Everybody knows how much dogs can shed hair. It gets all over your carpets, sofas, chairs, and any pet-loving home.
In temperature-controlled environments such as apartments and houses, most dog breeds shed evenly throughout the year, causing an unending supply of dog hair on furniture, floors and all over your home.
Although thorough vacuum cleaning will ease the effects of dog fur, more often than not, pet hair becomes embedded down to the very root of upholstery and carpeting fabrics.
How to get them out quickly and effectively, you ask? Here are a handful of tips, tricks and methods to solve that hair issue.
Removing Dog Hair Out of Carpets & Furniture
Many still choose to tackle domestic cleaning the good old fashioned way. The best combination is to mix DIY and specialised products:
- Dampened Rubber Gloves: They’re likely your best bet. Just moisturise some rubber gloves and gently brush the carpet with your hand. Wash off all you’ve managed to gather. You can try it with a regular sponge if you don’t have a pair of gloves.
- Lint & Pet Hair Rollers: This is the official method. Buy a lint and pet hair roller specially made to clean pet fur (regular lint rollers can be as good too). It’s a pretty easy option that doesn’t cost much, and these rollers already come with sticky replacement rolls.
- Make a DIY Roller: This is likely the cheapest solution on this list. Find something round and cover it with duck tape. The glue should face up so it can pick up hair.
- Rub your carpet with a balloon: Static electricity will help you clean it.
- Dryer Sheets: Depending on how desperate you are with cleaning, new and used dryer sheets can help you get rid of hair. A great tip is to pre-treat by spraying a bit of liquid fabric softener. If you want to clean your clothes rather than furnishing them, throw those for 10 mins in the dryer with a few pieces of dryer sheet.
- The Lazy Sock Technique: Choose a pair of old socks (your or your children) and “ski” around your home. A great benefit here is that “cleaning” won’t stir up pet hair like vacuum cleaning does & more.
Tip: Use a rubber squeegee in the end to attract and gather fur remains.
1. How to clean pet hair with a fabric softener?
What a fabric softener does, is to help fur loosen up and thus make it easier for a vacuum cleaner to catch it. Here’s how it works.
To clean your dog hair out of the carpet using fabric softener, you’ll need:
- an average liquid softener;
- warm water;
- an empty sprayer bottle;
- vacuum cleaner.
Mix the softener with water at 1:3 or 1:2 before pouring it into the sprayer. Next, spray the carpet gently and leave it to dry. Finally, you should cautiously vacuum the carpet.
If it doesn’t work, spray twice and vacuum thoroughly once more.
Read More: How to get rid of ticks in your carpets and home?
2. How to prevent dog hair from sticking onto your upholstery?
If you can’t imagine your life without pets, but you have to balance your cleaning efforts, try furnishing that is resistant to hair by nature.
Here are some of the easiest tricks for easy clean solutions:
- Use anti-static materials for your furnishing;
- Hardwood, laminate, tile or vinyl flooring – Bare in mind that wall-to-wall carpeting can be more than a nightmare to maintain, especially if you have a pet that sheds often;
- Leather – Top grain or brushed leather is the best choice if scratching is still an issue at your home;
- Canvas – easy to maintain and replace;
- Heavy-duty cotton fabrics – work great;
- Ultrasuede (synthetic microfiber fabric)
The best way to get dog hair out of your carpet is to be persistent and clean up regularly. Groom your puppy and brush it as often as possible. If you can’t handle the burden, professionals will always deliver great results.
The cost of cleaning a carpet is well worth the value of your money, and it’s highly recommended to put carpets through hot-water extraction or dry chem cleaning at least two or three times per year.
Removing Dog Hair Out of Other Places
Getting dog hair off furniture with a smooth surface is much faster and easier than from the upholstery of your other furniture. That isn’t to say that you can’t make it more effective by using one or more of the following tricks for cleaning up dog fur.
The best way to get dog hair off furniture with glass, wooden, and any other smooth surface is to run a damp rag or, better, microfibre cloth to pile pet hair.
It’s better to do it before thorough vacuuming, for it might send heaps of dog hair and dust in the air to again settle on your freshly cleaned furniture.
1. How to remove dog hair off hard floors?
If you are looking for the best way to clean dog hair off hardwood floors,
- Try an electrostatic mop to take care of those fur-tumbleweeds rolling around your space.
- Avoid vacuuming such floors because that can swirl the air around and the pet hair.
- Switch to a mop, preferably with a microfibre or electrostatic cloth, which can catch the hair in place. The cloth is also washable and reusable, which is always good, so you don’t have to worry about how to clean up dog hair on hardwood floors anytime.
Read More: Best Dog Shampoos You Must buy in 2022 in the UK
2. How to remove dog hair from your car?
Whether your dog only rides in your car to the vet and back or goes with you wherever you go, its hair is a problem all over your car.
Most of the tips listed in the upholstered furniture section above are also applicable here:
- Use a vacuum cleaner in the car – a hand-held vacuum is convenient, and you’ll probably find more uses for it than just in your car. Regular vacuuming is a cleaning chore men should know.
- Cover the car seats – another great way to manage pet hair in your vehicle. The covers keep pet hair off your seats, and the hair that does get on them is easily cleaned. You can substitute them with towels or blankets if you don’t have seat covers – just like on your couch.
- Put on your rubber gloves – we mentioned them for cleaning your carpet, but they are just as good for getting that pet hair off your car upholstery. Sweep around your car, and the pet hair should stick to the gloves, and the rest should form large chunks which are easy to remove.
- Use tape – it should also be available in your car to quickly pick up some of the dog hair stuck on your car seats.
- Use a wire brush – it’s great for getting rid of lodged strands of pet hair inside the car. You can use it as a finishing touch for the last pieces of hair left.
3. How to remove dog hair from your doggo?
Of course, it’s always best to tackle the source of dog hair. For obvious reasons, this is a never-ending cycle of shedding and cleaning. Nevertheless, you can minimise the spreading of dog hair in your house with these steps:
- Brush regularly – this may very well be the most important thing overall. After all, the more hair you get rid of before it falls off your dog, the better—less dog hair on your carpets, furniture, car, etc. Choose the right pup brush for hairy dog coats and brush away. You can consult with your vet or the consultant at the pet store. Brush as deeply as possible in both directions if this doesn’t cause discomfort for your pet.
- Use a grooming glove – to pick up any loose hair off your dog after the brushing.
- Limit scratching – scratching is a common thing dogs do, but it can cause many problems for your pet if it gets out of hand. If it continues long enough, it can result in hair loss, skin irritation, wounds, etc. If your dog starts to scratch more than usual, it can mean fleas, ticks, allergies, etc. If you are not sure of the reason causing restless scratching, make sure you take your dog to the vet soon.
- Bathe your dog – a regular bath should help you get rid of a lot of dog hair that is about to fall out. Some pet owners prefer using the best shampoo to rinse the dog(s) twice to remove extra hair the second time around.
- Use shed-control shampoo and rinse – some pet owners have experienced reduced shedding after using these products, but it’s different for each pet.
If you suspect that the hair loss may be caused by something else than seasonal factors like a poor diet, you can consult your veterinarian. Switch the food for a more nutritious one and add some treats to ensure your pet gets all the vitamins and minerals for its needs.
