We all adore our pet pals. However, most of us don’t love that pet hair shows up at every corner of our home, especially when they start shedding. If you don’t work to keep dog hair off your furniture, every inch of your couch will soon be covered. Yep, it’s one of those things you can’t unsee once you start noticing them. And dog hair is tough to remove, particularly if you have more than one doggo.
With that in mind, let’s look at some ways you can deal with dog hair around the house.
Prevention Is Key
If you want to keep your couch clean of dog hair in the long run, prevention will be crucial. That involves regularly brushing your pawed angel and letting a groomer tidy them up once in a while.
Different dog breeds require more grooming than others; for example, Cavapoo puppies hardly shed at all! And if you’re getting a breed more prone to constant shedding, be prepared to have them groomed more regularly.
Also, most dogs have a specific “shedding season” during which they shed a lot more hair; the same is true for cats. So, it would be best if you recognized when your doggo enters this period and started brushing them more than usual.
The frequency of the brushing isn’t the only thing that matters — you also need to ensure you’re grooming them properly. You need to use a slick brush for some types of dog hair and a shedding brush for others. Usually, you can find breed-specific grooming info online.
Vacuuming Is A Life-Saver
No matter how hard you work to stop dog hair from getting on your couch — you’ll find some sooner or later. At that point, the easiest way to remove it is to fire up your vacuum cleaner. Its effectiveness with this specific task will depend on your vacuum; some don’t have enough suction, while others have extensions specifically designed for this.
Heck, you can even find a vacuum made for pet hair—probably the best choice if you’re willing to invest in one.
Whichever vacuum you use, go over your couch twice and cover each direction. That way, you’ll remove the maximum amount of dog hair—it’s not rocket science, but it can get messy! Prepare for hair sticking to the bristles of the vacuum’s brush; you’ll need to loosen them from time to time by hand.
Employ The Washing Machine
Are you getting dog hair all over your couch cushions? Before you start endlessly scrubbing and vacuuming them, wait a moment; there may be an easier way. If the cushions have removable covers, you can just take them off and throw them in your washing machine. However, always wash them according to the instructions on the label.
On the other hand, if you don’t have any cushion covers — it’s time to start using them! They’ll save you a ton of time when you need to clean the room of doggie hair. Also, when you wash the covers, it’s usually better to hang them up than to put them in the dryer. However, it all depends on the material they were made of, so check the instructions.
When you’re done, check your lint trap on the dryer — it’ll probably need some cleaning because a lot of dog hair gets stuck inside.
Rubber Gloves Are Surprisingly Effective
Here’s the most surprising hack you probably didn’t know about — using rubber gloves to gather pet hair from the couch! Yep, you may only need a single cheap rubber glove to remove it all.
You pour some clean water and dampen the glove, and then start rubbing it against the couch surface. Soon, it’ll start catching the hair; rinse it off from time to time, so it stays effective.
When cleaning the glove itself, be careful if you’re doing it over the sink; you can accidentally clog that up too. And sure, the glove won’t remove every single piece of hair. However, it will eliminate most without any chemicals or additional tools.
Fabric Softener Is Your Friend
If you’ve got some dryer sheets and fabric softener lying around, you have two more methods for getting rid of pet hair!
Mix the liquid softener and some water (1:1 ratio) and pour the contents into a spray bottle. Shake it well, and gently spray your sofa or any other surface with dog hair. Then, use a dry, clean cloth to remove the pet hair that’s just magically loosened by the fabric softener!
Want to use dryer sheets instead? It’s even simpler; you just need to rub them against the couch surface, and they’ll pick up the hair easily. Depending on how much hair there is, you may have to use multiple sheets; one will fill up fairly quickly.
