perch up on a freshly washed load of laundry? Make sure you keep your clothes away from your pets unless you like using a lint roller on everything. Choose the place where you fold clothes wisely. Pet hair is everywhere so beware.
Essential Tools
Pet Hair Vacuum. The “nuclear option” for fighting pet hair is a specially designed vacuum, like the Dyson Ball Animal 2 Upright Vacuum. They can be expensive (around $400+) but is one of the best tools to deal with pet hair.
Lint Brushes and Rollers. The lint roller is an essential tool for any pet owner. No matter how hard you try, pet hair will find its way onto your clothes. And there’s nothing quite as embarrassing as having a friend or coworker point out your pet’s shed. Put them in your home, your car and at work. You’ll never be sorry you have too many.
Gloves. Who doesn’t love a tool you can wear? There are grooming and deshedding gloves made specifically to combat pet hair. They work well and are easy to use. Also, a simple pair of rubber gloves, like the kind you might use for washing dishes, works wonders to get pet hair off furniture and clothing. Just rub dry or with a little moisture and watch the hair stick.
Grooming Tool. Remember that good practice of brushing often? There are a bunch of pet grooming tools with great ergonomics and fantastic hair removal abilities. Find one that your pet loves and grooming can be bonding time. Find one that’s comfortable for your grip too, since you may be in for a lengthy pet and slobber.
There are a ton of tools out there on the market with every cool idea and next best thing. The four essentials above will do 90% of the work to keep pet hair under control. These tools combined with good practices will improve your hairy lot in life – guaranteed.
